Kumar was very close to Subho Tagore. He was the nephew of the Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore. In fact Subho Tagore lived very near the house of Kumars. He had taken residence in Metropolitan Building, at Chowringhee, and he would often take a rickshaw to drop in to home of Nirmal Chandra Kumar at Taltala. With his long flowing beard and attire, which was like a flowing robe, he looked more like a seer. He was an artist, thinker, and poet, writer –all rolled in one. Subho Tagore was the father of Cubism in India, and also a collector and an antiquarian himself. He had a rare collection of letters comprising pieces from Ram Mohan Roy, Vidyasagar and off course Rabindranath Tagore. He was a great connoisseur of art. He also had a rare collection of inkpots and hookah, some dating back to the Mughal period. He was very keen to build a museum at a place called Janai, near Calcutta. Subho Tagore would spend hours at Kumars just going through books. He was very soft spoken and a man of few words. He would sit in one place, pour over books with his pince-nez hanging from his nose and then very silently he would disappear. The only time he would be almost jubilant was in his annual sojourn to Kumars with his family members. Almost taking a pride that he has discovered a treasure in Ali Baba’s Cave. All his family members were connected with arts and they would go about the collection with Subho Tagore, very softly adding the background narration to the importance of the book.
Nirmal Chandra Kumar and Subho Tagore: Interactions
