Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore

Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore
 

News: On 7th May, 162nd Rabindra Jayanti was celebrated which is a huge day for people who respect free thought and art, not only in Bengal or India but across the globe.
 

About Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore:

o Kavi guru was a global personality in true sense and contributed not just to art in India, but across various disciplines globally
o He was the biggest medium of expression of Indian art in the world, He was the first Indian to win the Nobel Prize (1913) for his novel ‘Geetanjali’.
o He propagated ideas of humanism, idealism, nationalism and internationalism.
o One of the most remarkable institutions established by Tagore – Visva Bharati University (1921) – ushered in a new era of Indian nationalism (incorporating all the best aspects of Western culture into the best of Indian culture).
 

His contribution as a Freedom Fighter and Social Reformer:

o According to him, true freedom means the ability to be truthful and honest with oneself.
o He viewed British rule as a symptom of the overall “sickness” of the social “disease” of the public.
o He actively participated in the Swadeshi movement (1905). He withdrew from the movement looking at communal violence it caused.
o He wrote the ‘Amar Sonar Bangla’ (adopted as the national anthem of Bangladesh later) and ‘Jana Gana Mana’ (adopted as the national anthem of independent India later) which helped ignite a feeling of nationalism amongst people.
o For Hindu-Muslim unity, he started the Rakhi festival.
o He also vociferously opposed the Jallianwala Bagh incident for which he renounced the Knighthood.
o He laid great emphasis on education in one’s mother tongue. The NEP 2020 takes inspiration from his thoughts.
o In his poem – ‘The Sacred Touch’ (in the Harijan) and drama – ‘Chandalika’, he shunned untouchability as being inhumane.
o His works – Chokher Bali (a novel that explores the themes of love, marriage, adultery, and widowhood in the late 19th century Bengal), Maanbhajan, and Aparichita (against the practice of dowry) catered to all social evils.
o Ghare Baire (The Home and the World), a novel that portrays the conflict between tradition and modernity, and the impact of the Swadeshi movement on a Bengali family
 

Important works:

o He published his first poems at the age of 16 under the pen name ‘Bhanusimha’.
o Important works include Gitanjali, Ghare-Baire, Gora, Manasi, Balaka, Dak Ghar and Sonar Tori. He is also remembered for his song ‘Ekla Chalo Re’. Source – PIB, Wikipedia