Our National Poet Rabindra Nath Tagore and his importance in today's world

[Pintu]

Yesterday was 9th May, 2009, the 149th birthday of our National Poet Rabindra Nath Tagore, and was celebrated in our country with respect and in neighbouring Bangladesh. Poet Tagore is the National Poet of the two countries of the South Asia. To write National Poet Rabindra Nath Tagore's importance in today's world , we should know about legendary poet's life and work.

Poet Tagore in Calcutta(Kolkata) in 1915.



Life and works of our National Poet Rabindra Nath Tagore:

Poet Rabindra Nath Tagore popularly known as 'Gurudev' was a polymath. He was a Poet, Playwright, Visual-artist, Story writer, Novelist, Composer, Educationist, Business-Manager. His literary work reshaped the literature of Bengal in late 19th and 20th Century. There were group of Eminent writers who could not came out of influence of his literary style in post Tagore era. He is the National Poet of India and Bangladesh and the National Song of India written by Poet Tagore is 'Jana Gana Mana' and in Bangladesh it is 'Amar Sonar Bangla' .

Poet Nicknamed as 'Rabi( Short form of Rabindra Nath ) was born on 9th May, 1861 in the 'Jorashanko' Mansion or Jorashanko Thakur Bari (Thakur's Home in Jorashanko)

(The Jorashanko Thakur Bari , Kolkata , as it is now, seen in the above Picture, image : Wikipedia) of the Parents Maharshi Debendra Nath Tagore (1817-1905) and Sarada Devi (1830-1875). Tagore family was in forefront of Renaissance in Bengali Society and its modernisation (not Westernisation) in 19th century, from the different field ranging from Successful entrepreneurship of Dwarkanath Tagore(1794-1846, Grand Father of Poet Tagore) to the literature and Female Education. Tagore Family was founder of Adi Dharma faith of Brahmo Samaj. Tagore , first written poem at the age of Eight. Though born in immense wealth and erudite society , Tagore was brought up like any other common children with simplicity and strict discipline. Poet Tagore's schooling was done in his own home.

After his Upanayan young Rabi traveled with his father in many places including Shantiniketan estate of Tagore, Amritsar and Hill Station Dalhousie. Here in Dalhousie , Poet Tagore's talent leaves the spell bound Signature at his age of 16 (1877) he composed several poems and in Maithili he wrote a long poem and in pen name of Bhanusingho, ( The name of the Poem was Bhanusingher Padabali) and famous poem 'Nirjharaer Swapnabhanga'(The Rousing of Waterfall) [ Aji e Probhate Rabir Kar/ Kemane Pashila Praner Par/ Kemane Pashila Guhar Andhare Probhat Pakhir Gaan....(Nirjharaer Swapnabhanga)] and the famous short story Bhikharini(The Beggar Woman)which was itself first short story in Bengali. Tagore, in my opinion was the father of the Short Story in Bengali, and pioneer in the Short Story , he defined through his writings that what a short story should be.

In 1878 , Poet Tagore,was enrolled in a Public School in Brighton , England to become a barrister ,

(Poet Tagore in England in 1879)

but returned without having a Degree, in 1883 he married Mrinalini Devi (1873-1900)

(Poet Tagore with Mrinalini Devi in 1883).

In 1890 Tagore began managing his family estates in Shilaidaha which is now in Modern day Bangladesh, the many of his famous poem were written in Shilaidaha, here he joined by Mrinalini Devi and their Children and adorned and respectfully called as Zamindarbabu , poet Tagore passed his time in between them leaving aside Luxurious Family Barge , The famous short Stories of Galpaguccha(84 story book) was written in this time, with irony and emotional weight many of his stories speak about Village Life.


