A multi-faceted, highly cultured man known as India’s Shakespeare, Rabindranath Tagore was the most distinguished man of letters of his country. He was a world-famous poet, novelist, playwright, painter, composer of songs, educationist, journalist, social worker, philosopher and patriot, with some 200 books to his credit.

Without any early formal education, Tagore wrote his first poem at the tender age of 8 years. Even around that time, he was attracted to the Gayatri mantra (Hindu supreme prayer in Sanskrit) and enjoyed reciting Valmiki’s original verses, also in Sanskrit, of the Ramayana. Even in 1874, his budding talent blossomed, when he wrote two short poems, Evening Songs and Morning Songs which were soon followed by his play, The Genius of Valmiki, a musical composition.

This laureate of humanity was the son of Maharshi Devendranath, the successor of Rammohun Roy, Prince Dwarkanath Tagore’s grandson and the younger brother of Satyendranath who was the first Indian to join the Indian Civil Service.

After a two-year stay in London where he tried to read for the Law after studying English Literature for some time at the University College, Rabindranath, upon his return at the age of 17 years married a girl aged ten, but his wife died in 1902. As from that time, he became engrossed in literary and cultural activities. He had married her as chosen by his father, although she was poor, illiterate and not beautiful. But she later became educated.

On 12 December 1901, he set up his Brahmacharya Ashram, the core of the future Viswa Bharati University. With merely five students, including his own son Rathindra, the Ashram was inaugurated after ten days.

A social reformer, Rabindranath married his son to a child widow in 1910. His multiple works, inspired by those of Valmiki, Vyasa and Kalidasa, include Dak Ghar (The Post Office) which, translated into English, French and Portuguese, was staged in London. For his Gitanjali (Offering of Songs), a collection of poems which he had personally rendered into English and published in 1912, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913 – the first Asian and non-white to be so honoured. Until now, his name had never been heard of in the UK, where the book came out of the press, let alone the West. After lecturing then in various parts of the world, he established in 1901, upon his return home, a school at Shantiniketan (Abode of Peace), originally with only five students. Previously, he had protested against the Seditious Bill 1898 and later the internment of Ms Annie Besant, the Irish-born freedom fighter who struggled until her death for the Independence of India which had become her adopted home country.

Besides his participation in social work in various forms, Rabindranath actively took part in the agitation in the wake of the partition of Bengal, leading processions, writing patriotic poems, delivering fiery addresses and vulgarising the notion of the Swadeshi Campaign. Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s Vande Mataram was again sung at the session of the India National Congress (INC) of 1906, after that of 1896, now by Rabindranath himself.

At a political gathering in Calcutta in 1911, his Jana Gana Mana Adhinayaka (the leader of people’s minds) was rendered, as previously on such occasions. On the next day, he personally sang it for the INC session itself. It was first published in January 1912 in his own paper Tattvabondhini Patrika. In 1919, he translated into English his Jana Gana Mana. It has been adopted as the national anthem of India. Bangladesh too adopted in 1971 another of Tagore’s songs, Amar Sonar Bangla (my Golden Bangla) as its national anthem.

Gandhi came to Shantiniketan on 17 February 1915, just a week after his return from South Africa, when Rabindranath happened to be abroad. But, as solicited by Rabindranath, Gandhi again came on 6 March 1915 when the two topmost Indian geniuses met at Shantiniketan for the first time. On 18 January 1930, Rabindranath visited Gandhi’s Sabarmati Ashram.

On 3 June 1915, he was knighted by England. But, on 30 May 1919, he relinquished this title of Sir. This was in protest against the Jallianwala tragedy, which had occurred in Amritsar, Punjab, on 13 April in the same year when a crowd of 1300 innocent people, including women and children, were shot down – 300 killed and 1000 wounded.

On 24 December 1921, Rabindranath inaugurated his Viswa Bharati University which had been founded in 1918. This institution published the Viswa Bharati Quarterly.

The All-India Radio (AIR), as named by Rabindranath Tagore in 1936, was baptised by him as Akashvani, an appellation withdrawn for some time but again utilised as from 14 May 1982. Will Durant, inscribing his book, The Case for India, for Tagore, wrote: “You alone are sufficient reason why India should be free.”

<B>Chit DUKHIRA</B>