A patriot, poet, novelist, playwright, musician, and one of the finest storytellers of India, Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore also penned our national anthem. Today, whenever we recite our national anthem ‘Jana Gana Mana…’ we are filled with a sense of pride for our country.
My first encounter with English literature was in school. ‘Short stories by Rabindranath Tagore’ was one of my favorite books. Reading ‘Kabuliwallah’, and ‘Postmaster’ among others would immediately transport you to the lanes of Calcutta, and the banks of Ganges and Yamuna.
And what can one say about ‘Gitanjali’. A collection of songs, Gitanjali, was Tagore’s offering to the divine. A soulful rendition, and a journey through the intricacies of human emotions. Tagore received the Nobel Prize in literature in 1913 for ‘Gitanjali’. Here is one of the many gems from ‘Gitanjali’. This is an all time favorite poem of mine for the emotion it conveys succinctly.
Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. Image Source: http://www.milleniumtrust.co.uk
“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.”
Generations of Indians have been inspired by the words of Tagore, and will continue to do so. His words are relevant today as they were more than a century ago. Numerous events have been organized to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Tagore. Perhaps, a more fitting tribute would be to reintroduce the younger generation to Tagore’s works, and also for us to lead a life where our words and deeds coincide – similar to the life led by Tagore.
Ek Sparsh 