Atithi by Rabindranath Tagore is the story of Tarapada, a Brahmin boy of about fifteen who cannot stay in one place. A zamindar’s family takes him in and loves him, and plans his marriage to their daughter Charu. Just before the wedding, he slips away. It is a prescribed story for ISC Class 12 (Prism).
About Atithi by Rabindranath Tagore
Tagore wrote Atithi in Bengali in 1895, and it appears in his short-story collection Galpaguchchha. The title means “guest”. ISC students read it in English translation as “Atithi / Guest” in Prism: A Collection of ISC Short Stories.
Names are spelled in more than one way across translations. Motilal Babu is also written Matilal, and his village Kathaliya is also written Kanthalia. Use the spelling in your own textbook.
Atithi summary in five stages
The story moves through five stages. Learn them in order, because most long answers follow this line from arrival to departure.
1. The boy on the river
Motilal Babu, a zamindar, is travelling home by boat to his village, Kathaliya. A handsome boy asks for a lift. He says his name is Tarapada and that he is going to Nandigram to join a jatra, a travelling theatre group.
We learn his past. He is the fourth son of a widowed mother. Since childhood he has run away again and again, to jatra troupes, panchali singers and a gymnastics troupe, where he played the flute. Everyone loves him, yet no one can keep him.
2. A guest in Motilal’s house
Motilal takes Tarapada home. His wife Annapurna, who longs for a son, soon treats the boy like one. Tarapada is cheerful and helpful, sings and tells stories, and wins the whole household.
3. Charu’s jealousy
Charushashi, or Charu, the couple’s only daughter, is about nine and used to being the centre of attention. She resents the newcomer. She smashes his flute, and she fumes when he makes friends with Sonamoni, a girl of her own age who is a child widow.
4. Lessons and quarrels
Tarapada shows interest in English picture books, so Motilal asks Ramratan Babu, the village headmaster, to teach him English. Charu insists on joining the lessons. She pours ink on his exercise book, tears out pages and once locks him in his room. Each time she is sorry and promises to stop. Underneath the quarrels, she has grown attached to him.
5. The marriage plan and the escape
A family from Raydanga comes to see Charu as a possible bride, but she refuses to come out, and her father has to say she is ill. Annapurna now suggests Tarapada as the groom. Motilal finds that the boy’s family is poor but of good caste, and the boy’s mother and brother agree. The wedding is fixed for the month of Shravan. No one tells Tarapada.
Just before the wedding, boats and singers pass the village on their way to a Rath (chariot) festival, and a monsoon storm breaks. Tarapada’s restless spirit wakes. His mother and brothers come for the wedding, but Tarapada slips away before it can take place, and no one knows where he has gone.
Printable revision sheet: download the two-page Atithi revision sheet (PDF), with the summary, characters, themes, common mistakes and 8 practice questions.
Characters in Atithi
The cast is small. In an answer, name the person and the one incident that shows what they want.
| Character | Who they are | What they want | Key incident |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tarapada | Brahmin boy of about fifteen, a born wanderer | Freedom and new places, more than any home | Leaves just before his own wedding |
| Motilal Babu | Zamindar of Kathaliya | A good, settled future for his daughter | Arranges English lessons; plans the marriage |
| Annapurna | Motilal’s wife | A son to love | Mothers Tarapada; proposes him as Charu’s husband |
| Charushashi (Charu) | Their only daughter, about nine | Attention, and later Tarapada himself | Smashes his flute, inks his book, refuses the Raydanga visitors |
| Sonamoni | Charu’s friend, a child widow | Friendship | Her friendship with Tarapada makes Charu jealous |
| Ramratan Babu | Village headmaster | To teach a bright pupil | Teaches Tarapada (and Charu) English |
Character sketch of Tarapada
Tarapada is the most asked character in this story. Build the sketch on three traits, each proved with an incident.