In 1901, Poet returned to Shantiniketan , and to found the famous Ashram of Shantiniketan in Bolpur , West Bengal, here he wrote Naivedya (1901) and Kheya(1906), now his writings were becoming very popular not only between the people in Home but also among Westerners.Poet visited England in 1912 and India Society published his Gitanjali: Song Offerings there, and Poet and Poems became sensation there. On 14th November, 1913 Swedish Academy conferred him Nobel Prize in Literature for Gitanjali: Song Offerings(1912, Translated by Poet himself). In 1915 he was conferred Knight Hood by King George V and in 1919 he renounced the Title in protest of Jallianwalabagh Massacre (1919). In 1921, Poet with renowned Agricultural Economist Leonard Knight Elmhirst found Institute for Rural Reconstruction which was later renamed as Shantiniketan by Poet. Though a very close friend of Gandhiji ,

Gurudev never ventured into Politics and kept Shantiniketan out of it. But when Indians were subject to atrocities his protest come though his pen. He was concerned about untouchability and Caste System and was active in protesting this, he appealed authorities in Guruvayoor Temple to admit Dalits.

Poet Tagore in Hampstead, England in 1912

In 1932-1941 , Tagore remained in lime light , mourning incipient socioeconomic decline and poverty in Calcutta(Kolkata) and that pain reflected in his writings, The last years of his life , he produced spell bound finest form of poetry by writing the Punashcha (1932), Shes Saptak (1935), and Patraput (1936), song and Dance Drama's like Chitrangada (1914), Shyama (1939), and Chandalika (1938), and the novels Dui Bon (1933), Malancha (1934), and Char Adhyay (1934), His interest in Science found in Viswa Parichay ( A collection of essays) in 1937, many modern novels 'Sesher Kabita' written by Tagore in this era. His interest in Science are evident with his stories in volumes like Se (1937), Tin Sangi (1940), and Galpasalpa (1941)

(Poet Tagore with Einstein)

Poet suffered chronic pain and illness in his last years and in his writing the preoccupation with Death is evident. Tagore passed away bid mother earth Goodbye on 7th August , 1941


Some works of Poet:

(Seal Initial of Poet)

Dancing Girl: Painting by Poet

Tagore's importance in the Modern day world:


We celebrate the birthday of Tagore in 9th May every year, time has now come to understand that mere celebration of Birth day of our National Poet could do any effect in our society, we do not follow his thought, his ideology , his vision , he expressed about modern India, do we follow it, answer will be negative, I am hereby posting the Translation of Poet's poem in Gitanjali the translation was done by Poet Himself.


Mind Without Fear

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;

Where knowledge is free;

Where the world has not been broken up

into fragments by narrow domestic walls;

Where words come out from the depth of truth;

Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;

Where the clear stream of reason

has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;

Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action---

Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.



Friends can we see that our country awakened as what desired by Poet ? My answer is no, and through the Modern World we can see the this is not the world Tagore, visioned and this world contrary to his vision and much like 1917, the jingoism that prevailed the then world, that the pain that was evident in Tagore's Poem Africa. Where he show the world how European Imperialism like leopard colonises Africa. Today's world is much cruel like then, we can see our neighbourhood and the countries through out the world, can we change it, it is impossible and only possible the will of the people change otherwise Poet's vision will not be fulfilled.

Some verses of Poet Tagore:

The truth comes as conqueror only because we have lost the art of receiving it as guest.

* God, the Great Giver, can open the whole universe to our gaze in the narrow space of a single land.
o Jivan-smitri
* In this playhouse of infinite forms I have had my play, and here have I caught sight of him that is formless.
o 96
* All the great utterances of man have to be judged not by the letter but by the spirit — the spirit which unfolds itself with the growth of life in history.
o Preface
Though the West has accepted as its teacher him who boldly proclaimed his oneness with his Father, and who exhorted his followers to be perfect as God, it has never been reconciled to this idea of our unity with the infinite being. It condemns, as a piece of blasphemy, any implication of man's becoming God. This is certainly not the idea that Christ preached, nor perhaps the idea of the Christian mystics, but this seems to be the idea that has become popular in the Christian west.
But the highest wisdom in the East holds that it is not the function of our soul to gain God, to utilise him for any special material purpose. All that we can ever aspire to is to become more and more one with God. In the region of nature, which is the region of diversity, we grow by acquisition; in the spiritual world, which is the region of unity, we grow by losing ourselves, by uniting. Gaining a thing, as we have said, is by its nature partial, it is limited only to a particular want; but being is complete, it belongs to our wholeness, it springs not from any necessity but from our affinity with the infinite, which is the principle of perfection that we have in our soul.




