TAGORE THE LEGEND

TAGORE THE LEGEND

Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941)

was the youngest son of

Debendranath Tagore, a leader of

the Brahmo Samaj, which was a new

religious sect in nineteenth-century

Bengal and which attempted a revival

of the ultimate monistic basis of

Hinduism as laid down in the

Upanishads. He was educated at

home; and although at seventeen he

was sent to England for formal

schooling, he did not finish his

studies there. In his mature years, in

addition to his many-sided literary

activities, he managed the family

estates, a project which brought him

into close touch with common

humanity and increased his interest

in social reforms. He also started an

experimental school at Shantiniketan

where he tried his Upanishadic ideals

of education. From time to time he

participated in the Indian nationalist

movement, though in his own non-

sentimental and visionary way; and

Gandhi, the political father of modern

India , was his devoted friend. Tagore

was knighted by the ruling British

Government in 1915, but within a

few years he resigned the honour as

a protest against British policies in

India.

Tagore had early success as a writer in his

native Bengal . With his translations of some of

his poems he became rapidly known in the

West. In fact his fame attained a luminous

height, taking him across continents on lecture

tours and tours of friendship. For the world he

became the voice of India 's spiritual heritage;

and for India , especially for Bengal , he became

a great living institution.

Although Tagore wrote successfully in all literary genres, he was first of all a poet. Among his fifty and odd volumes of poetry are Manasi (1890) [The Ideal One], Sonar Tari (1894) [The Golden Boat], Gitanjali (1910) [Song Offerings], Gitimalya(1914) [Wreath of Songs], and Balaka (1916) [The Flight of Cranes]. The English renderings of his poetry, which includeThe Gardener (1913), Fruit-Gathering (1916), and The Fugitive(1921), do not generally correspond to particular volumes in the original Bengali;

and in spite of its title, Gitanjali: Song Offerings

(1912), the most acclaimed of them, contains

poems from other works besides its namesake.

Tagore's major plays are Raja (1910) [The King

of the Dark Chamber], Dakghar (1912) [The Post

Office], Achalayatan (1912) [The Immovable],

Muktadhara (1922) [The Waterfall], and

Raktakaravi (1926) [Red Oleanders]. He is the

author of several volumes of short stories and a

number of novels, among them Gora (1910),

Ghare-Baire (1916) [The Home and the World],

and Yogayog (1929)

 Rabindranath Tagore and his wife Mrinalini Devi-1883

Besides these, he wrote musical dramas, dance

dramas, essays of all types, travel diaries, and

two autobiographies, one in his middle years

and the other shortly before his death in 1941.

Tagore also left numerous drawings and

paintings, and songs for which he wrote the

music himself.