| Trait | Proof from the story |
|---|---|
| Restless and free | Has run away from home many times; leaves at the call of the festival boats |
| Charming and gifted | Sings, plays the flute, learns English quickly; wins over Annapurna and the village |
| Detached, not unkind | Loves the family but forms no tie that holds him; quarrels never make him bitter |
Model answer (about 150 words). Tarapada is a Brahmin boy of about fifteen who has never been able to stay in one place. Since childhood he has run away to jatra troupes, singers and gymnasts. He is handsome, gifted and easy to love: he sings, plays the flute and learns English quickly, and Motilal’s household soon adores him. Annapurna treats him as a son. Yet his affection never becomes possession. He takes Charu’s tantrums calmly and stays free inside. When the family secretly fixes his marriage to Charu, the passing festival boats and the monsoon storm call him away, and he leaves before the wedding. He is not ungrateful; he simply cannot be bound. The title fits him exactly: he is a guest everywhere and a member nowhere.
Themes in Atithi
| Theme | Where it shows in the story |
|---|---|
| Freedom against attachment | The family’s love grows into a plan to bind him; he leaves at that moment |
| Love that tries to possess | Annapurna wants a son, Motilal a son-in-law, Charu a companion; each wants to keep him |
| Oneness with nature | Rivers, boats, the Rath festival and the storm call him; he belongs to the open world more than to any house |
| Childhood feeling | Charu’s jealousy turns into attachment without her understanding it |
| Hospitality | A stranger becomes family, but stays a guest at heart |
Meaning of the title Atithi
“Atithi” means guest, one who comes without a fixed date and leaves again. In Indian custom a guest is honoured but does not stay for ever. Tarapada is welcomed, loved and fed like a son, yet he remains a guest. The ending proves the title: the moment the family tries to make him permanent, he goes. Write this link between title and ending in every title question.
Symbols and narrative devices
| Device | How it works |
|---|---|
| The river and boats | Movement and freedom; the story begins and ends with boats on the river |
| The flute | Tarapada’s free spirit; Charu breaking it is her first attack on that freedom |
| The monsoon storm | Matches the storm inside him on the night he decides to go |
| Dramatic irony | Everyone prepares a wedding Tarapada knows nothing about, so the reader sees the escape coming |
| Third-person narrator | Tagore watches the boy from outside and never fully explains him, which keeps him a mystery |
Word meanings
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Zamindar | A landowner who collected rent from farmers |
| Babu | A respectful title for a gentleman |
| Jatra | Bengali travelling folk theatre |
| Panchali | Sung narrative verse, often religious, performed by troupes |
| Rath Yatra | A festival in which a deity’s chariot is pulled through the streets |
| Shravan | A monsoon month in the Indian calendar (July-August) |
| Child widow | A girl married very young whose husband has died |
Questions and answers
Match the length to your paper. The word counts below are guides, not mark schemes.
Short answers (about 30 words)
Who is Motilal Babu? He is the zamindar of Kathaliya who meets Tarapada on a river journey, takes him home, has him taught English and later plans to marry him to his daughter Charu.
Why does Charu dislike Tarapada at first? She is the only child and used to all the attention. When her parents and the village fuss over the newcomer, she becomes jealous and attacks his flute and books.
Why is Motilal Babu at first reluctant to marry Charu to Tarapada? He knows nothing about the boy’s family, Charu is his only daughter and he wants to marry her well, and Tarapada is a wanderer. (Asked in the ISC 2025 paper.)
Medium answer (about 60 words)
How is Tarapada’s marriage arranged? After the Raydanga family’s visit fails, Annapurna proposes Tarapada for Charu. Motilal checks the boy’s family, finds it poor but of good caste, and sends a proposal that the mother and brother accept. The wedding is set for Shravan. Tarapada is not told, and he leaves before the wedding.
Describe the relationship between Tarapada and Charu. It begins as rivalry. Charu, the spoilt only child, is jealous of the boy everyone praises, so she breaks his flute, inks his book and locks him in. Tarapada stays calm and kind. Slowly her jealousy turns into attachment; one reading is that this is why she will not meet the Raydanga visitors. He never seems to return that tie.
