| This year, Kabiguru Rabindranath's Birthday was on Tuesday, May 9th. | | To keep his vision alive, let us all re-read THIS PRAYER and pass it on. |  |  “Infinite wealth is not yours, my patient and dusky Mother Earth…. I have seen your tender face and I love your mournful dust….”. There was never a poet whose works were as wistful, earthly and tender as Rabindranath Tagore. Among his copious works are over one thousand poems; nearly two dozen plays and play-lets; eight novels; eight or more volumes of short stories and more than two thousands songs; all of which are celebrated all over the world.
 Brief Biography:
Rabindranath Tagore was born on the 7th of May 1861 as the ninth son of Maharishi Debendranath Tagore and Sarada Devi. His whole family was culturally quite rich and thus they appreciated the young Rabindranath's love for epic literature and language. He also possessed an innate affinity towards reading and writing about nature. The primary years of Rabindranath's education were from home. Rabindranath Tagore spent his youth in an atmosphere ornamented with religion and arts, principally literature and music. In religion, he enjoyed studying the Vedas and the Upanishads. In music Tagore found Indian classical to be inspirational.
As he grew up he became more and more attached to the nature. Many scholars of Bengali literature thus refer him to as the “earthly poet”. At the age of seven, Rabindranath was admitted in Oriental Seminary. At the age of eleven, he was transferred to Bengal Academy. It was near this time period that Rabindranath had composed his first prose piece that was published by his friend. The next year, Unfortunately, shortly after at the age of fourteen, his mother, Sarada Devi was deceased. In the age of seventeen, Rabindranath  Tagore went to Ahmedabad, to meet his second eldest brother, Satyendranath Tagore, under whose supervision, he would sail to England to receive further studies under the guidance of professor Henry Morley. After arriving at London, he was admitted into London University where he studied law for some years. It was here that some more of his early works were published. His studied at London only for a year. He returned to India in 1880, after a year's stay at London. Coming back to India, he composed many of his new works including Valmiki Prativa, Kalmrigaya and Sandhya Sangeet to mention a few. In 1883, Rabindranath was married to Bhabatarini Devi at the age of twenty-two. Later her name was changed to Mrinalini Devi. Their first child, Madhurilata was born in 1886. During this time, Rabindranath wrote many poems and prose pieces dedicating it to his family life and his wife. They include Kadi-o-Kamal (Sharp and Flats), Raja-o-Rani (King and Queen) and Visarjan (Sacrifice). In 1890, their second child, Renuka was born. In 1890, Rabindranath went to Shilaidaha(now in the country of Bangladesh) to take care of his family estates. There he was overcome by an intense love for the simplicity and rural atmosphere of Bengal. His visit to Shilaidaha brought him closer to the common humanity and increased his interest in social reforms. It was here that he had composed his famous musical drama Chitrangada. In 1894, his son Samindra was born.
 In 1901, he started an experimental school named Visva-Bharati to show his distaste for the poor quality of education and teaching. The Visva-Bharati consists of many institutions, schools and centers that provide education to children. Also in the same year, Rabindranath Tagore was chosen as the chief-editor of the magazine Bangadarshan. Sadly, in 1902, his wife Mrinalini Devi died. He composed Smaran (in memoriam), a collection of poems and dedicated it to his wife. Soon after he was involved in Freedom Fighting movement. Tagore was a proud and ardent patriot. His most intense period of political activity was in the years following 1905, when the agitation due to the partition of Bengal was at its acme. Unfortunately in 1905, Rabindranath's father, Maharishi Debendrnath Tagore deceased. In 1915, Tagore was knighted by the British Government. However he renounced it in 1919 to protest the massacre of Amritsar. During his freedom campaigns he came close to and made friends with Mahatma Gandhi. He established many ashrams to create peace during this time and to provide shelter to people. He was emphatically against the decision of the British Government on dividing Bengal on the basis of religion. He wrote a number of poems and national songs to express his disapproval. He introduced the Rahkibandhan ceremony in India, symbolizing the underlying unity that can bring the divided Bengal together.
 Noble Prize:
In 1909, he began writing the Gitanjali. Soon after in 1911, he composed Janaganamana which later became the national anthem of India. In 1912, Rabindranath traveled to Europe for the second time. On the long journey to London, he translated many of his poems and songs to English. With the help of William Rothenstein, a reputed British painter, he came to know W.B. Yeats who played an instrumental role in publishing Gitanjali. Soon after he traveled to America to give lectures and attend conferences. While his visit to America, Gitanjali was published and was immediately had a sensational effect on English literary world. In 1912, Rabindranath Tagore was awarded the Noble Prize for literature for his work, Gitanjali. He was the first Asian to receive the prize.
 Soon after he returned to Calcutta. Due to his Noble Prize, Tagore became world famous. He traveled to many countries including parts of Japan, South America, North America, Asia Hong Kong, and Europe to offer lectures, meet with people and give speeches. In 1919, Rabindranath was once again knighted by the British government. He however again refused the offer to protest for the massacre at Jalianwalabag, Punjab. In 1921, Rabindranath after many failed tries, founded the Visva-Bharati University. He put all his monetary reward from the Noble prize and most of his royalty money to the university.His work brought him to many other places around the globe including Russia, Canada and many more. In 1940, the Oxford University arranged a special ceremony in Santiniketan to honor Tagore with the title, Doctorate of Literature. His last visit to lecture was at Sri Lanka in the year 1934. After that, he spent the rest of his life mostly at Calcutta. Tagore passed away on 7th August, 1941. Even hours before his demise on the 7th of August, he wrote some of his last poems. Although Tagore left the material world, his beauty, creative genius and excellence are still alive in his work and deep inside soul of people.