This modern world where scientific achievements mixed with cruelty and religious fanaticism with Human Beings give the birth of Frankenstein the Poet Tagore is alive in the eyes of the People who ushers the dream of Peaceful World with fraternity and Humanity where the world is equal to every body.
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The Source:

1. Images: Wikipedia, http://www.jameslogancourier.org/index.php?itemid=315,

2. Source : Wikipedia

2. Verses: Wiki quote

3. The Translation from Gitanjali: http://www.schoolofwisdom.com/gitanjali.html

Regards

 

[Hijibiji]

Rabindranath Tagore is very important in current world and recent research has proved conclusively with clinching evidence that Rabindranath Tagore was a "sanghi" (pejoratively called chaddi)

What Did Rabindranath Tagore Think About Islam?

Rabindranath Tagore, the preeminent Bard of the Orient was the mercurial mystic and polymath whose repertoire was unprecedented in proliferation. Transcending to a legendary status, whilst living, Tagore created a teeming ecosystem of art, literary, musical and fine, and wholly constituted an entire era and genre in Bengali art and culture. Such was the influence of Tagore, a man who, amongst others, composed two national anthems, an overwhelmingly vast repertoire of original folk music and won Knighthood and the Nobel Prize for Literature. A BBC poll ratified Tagore as the second greatest Bengali of all time, next only to Sheikh Mujibur Rehman.

However, an oft unnoticed facet of this multiarmed polyglot, is remarkably, that of an undeniable bigot. Albeit Tagore did much to overhaul the exploitative social system and was the harbinger of progressive, modernist thought in Bengal, he was no Namboodripad or Nehru. Averse to the Abrahamic religions, and in spite of all ideological reformist endeavours, Tagore harboured an unmistakably soft spot for Hinduism, his religion of birth and upbringing.

Some of these historically sidelined figments and excerpts from Tagore’s works are presented herefore:

“There are two religions in earth, which have distinct enmity against all other religions. These two are Christianity and Islam. They are not just satisfied with observing their own religions, but are determined to destroy all other religions. That’s why the only way to make peace with them is to embrace their religions.”

Original works of Rabindranath Vol. 24 page 375, Vishwa Bharti; 1982.

Tagore spews even more vitriol towards the Muslim community; In typical demonising fashion that was the omnipresent and omniprevalent norm of the day; scapegoating of Muslims for social ills, a prevailing mood of nationwide unrest and shortcomings of the traditional institutions, in general, is depicted in his works as is the prevailing notion of Hindu generosity. Keenly and unambiguously reflected in his writings is, a lopsided, exaggerated Hindu victimhood and romanticised, pontificated tolerance. Unfortunately, this biased majoritarian, misconceived notion endures till date, with ubiquity.

One such excerpt goes as:

Whenever a Muslim called upon the Muslim society, he never faced any resistance-he called in the name of one God ‘Allah-ho-Akbar’. On the other hand, when we (Hindus) call will call, ‘come on, Hindus’, who will respond? We, the Hindus, are divided in numerous small communities, many barriers-provincialism-who will respond overcoming all these obstacles? “We suffered from many dangers, but we could never be united. When Mohammed Ghouri brought the first blow from outside, the Hindus could not be united, even in the those days of imminent danger. When the Muslims started to demolish the temples one after another, and to break the idols of Gods and Goddesses, the Hindus fought and died in small units, but they could not be united. It has been provided that we were killed in different ages due to out discord. Weakness harbors sin. So, if the Muslims beat us and we, the Hindus, tolerate this without resistance-then, we will know that it is made possible only by our weakness. For the sake of ourselves and our neighbour Muslims also, we have to discard our weakness. We can appeal to our neighbour Muslims, `Please don’t be cruel to us. No religion can be based on genocide’ – but this kind of appeal is nothing, but the weeping of the weak person. When the low pressure is created in the air, storm comes spontaneously; nobody can stop it for sake for religion. Similarly, if weakness is cherished and be allowed to exist, torture comes automatically – nobody can stop it. Possibly, the Hindus and the Muslims can make a fake friendship to each other for a while, but that cannot last forever. As long as you don’t purify the soil, which grows only thorny shrubs you can not expect any fruit.

