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Rabindranath Tagore | HearLore
Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore was born into a world of contradictions, the youngest of thirteen surviving children in the Jorasanko mansion in Calcutta on the 7th of May 1861. His mother died when he was very young, leaving him to be raised largely by servants while his father, Debendranath Tagore, traveled the globe. This early isolation did not stifle his genius; instead, it forged a unique path. By the age of eight, he was already writing poetry, and by sixteen, he had released his first substantial poems under the pseudonym Bhanusimha, or Sun Lion. These works were so convincing that literary authorities accepted them as long-lost classics from the seventeenth century, a literary prank that Tagore played with devastating effectiveness. The family, originally from the village of Kush in the Burdwan district, carried the surname Kushari before anglicizing it to Tagore, a name that would eventually echo across the globe. The Tagore family was at the forefront of the Bengal Renaissance, hosting literary magazines, theatre, and recitals of both Bengali and Western classical music. His brother Satyendranath became the first Indian appointed to the elite Indian Civil Service, while another brother, Jyotirindranath, was a musician and playwright. The family's influence was profound, yet Tagore's own journey was one of rebellion against the rigid structures of his time, a rebellion that began in the quiet corners of his childhood home.
The Bard of Shilaidaha
In 1890, Tagore began managing his vast ancestral estates in Shilaidaha, a region that is now part of Bangladesh. He criss-crossed the Padma River in command of the Padma, a luxurious family barge, collecting mostly token rents and blessing villagers who in turn honored him with banquets of dried rice and sour milk. It was during this period that he met Gagan Harkara, through whom he became familiar with Baul Lalon Shah, whose folk songs greatly influenced Tagore. He worked to popularize Lalon's songs, blending the mystic Baul ballads with his own poetic sensibilities. The period from 1891 to 1895, known as Tagore's Sadhana period, was his most productive, yielding more than half the stories contained in the three-volume Galpaguchchha. These stories examined the voluptuous poverty of an idealized rural Bengal, showcasing Tagore's reflections on his surroundings and the lives of India's poor and common people. His early stories, such as Kabuliwala and Kshudita Pashan, typified this analytic focus on the downtrodden. The Sadhana period was among his most fecund, and it was here that Tagore's literary voice began to take on a lyrical quality that would define his later works. The stories were not just tales; they were a profound examination of the human condition, a reflection of the world he saw around him.
The Nobel Laureate's Journey
Common questions
When was Rabindranath Tagore born and where?
Rabindranath Tagore was born on the 7th of May 1861 in the Jorasanko mansion in Calcutta. He was the youngest of thirteen surviving children in a family that originally carried the surname Kushari before anglicizing it to Tagore.
What major literary work did Rabindranath Tagore win the Nobel Prize for?
Rabindranath Tagore won the 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature for his 1912 English translation of Gitanjali, also known as Song Offerings. He became the first Asian to win a Nobel Prize in any category and the first lyricist and non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Why did Rabindranath Tagore renounce his knighthood?
Rabindranath Tagore renounced his knighthood in 1919 after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre to protest the disproportionate severity of punishments inflicted upon the people. He wrote to the British Viceroy Lord Chelmsford stating that badges of honor made their shame glaring in their incongruous context of humiliation.
When was the Visva-Bharati University founded by Rabindranath Tagore?
The foundation stone for the Visva-Bharati University was laid on the 24th of December 1918 and the institution was inaugurated precisely three years later. Tagore named the school Visva-Bharati and employed a brahmacharya system where gurus gave pupils personal guidance.
What happened to Rabindranath Tagore's paintings during the Nazi regime?
In 1937, Rabindranath Tagore's paintings were removed from Berlin's baroque Crown Prince Palace by the Nazi regime. Five of his works were included in the inventory of degenerate art compiled by the Nazis in 1941 and 1942.
When did Rabindranath Tagore die and what was his final poem?
Rabindranath Tagore died on the 7th of August 1941 in an upstairs room of the Jorasanko mansion. A. K. Sen received dictation from Tagore on the 30th of July 1941 for his last poem, which was a final expression of his belief in the beauty and tragedy of life.
In 1912, Tagore translated his 1910 work Gitanjali into English, and while on a trip to London, he shared these poems with admirers, including William Butler Yeats and Ezra Pound. The London India Society published the work in a limited edition, and the American magazine Poetry published a selection from Gitanjali. In November 1913, Tagore learned he had won that year's Nobel Prize in Literature, becoming the first Asian to win a Nobel Prize in any category and the first lyricist and non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. The Swedish Academy appreciated the idealistic and for Westerners accessible nature of a small body of his translated material focused on the 1912 Gitanjali: Song Offerings. He was awarded a knighthood by King George V in the 1915 Birthday Honours, but Tagore renounced it after the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre. Renouncing the knighthood, Tagore wrote in a letter addressed to Lord Chelmsford, the then British Viceroy of India, stating that the disproportionate severity of the punishments inflicted upon the unfortunate people and the methods of carrying them out were without parallel in the history of civilized governments. The time had come when badges of honor made their shame glaring in their incongruous context of humiliation, and he wished to stand, shorn of all special distinctions, by the side of his countrymen. This act of defiance was a defining moment in his life, a testament to his unwavering commitment to justice and his belief in the dignity of all people.