Long answer: ISC 2025 board question (10 marks, 200-250 words)
Explore Tarapada’s relationship with Annapurna and Charushashi. Why, in your opinion, does Tarapada leave Kathaliya?
Tarapada wakes Annapurna’s longing to be a mother. She is surprised that he ran away from home though his mother is alive, and she wants to feed, clothe and care for him. He respects her feelings and is gentle with her, but he does not return her love in the same way. In time she sees him as the right husband for her daughter.
Charushashi begins as his rival. She resents the attention he receives, and though she is secretly impressed by his gifts, she will not admit it. She breaks his flute, is jealous of his friendship with Sonamoni and competes with him in the English lessons, throwing tantrums when she falls behind. Under the harshness she wants him all to herself. Tarapada treats her moods kindly and does not take them seriously.
Tarapada leaves because he is a free spirit who will not be tied by social or emotional bonds. All his life he has left every group that grew fond of him. In Kathaliya the bonds grow strongest: a mother’s love, Charu’s attachment and finally a marriage fixed without his knowledge. One reading is that his sense of growing close to the family pushes him to escape before the wedding. The festival boats and the storm only wake what was always in him. His going fits the title: a guest comes, is loved, and leaves.
Points follow the CISCE marking scheme in its ISC 2025 Analysis of Pupil Performance.
What ISC examiners look for
- The 2025 paper asked three Atithi questions: why Charu smashes the flute (jealousy and anger), why Motilal is at first reluctant to accept Tarapada, and the 10-mark question above.
- Answer both halves. Examiners reported that most candidates skipped the second part, why Tarapada leaves, and did not tie it to his nature.
- Keep it balanced. Many wrote mostly about Annapurna or mostly about Charu. Give each relationship equal space.
- Tarapada’s nature and attitude to life were listed as topics candidates found difficult or confusing. Prepare three traits with incidents.
- Theme to prepare: the report advises teachers to cover Tagore’s idea of oneness with nature.
Common mistakes and exam tips
- Do not call Tarapada an orphan. His father is dead, but his mother is alive and comes for the wedding.
- Do not write that he leaves because he dislikes Charu or the family. He leaves because of his own nature.
- Do not mix up Charu and Sonamoni. Sonamoni is the friend, a child widow.
- Tarapada is never told about the wedding date. Mention this; it explains the sudden ending.
- In every theme or title answer, connect the ending to the word “guest”.
- Do not retell the story when the question asks why or how. Examiners mark the reasons.
Memory trick: boat, books, bride, break-free. These four words give the order of the story: the boat journey, the lessons, the marriage plan and the escape.
Atithi MCQs
- What does the title Atithi mean?
Answer: Guest. The title names Tarapada’s role: welcomed, but never permanent. - Where was Tarapada going when he met Motilal Babu?
Answer: To Nandigram, to join a jatra. He asked for a lift on Motilal’s boat. - Who is Annapurna?
Answer: Motilal Babu’s wife. She longs for a son and mothers Tarapada. - Why does Charushashi smash Tarapada’s flute? (ISC 2025)
Answer: She is overcome with jealousy and anger. She resents the attention the newcomer gets. - Who teaches Tarapada English?
Answer: Ramratan Babu, the village headmaster. Motilal arranges the lessons; Charu joins them. - Who is Sonamoni?
Answer: Charu’s friend, a child widow. Tarapada’s friendship with her makes Charu jealous. - In which month is the wedding fixed?
Answer: Shravan. A monsoon month; the storm comes just before the wedding. - How does the story end?
Answer: Tarapada slips away before the wedding. The festival boats and the storm call him back to the open world.
Score guide: 7-8 correct, ready for the exam; 5-6, reread the five stages; below 5, read the summary again before the questions.
Related guides
Read more Tagore: Upagupta by Rabindranath Tagore, Paper Boats by Rabindranath Tagore and Where the Mind Is Without Fear. For his life and main works, see Rabindranath Tagore: life and works.