As a fan of his works, I thought I'll post a small piece on Rabindranath Tagore on his 150th birth Anniversary.
"Patriotism cannot be our final spiritual shelter; my refuge is humanity. I will not buy glass for the price of diamonds, and I will never allow patriotism to triumph over humanity as long as I live." ~Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore(7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941),was a Hindu Bengali poet, novelist, musician, painter and playwright who reshaped Bengali literature and music. As author of Gitanjali with its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse" he was the first non-European to be awarded the Nobel Prize(1913) His poetry in translation was viewed as spiritual, and this together with his mesmerizing persona gave him a prophet-like aura in the west.
Tagore was already writing poems since he was eight years old. At age 16, he published his first substantial poetry under the pseudonym Bhanushingho ("Sun Lion") and wrote his first short stories and dramas in 1877.
Tagore achieved further note when he denounced the British Raj and supported Indian independence by renouncing his Knighthood. His efforts endure in his vast canon and in the institution he founded, Visva-Bharati University
His novels, stories, songs, dance-dramas, and essays spoke to political and personal topics. Gitanjali (Song Offerings), Gora (Fair-Faced), and Ghare-Baire (The Home and the World) are his best-known works, and his verse, short stories, and novels were acclaimed for their lyricism, colloquialism, naturalism, and contemplation.
Tagore was perhaps the only litterateur who penned anthems of two countries - Jana Gana Mana, the Indian national anthem and Amar Shonar Bangla, the Bangladeshi national anthem.
Young Tagore in England as a young student, and later in 1912
"Don't limit a child to your own learning, for she was born in another time." ~Rabindranath Tagore
One of my favorite works amongst his is the following poem, which he penned; protesting against the British raj and advocating for an independent India. I love it for the modern and liberal ideas he puts forth, in his vision of the new nation.
"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."
He was a prolific traveler (He visited about 30 countries) and was a friend of Einstein; with whom he used to have fascinating conversations
http://www.schoolofwisdom.com/history/teachers/rabindranath-tagore/tagore-and-einstein/^^ This has the transcript of one of their conversations
With his wife, Mrnalini Devi ///Tagore dabbled in primitivism: a pastel-coloured rendition of a Malagan mask from northern New Ireland
"Nirvana is not the blowing out of the candle. It is the extinguishing of the flame because day is come. " ~Rabindranath Tagore
Tagore , Even though He was knighted by the Queen renounced his knighthood after the British massacre of civilians in Jalianwala and Became committed to the Indian nationalist cause, writing poetry and engaging in social action to further this end.
His song(first sung in 1911),which looks upon India as a Mother goddess became the Indian national Anthem after independence.
Indian National Anthem
Thou art the ruler of the minds of all people,
Dispenser of India's destiny.
Thy name rouses the hearts of Punjab, Sind,
Gujarat and Maratha,
Of the Dravida and Orissa and Bengal;
It echoes in the hills of the Vindhyas and Himalayas,
mingles in the music of Jamuna and Ganges and is
chanted by the waves of the Indian Sea.
They pray for thy blessings and sing thy praise.
The saving of all people waits in thy hand,
Thou dispenser of India's destiny.
Victory, victory, victory to thee.
The Youtube version
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAE3lW1oi6g^^ English lyrics start at 1.50
The nation of Bangaladesh also uses one of his songs as its national Anthem
Bangladesh's national anthem
My beloved Bengal
My Bengal of Gold,
I love you.
Forever your skies,
Your air set my heart in tune
As if it were a flute.
In spring, O mother mine,
The fragrance from your mango groves
Makes me wild with joy,
Ah, what a thrill!
In autumn, O mother mine,
In the full blossomed paddy fields
I have seen spread all over sweet smiles.
Ah, what beauty, what shades,
What an affection, and what tenderness!
What a quilt have you spread
At the feet of banyan trees
And along the banks of rivers!
Are like nectar to my ears.
Ah, what a thrill!
If sadness, O mother mine,
Casts a gloom on your face,
My eyes are filled with tears!
Tagore, in his worldwide visits, found great welcome in pre-communist China where he made many a friendship
^^sadly the poet Xu Zhimo and many others like his did not survive Mao's Purges in the "cultural revolution" and "great leap forward"
"to tyrannize for the country is to tyrannize over the country" ~Rabindranath Tagore
Tagore reading a book of his to Helen Keller // With the Persian parliment members
Tagore playing the Character Valmiki, in one of his plays // Tagore in America //With Gandhi
An online version of his Gitanjali
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=TagGita.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=allsources: Wiki, Web, Me