The School Under the Trees
In 1901, Tagore moved to Santiniketan to found an ashram with a marble-floored prayer hall, an experimental school, groves of trees, gardens, and a library. There his wife and two of his children died, and his father died in 1905. He received monthly payments as part of his inheritance and income from the Maharaja of Tripura, sales of his family's jewellery, his seaside bungalow in Puri, and a derisory 2,000 rupees in book royalties. In 1921, Tagore and agricultural economist Leonard Elmhirst set up the Institute for Rural Reconstruction, later renamed Shriniketan or Abode of Welfare, in Surul, a village near the ashram. With it, Tagore sought to moderate Gandhi's Swaraj protests, which he occasionally blamed for British India's perceived mental and thus ultimately colonial decline. He sought aid from donors, officials, and scholars worldwide to free villages from the shackles of helplessness and ignorance by vitalizing knowledge. In the early 1930s, he targeted ambient abnormal caste consciousness and untouchability. He lectured against these, penned Dalit heroes for his poems and his dramas, and campaigned successfully to open Guruvayoor Temple to Dalits. The school, which he named Visva-Bharati, had its foundation stone laid on the 24th of December 1918 and was inaugurated precisely three years later. Tagore employed a brahmacharya system: gurus gave pupils personal guidance, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual. Teaching was often done under trees. He staffed the school, contributed his Nobel Prize monies, and his duties as steward-mentor at Santiniketan kept him busy: mornings he taught classes; afternoons and evenings he wrote the students' textbooks. He fundraised widely for the school in Europe and the United States between 1919 and 1921.
The Global Wanderer
Between 1878 and 1932, Tagore set foot in more than thirty countries on five continents. In 1912, he took a sheaf of his translated works to England, where they gained attention from missionary and Gandhi protégé Charles F. Andrews, Irish poet William Butler Yeats, Ezra Pound, Robert Bridges, Ernest Rhys, Thomas Sturge Moore, and others. Yeats wrote the preface to the English translation of Gitanjali; Andrews joined Tagore at Santiniketan. In November 1912 Tagore began touring the United States and the United Kingdom, staying in Butterton, Staffordshire with Andrews's clergymen friends. From May 1916 until April 1917, he lectured in Japan and the United States. He denounced nationalism. His essay Nationalism in India was scorned and praised; it was admired by Romain Rolland and other pacifists. Shortly after returning home, the 63-year-old Tagore accepted an invitation from the Peruvian government. He traveled to Mexico. Each government pledged 100,000 to his school to commemorate the visits. A week after his the 6th of November 1924 arrival in Buenos Aires, an ill Tagore shifted to the Villa Miralrío at the behest of Victoria Ocampo. He left for home in January 1925. In May 1926 Tagore reached Naples; the next day he met Mussolini in Rome. Their warm rapport ended when Tagore pronounced upon Il Duces fascist finesse. He had earlier enthused that without any doubt he was a great personality. There was such a massive vigor in that head that it reminded one of Michael Angelo's chisel. A fire-bath of fascism was to have educed the immortal soul of Italy clothed in quenchless light. On the 1st of November 1926 Tagore arrived in Hungary and spent some time on the shore of Lake Balaton in the city of Balatonfüred, recovering from heart problems at a sanitarium. He planted a tree, and a bust statue was placed there in 1956, a gift from the Indian government, the work of Rasithan Kashar, replaced by a newly gifted statue in 2005, and the lakeside promenade still bears his name since 1957.
The Painter of Colors
At sixty, Tagore took up drawing and painting, and successful exhibitions of his many works, which made a debut appearance in Paris upon encouragement by artists he met in the south of France, were held throughout Europe. He was likely red, green color blind, resulting in works that exhibited strange color schemes and off-beat aesthetics. Tagore was influenced by numerous styles, including scrimshaw by the Malanggan people of northern New Ireland, Papua New Guinea, Haida carvings from the Pacific Northwest region of North America, and woodcuts by the German Max Pechstein. His artist's eye for handwriting was revealed in the simple artistic and rhythmic leitmotifs embellishing the scribbles, cross-outs, and word layouts of his manuscripts. Some of Tagore's lyrics corresponded in a synesthetic sense with particular paintings. India's National Gallery of Modern Art lists 102 works by Tagore in its collections. In 1937, Tagore's paintings were removed from Berlin's baroque Crown Prince Palace by the Nazi regime and five were included in the inventory of degenerate art compiled by the Nazis in 1941, 1942. The paintings were not just visual art; they were an extension of his poetic and philosophical vision, a way to express the inexpressible. The strange color schemes and off-beat aesthetics were a reflection of his unique perspective on the world, a perspective that was both deeply personal and universally resonant. The paintings were a testament to his belief that art was a means of exploring the human condition, a way to connect with the divine, and a way to express the beauty and tragedy of life.
The Final Poem
Tagore's last five years were marked by chronic pain and two long periods of illness. These began when Tagore lost consciousness in late 1937; he remained comatose and near death for a time. This was followed in late 1940 by a similar spell, from which he never recovered. Poetry from these valetudinary years is among his finest. A period of prolonged agony ended with Tagore's death on the 7th of August 1941, aged 80. He was in an upstairs room of the Jorasanko mansion in which he grew up. The date is still mourned. A. K. Sen, brother of the first chief election commissioner, received dictation from Tagore on the 30th of July 1941, a day before a scheduled operation: his last poem. The poem was a testament to his enduring spirit, a final expression of his belief in the beauty and tragedy of life. The poem was a reflection of his life's work, a culmination of his poetic and philosophical vision. The poem was a testament to his belief that art was a means of exploring the human condition, a way to connect with the divine, and a way to express the beauty and tragedy of life. The poem was a final gift to the world, a reminder of the enduring power of the human spirit.