“Swamy Shraddananda’’, written by Rabindranath in Magh, 1333 Bangabda; compiled in the book ‘Kalantar’

It’s an unmistakable allusion to the prevailing preconception of Islam being inherently violent and the adherents to the faith being somehow extraordinarily hard-line, firebrand fundamentalists. In India, the unjust label of qattar (staunch) is still recklessly used to refer to the community, implicating mindless hypercharge and invoking connotations of blind faith and unnaturally devout, religion-inspired animosity.

• When two-three different religions claim that only their own religions are true and all other religions are false, their religions are only ways to Heaven, conflicts can not be avoided. Thus, fundamentalism tries to abolish all other religions. This is called Bolshevism in religion. Only the path shown by the Hinduism can relieve the world form this meanness. Tagore, `Aatmaparichapa’ in his book `Parichaya’

• The terrible situation of the country makes my mind restless and I cannot keep silent. Meaningless ritual keep the Hindus divided in hundred sects. Sop we are suffering from series of defeats. We are tired and worn-out by the fortunes by the internal external enemies. The Muslims are united in religion and rituals. The Bengali Muslims the South Indian Muslims and even the Muslims outside India-all are united. They always stand untied in face of danger. The broken and divided Hindus will not be able to combat them. Days are coming when the Hindus will be again humiliated by the Muslims. “You are a mother of children, one day you will die, passing the future of Hindus society on the weak shoulders of your children, but think about their future.” From the letter to Hemantabala Sarkar, written on 16the October, 1933, quoted in Bengali weekly `Swastika’, 21-6-1999

• A very important factor which is making it almost impossible for Hindu-Muslim unity to become an accomplished fact is that the Muslims can not confine their patriotism to any one country. I had frankly asked (the Muslims) whether in the event of any Mohammedan power invading India, they (Muslims) would stand side by side with their Hindu neighbours to defend their common land. I was not satisfied with the reply I got from them… Even such a man as Mr. Mohammad Ali (one of the famous Ali brothers, the leaders of the Khilafat Movement-the compiler) has declared that under no circumstances is it permissible for any Mohammedan, whatever be his country, to stand against any Mohammedan.”Rabindranath Tagore, Interview of Rabindranath Tagore in `Times of India’, 18-4-1924 in the column, `Through Indian Eyes on the Post Khilafat Hindu Muslim Riots. Also in A. Ghosh: “Making of the Muslim Psyche” in Devendra Swamp (ed.), Politics of Conversion, New Delhi, 1986, p. 148. And in S.R. Goel, Muslim Separatism – Causes and Consequences (1987).

“Dr. Munje said in another part of his report that, eight hundred years ago, the Hindu king of Malabar (now Kerala) on the advice of his Brahmin ministers, made big favor to the Arab Muslim to settle in his kingdom. Even he appeased the Arab Muslims by converting the Hindus to Islam to an extent to making law for compulsory conversion of a member of each Hindu fisherman family in to Islam. Those, whose nature is to practice idiocy rather than common sense, never can enjoy freedom even if they are in the throne. They turn the hour of action in to a night of merriment. That’s why they are always struck by the ghost at the middle of the day.”

“The king of Malabar once gave away his throne to idiocy. That idiocy is still ruling Malabar from a Hindu throne. That’s why the Hindus are still being beaten and saying that God is there, turning the faces towards the sky. Throughout India we allowed idiocy to rule and surrender ourselves to it. That kingdom of idiocy – the fatal lack of commonsense – was continuously invaded by the Pathans, sometimes by the Mughols and sometimes by the British. From outside we can only see the torture done by them, but they are only the tools of torture, not really the cause. The real reason of the torture is our lack of common sense and our idiocy, which is responsible for our sufferings. So we have to fight this idiocy that divided the Hindus and imposed slavery on us……..If we only think about the torture we will not find any solution. But if we can get rid of our idiocy, the tyrants will surrender to us.”