Rabindranath's contributions:
Rabindranath Tagore's contributions to the world are beyond measureHis first and foremost contribution was the wealth of songs, poems and prose that he had composed. His gift to literature is nothing less than amazing. They include one thousand poems; nearly two dozen plays and play-lets; eight novels; eight or more volumes of short stories and more than two thousands songs. His most famous work is Gitanjali which compiles many of his most famous works. His work is enjoyed and celebrated all over the globe to this date.
Songs by Rabindranath:
In music Tagore's most famous works were in Indian classical; though as a composer he rebelled against the orthodoxy of classical music. His notable variations are derived from Bengali folk-music like the Baul and Bhatiyali music style. During his visit to Europe, he also had some training in European music. Thus some of his early songs resembled the tunes of the Border Ballads and Moore's Irish Melodies. In later life, he tried to incorporate European style in classical music. Among his other masterpieces are patriotic songs. Many of his patriotic poems are still now celebrated all over India today; one such example is Bharata-bhagya-vidata which is the national anthem of India. Most of Tagore's songs were his poems which he himself gave rhythm and tone.
 Novels by Rabindranath:
As a novelist Tagore gave a vivid picture of the upper and middle-class life in Bengal. Some of his famous works are Naukadubi, Chokher-Bali and Ghare Baire. The last two , perhaps the best novels written by an Indian, give an interesting perspective on the impact of Western ideas on Indian life. His plays represent a large variety of types; social comedies in prose, such as Chirakumar Sabha, Goray Galad and Vaikunther Katha; symbolical plays in prose, such as Raja, Phalguni and Rakta Karabi; and short romantic playlets such as Malini, Chandalika, and Natir Puja. Some of his plays can be referred to as fables; a good example would be The Post Office. The majority of his plays have songs in them; an idea that he derived from the European operas. Plays such as Valmiki-Pratibha and Mayar Khela music dominates the play just like European operas. Tagore was the first Indian to bring an element of psychological realism to his novels. Many of his works and his life influenced the film director Shri Satyajit Ray, who had been one of his pupils.
 Poems by Rabindranath:
Tagore started to compose poetry at the age of four. His first poem was published at the age of seven. Thus Tagore's achievements in poetry in later life needs no preamble. His poetry gives the reader the history of his emergence from the unreal and self centered world of adolescence into adulthood and the world of man and nature. This emergence found expression in many early works; in the poem "Awakening of the Fountain" (from the Gitanjali) where the poet's soul was likened to a fountain imprisoned in a dark cave until one day the morning sun pierced the cave with its rays and set the fountain free. His gift of lyricism and song was fully evident in “Kari o Kamal” and “Manishi” and attained ripeness in “Chitra”. Mysticism was always a primary ingredient of his poems. This was evident in poems such as “Sonar tari” and attained maturity in “Naivedya”, “Kheya” and “Gitanjali”. In addition he wrote many patriotic poems and poems having a social and political contents. In his poems there was bondage of rhyme however he also composed some beautiful blank verse and free verse.
 Other contributions:
In 1901 he founded his school with the ideals of education he thought were productive and efficient. Shantiniketan, which meant the place of peace was founded at Bolpur. Today, Shantiniketan has many branches that provides education, small-scale business and acts as a museum of Rabindranath Tagore. Shantiniketan was a great success and gave birth to Viswabharati; an experimental school which was built in 1915. Viswabharati has many subdivisions and subunits which work to provide the study of art, sciences and language. Today, the institution has two campuses, enrolls over six thousand students every year and has over fifty hostels to house students. He helped a number of public projects, such as Calcutta Medical College, Bolpur Bramhachary Ashram at Shantiniketan to name a few.
Tagore and Einstein:
Tagore was a learned man and had a excellent grasp of then modern theories and discoveries. He was able to debate on post-Newtonian physics with Albert Einstein in 1930. Their debate on the newly emerging principles of quantum mechanics was held in Caputh, Germany. Einstein reserved the highest admiration for Tagore as well as Mahatma Gandhi, and they, in turn, recognized in him a kindred spirit. Despite the disparate life-focus of the three, their ecumenical thinking lavished its warmth and wisdom on humanity as a whole. They were profoundly united in their concern for the world's indigent, the state of the human condition a continual presence to their imagination. Of the values that fuelled his rich life Einstein wrote: “The ideals which have lighted my way, and time after time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully have been Kindness, Beauty and Truth.” Tagore also took the road illuminated by these very values. The Tagore-Einstein dialogues of 1930 have been reprinted in a delightful book, “Einstein Lived Here”, by Professor Abraham Pais (Oxford University Press, 1994).
Concluding:
Rabindranath became the voice of India's spiritual heritage to the world India's spiritual heritage; and for India, especially for Bengal, became a great living institution. His relentless passion for his work was amazing.His total works amounts to about thirty volumes. Tagore remains a legend to Indians and a legacy to people. |
