Blossoming of Tagore’s geneius
Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) was a Bengali
poet, philosopher, artist, playwright, composer and novelist. India's
first Nobel laureate, Tagore won the 1913 Nobel Prize for Literature.
He composed the text of both India's and Bangladesh's respective national
anthems. Tagore travelled widely and was friends with many notable 20th century
figures such as William
Butler Yeats, H.G. Wells, Ezra Pound, and Albert
Einstein. While he supported Indian Independence, he often
had tactical disagreements with Gandhi (at one point talking him out
of a fast to the death). His body of literature is deeply sympathetic for
the poor and upholds universal humanistic values. His poetry drew from
traditional Vaisnava folk lyrics and was often deeply mystical.
Tagore's literary reputation is disproportionately
influenced very much by regard for his poetry; however, he also wrote novels,
essays, short stories, travelogues, dramas, and thousands of songs. Of Tagore's
prose, his short stories are perhaps most highly regarded; indeed, he is
credited with originating the Bengali-language version of the genre. His works
are frequently noted for their rhythmic, optimistic, and lyrical nature.
However, such stories mostly borrow from deceptively simple subject matter —
the lives of ordinary people.
We know that tagore wrote the Home and the World as a broad-based and united protest when the partition of Bengal was conceived
in 1905. It was termed as Swadeshi as it aimed at economic and social
regeneration of India. Tagore actively supported this movement, as in 1897, he
himself had started a Swadeshi Bhandar in Calcutta for the promotion of
indigenous (desi) goods. To promote this movement, he wrote a number of
national songs took out processions and raised funds for funding National
schools. With the passage of time, the movement assumed the form of political
agitation producing extreme reactions.
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