[’Samasya,’ (The Problem), Agrahayan, 1330 Bangabda, in “Kalantar”.]

Source:
https://sabrangindia.in/article/wha...oZ0SYOipJUGkj3SFOOQBG_AieQOROpUIeId1pkFAVkfmc

 

[Hijibiji]

Why do I think that Rabindranath Tagore was the father of Hindutva and a "sanghi"

The side of Rabindranath Tagore that ‘Liberal Intellectuals’ don’t want you to see: Here is what he thought of Islam

"Over time, a certain effort has been made by the intellectual Bengali elite to recast cultural icons of yore into stereotypes that fit perfectly with their own imaginations. In their effort, certain Bengali icons who have greatly influenced Bengali culture have been discarded while others have been fashioned as symbols of the supposed inherent secular Bengali culture.

In this endeavour, icons like Shyama Prasad Mookherjee and Sri Aurobindo don’t find a place for themselves in the pantheon of Bengali stalwarts while those like Raja Ram Mohan Roy do. However, contrary to what liberals would have us believe, the opinions of such icons did not always conform with their fancy notions.

Rabindranath Tagore is one such Bengali stalwart. Decades after his death, his songs are still sung and heard by every single Bengali Hindu family. His songs, which capture a variety of human emotions, have an entirely separate category unto themselves. ‘Rabindra Sangeet’ it is called. He is indeed an absolute cultural icon and over time, the Bengali intellectual elite has claimed him to be secular to present the ‘highly refined Bengali culture’ to be in stark contrast with the ‘rustic bigoted North Indian culture’.

However, was Rabindranath Tagore really secular as the term is understood now? Was he really a deracinated intellectual as most of the Bengali elite is now? Let us discard the notions liberals have fed us and make up our own minds on the basis of the legend’s own words.

From his works, it is abundantly clear that the great poet was not too fond of Islam and Christianity, to put it mildly. He said of them once, “There are two religions in earth, which have distinct enmity against all other religions. These two are Christianity and Islam. They are not just satisfied with observing their own religions but are determined to destroy all other religions. That’s why the only way to make peace with them is to embrace their religions.” (Original works of Rabindranath Vol. 24, page 375, Vishwa Bharti; 1982.)

In a letter to Hemantabala Sarkar, written on the 16th of October, 1933, quoted in Bengali weekly ‘Swastika’ on 21-6-1999, he says, “The terrible situation of the country makes my mind restless and I cannot keep silent. Meaningless ritual keeps the Hindus divided into hundred sects. So we are suffering from a series of defeats. We are tired and worn-out by the fortunes by the internal-external enemies. The Muslims are united in religion and rituals. The Bengali Muslims the South Indian Muslims and even the Muslims outside India-all are united. They always stand united in face of danger. The broken and divided Hindus will not be able to combat them. Days are coming when the Hindus will be again humiliated by the Muslims. “You are a mother of children, one day you will die, passing the future of Hindus society on the weak shoulders of your children, but think about their future.”

Rabindranath Tagore also blamed the Muslim community for the everlasting communal tensions between the two communities. Particularly, he blamed the pan-Islamic identity of the Muslim community and their penchant to put their religion over the nation which he claimed stood in the way of peaceful relations between Hindus and Muslims.

In an interview with Times of India in 1924, which was quoted by the Hindu intellectual stalwart Sita Ram Goel in his book ‘Muslim Separatism – Causes and Consequences’ (1987), Tagore said, “A very important factor which is making it almost impossible for Hindu-Muslim unity to become an accomplished fact is that the Muslims can not confine their patriotism to any one country. I had frankly asked (the Muslims) whether, in the event of any
Mohammedan power invading India, they (Muslims) would stand side by side with their Hindu neighbours to defend their common land. I was not satisfied with the reply I got from them… Even such a man as Mr Mohammad Ali (one of the famous Ali brothers, the leaders of the Khilafat Movement-the compiler) has declared that under no circumstances is it permissible for any Mohammedan, whatever be his country, to stand against any Mohammedan.”

