She had a strong personality and acted on her own inclinations dismissing the advice of others. The immediate effect of the journal passing from Jyotirindra’s hands to hers was a marked decline in Robi’s contributions. Robi sensed, instinctively, that his sister did not think much of his creative abilities. At the literary meetings held in her house, which Robi attended from time to time, he found himself at the periphery. Swarnakumari dominated the scene and occupied the position of honour. Swarnakumari’s house was permeated with the breath not only of literature but of politics. Her husband Janakinath Ghoshal was an enthusiastic supporter of all his wife’s cultural endeavours but his own inclination was towards politics. The term Indian National Congress was being bandied about more and more but few knew precisely what it was or how it had come into being. Janakinath hadn’t enrolled himself as member but he had attended its first meeting in Bombay quite recently. The unrest following Surendranath Bandopadhyay’s arrest hadn’t quite died down and the student community was straining at the leash to become part of a larger movement.
