Tell about Rabindranath Tagore ?

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Poet, writer and humanitarian, Rabindranath Tagore was the first Indian to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature and he played a key role in the renaissance of modern India.

It was the year 1912, and 51-year-old Rabindranath Tagore was on a ship to England. The long journey by sea did not agree with him, but Tagore was finding his work a pleasant distraction. What he was working on was an English translation of Gitanjali for members of the India Society in London, urged by his friend, English painter William Rothstein. Imagine his dismay when he lost the manuscript while negotiating the unfamiliar tube station in London! And his surprise when it was miraculously retrieved from the lost-and-found office! Neither the Good Samaritan who had turned it in nor Tagore could have guessed that the translation, Gitanjali: Song Offerings, would make him the first Indian to earn the Nobel Prize in Literature the very next year, in 1913!

Tagore is most widely known for his poetry, but he was also an accomplished author of novels, short stories, plays and articles.

He took an active interest in a widespread range of social, cultural and artistic endeavours.

Rabindranath Tagore was one of the most revered icons of Indian literature. An author ahead of his time, Tagore wrote novels and short stories with powerful female characters. His poems initially blended spiritual and romantic notions and later gave voice to the colonized people of India. Tagore was also a thinker who had a profound impact on the social and political thought trends in his times. Little surprise that decades after his death on August 7, 1941.

He has been described as one of the first Twentieth Century’s global man.

Remember when you were eight years old? That’s probably when you were in primary school, busy learning multiplication tables. But eight was the age when Tagore wrote his first verse in poetry! In 1884, at 16, he published Bhanusimha Thakurer Padabali, a collection of poems under the pseudonym Bhanusimha.

So I repeat we never can have a true view of man unless we have a love for him. Civilisation must be judged and prized, not by the amount of power it has developed, but by how much it has evolved and given expression to, by its laws and institutions, the love of humanity.”

Tagore proved that you are never too old to do something new in your life by taking up painting when he was 60. His paintings had a dark, subliminal quality to them and were exhibited in Europe during his lifetime. The Berlin National Gallery even procured five of his paintings.

Tagore admired the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi? And that it was Tagore who conferred the title of ‘Mahatma’ on him? Tagore and Gandhi differed and argued about everything from Satyagraha, non-cooperation, to the boycott and burning of foreign cloth.

Rabindranath was born on 7 May 1861 Calcutta.

Tagore met Albert Einstein, the legendary theoretical physicist, at least four times in 1930-1931. Their first meeting took place in 1930 at Einstein’s home on a hilltop outside Berlin, Germany. Both had won the Nobel Prize: Tagore for literature in 1913, Einstein for physics in 1921.

His father Debendranath Tagore was a leading light in the Brahmo Samaj – a reforming Hindu organisation which sought to promote a monotheistic interpretation of the Upanishads and move away from the rigidity of Hindu Orthodoxy which they felt was holding back India. Debendranath Tagore also encouraged his family to learn English.

For two geniuses with different cultural backgrounds, Tagore and Einstein were in complete harmony in their desire to learn about the other’s contributions, pursuit of truth and love of music. Their intellectually stimulating conversation is detailed in Science and the Indian Tradition: When Einstein Met Tagore.

Rabindranath began writing from an early age and impressed with his free-flowing style and spontaneous compositions.

Apart from setting many of his poems to music, Tagore also wrote songs that inspired generations. While Tagore’s ‘Jana Gana Mana’ became the national anthem of India, Bangladesh chose his ‘Amar Shonar Bangla’ as its national anthem in 1971. Watch this video by NDTV for never-heard-before lines that Tagore penned for India’s national anthem.

In 1878 he travelled to England and sought to study law at University College, London, but he left before finishing the degree.

To play India’s national anthem with the patriotic fervor it deserves, check out this sheet music from Guitarmonk Team. Did you know that Sri Lanka’s national anthem is also based on a Bengali song by Tagore? He had written it originally in 1938 at the request of a student, Ananda Samarakoon, who translated it to Sinhalese.

After returning to India, in 1901, Tagore moved to Shantiniketan to found an ashram which became his focal point for writing and his view on schooling.

Want to experience the beauty of Tagore’s archival recordings? Then this audio CD, The Voice of Rabindranath Tagore, is a good bet.

He chose the name for the ashram – Shantiniketan meaning ‘Abode of Peace’

Tagore set up a university using the money he received with the Nobel Prize and other funds. It was established as Visva Bharati at Santiniketan, West Bengal, to ensure that the studies of arts were cultivated.

Tagore was firm friends with Gandhi and admired him very much. But, despite this friendship, he could be critical of his views. For example, he disagreed with Gandhi’s views on Swaraj protests and upbraided Gandhi when Gandhi claimed an earthquake was ‘divine retribution for the mistreatment of Dalits in India.’ Yet despite the frequent divergence of opinions, they could admire each other.

The legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray also studied here as a student of Oriental Art and Indian Sculptures. Visva-Bharati was declared a central university in 1951. But did you know that Tagore largely avoided classroom schooling as a child? His resolute refusal to be in the school meant that he had to study at home.