On another occasion, “Swamy Shraddananda’’, written by Rabindranath in Magh, 1333 Bangabda; compiled in the book ‘Kalantar’, he exhorted the Hindus to shed their weakness. “Weakness harbours sin. So, if the Muslims beat us and we, the Hindus, tolerate this without resistance-then, we will know that it is made possible only by our weakness. For the sake of ourselves and our neighbour Muslims also, we have to discard our weakness. We can appeal to our neighbour Muslims, ‘Please don’t be cruel to us. No religion can be based on
genocide’ – but this kind of appeal is nothing, but the weeping of the weak person. When the low pressure is created in the air, a storm comes spontaneously; nobody can stop it for the sake of religion. Similarly, if weakness is cherished and be allowed to exist, torture comes automatically – nobody can stop it.”

He also harboured a very pessimistic outlook about the future of Hindu-Muslim relation. He went on to add, “Possibly, the Hindus and the Muslims can make a fake friendship to each other for a while, but that cannot last forever. As long as you don’t purify the soil, which grows only thorny shrubs you can not expect any fruit.”
Rabindranath Tagore, simultaneously, harboured great faith in Hinduism. He said, “When two-three different religions claim that only their own religions are true and all other religions are false, their religions are only ways to Heaven, conflicts cannot be avoided. Thus, fundamentalism tries to abolish all other religions. This is called Bolshevism in religion. Only the path shown by the Hinduism can relieve the world form this meanness.” (Tagore, ‘Aatmaparichapa’ in his book `Parichaya’)

Of course, Tagore’s intelligence means that his opinions were extremely nuanced and it’s quite impossible to capture the entirety of his worldview in a single article. However, one thing is for certain, Tagore was certainly not the ‘secular hero’ the current Bengali elite imagine him to be. If he said the words now that he did then, the stalwart would be immediately labelled as a Hindutva Bigot.To be fair, certain Left-Liberals maintain their honesty in this respect and do already label him as Islamophobic and a bigot. That is indeed worthy of much more appreciation than the attempts to recast the great man into something he was not. Pitamber Kaushik, in an article published in Countercurrents titled ‘What Did Rabindranath Tagore Think About Islam?’, says “an oft-unnoticed facet of this multiarmed polyglot, is remarkable, that of an undeniable bigot.” He adds, “Albeit Tagore did much to overhaul the exploitative social system and was the harbinger of progressive, modernist thought in Bengal, he was no Namboodripad or Nehru. Averse to the Abrahamic religions, and in spite of all ideological reformist endeavours, Tagore harboured an unmistakably soft spot for Hinduism, his religion of birth and upbringing.”
One certain Saif Khan, writing for the Left-Liberal website Youth ki Awaaz, placed Tagore in the list of ‘Islamophobic Indians‘. And it is further said, “Tagore’s flawed analogy if repeated by a political leader today would earn him the title of being ‘communal’.” Certain Maulanas, too, claim that Tagore’s ideas are being used to spread hatred against Muslims.

Tagore was an extremely complicated man born into an extremely complicated era. Unfortunately enough, he became a victim of the newly minted artificially secular regime’s revisionist project. As a consequence, the enormous complexity of the man was reduced to dull shades of black and white and the grandeur of his achievements was reduced to merely a political tool in the hands of vested interests.Quite ostensibly, Tagore was not a proponent of the Hindu Right as we understand it today. However, he was certainly not one of the ‘secular intellectual elite’ of today either. More importantly, Tagore’s legacy is not the intellectual property of the current set of deracinated Bengali elite. His music and legacy is cherished by every Indian. When the entire country rises for the National Anthem, they are paying tribute to the nation through a song composed by Tagore. Cultural Icons from the past ought to be celebrated and cherished, to use them as sticks to beat fellow countrymen with is a sheer disgrace.

Source:
https://www.opindia.com/2019/05/the...n29etDHq6D7ekXkyfDQ4iE0r-Y6bd_Wu0Et43idNFxbsg