Day 10: Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941)

   Rabindranath Tagore was a literary giant in India. Born into a Bengali Brahmin family in Calcutta, Tagore founded an ashram in West Bengal that included an experimental school. He believed that God was found through personal purity and service to others. Tagore was known primarily for his poetry which was deeply influenced by the mysticism of the Hindu Upanishads but at the same time was accessible to many Western readers. In 1913 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature becoming Asia’s first Nobel laureate.
   However, Tagore was prolific in many other artistic fields. Besides his poetry, Tagore produced many novels, short stories and dramas. He wrote non-fiction works on diverse topics: Indian history, linguistics, travelogues and science. He composed more than 2,000 songs, including many devotional hymns and the national anthems for both India and Bangladesh. When he was sixty he began to draw and paint, and his art was exhibited in Paris and London.
   Tagore was a controversial figure in Indian politics. He supported the Indian independence movement and was a friend of Gandhi, but he also disagreed with Gandhi over many issues. He was especially virulent in his attacks on nationalism. He denounced fascists, Japanese and American nationalists, and even the nationalism in the Indian independence movement.
   He spoke out against India’s “abnormal caste consciousness,” decrying the evils of social systems in India that left millions in poverty and labeled entire groups of people as “untouchable.” He raised feminist concerns in his writings, calling for liberation of women from many of the customs in marriage. In his stories, he attacked those who still glorified the custom of self-immolation by women after their husbands’ deaths.
   Tagore’s writings were influenced by many religious streams. The Muslim mystical poet Hafez was an inspiration to him. He used a Buddhist story of Ananda, one of Gautama Buddha’s disciples, who asked an untouchable girl for water, as an exemplary tale for his Hindu culture. During Tagore’s travels he engaged with many people in discussions of a transcendent humanism. He addressed the annual Quaker gathering in London, and became a friend and associate of Charles Andrews, the Christian missionary who was Gandhi’s protégé. Tagore was deeply disturbed by the tensions and violence between the Hindu and Muslim communities in India. He explored these issues in his writings, taking on the religious zeal that leads to bigotry and violence, especially when wedded to nationalism.

Comments

[Shreekari Tadepalli]

He wrote many novels, short stories, dramas and poems and won the 1913 Nobel Prize for Literature (making him the first Asian Nobel laureate). He openly criticized the idea of nationalism, although he supported the Indian independence movement. He despised social norms, and even married his son to a widow – something unheard of during his time. Who was this reformer, this man so deep, yet so simple? His name is one we have all heard – Rabindranath Tagore.

Tagore was a man of strong opinion, though he was not a politician, nor even a political activist. He was a visionary, recognizing the need for interfaith action decades before the Israel-Palestine wars and nearly a century before the September 11th attack. Tagore met with many people, talking of our common humanity, and the consequences of intolerance. He addressed the annual Quaker convention in London, and befriended the Christian missionary Charles Andrews and others, to promote an understanding of Sanatana Dharma (the proper name for Hinduism) throughout the West. Warning the world of developing Hindu-Muslim tensions, he encouraged religious dialogue and promoted understanding through his literary works. He opened a school – Santinikethan, or Abode of Peace – experimenting with different teaching styles to make learning fun for his students. As an International Baccalaureate middle-school student, I believe Tagore would have made an ideal IB teacher!

“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.” – from Gitanjali, cited in Tagore’s 1913 Nobel Prize Award.

These lines have meaning even today. Tagore knew that for world peace, you need religious tolerance. For this, he knew that you must have an open mind and an open heart. Only then will our country, and our world, be free from bigotry and animosity, whether it be against a particular religion, a specific nationality, or a single person.

As an Indian-American, a Hindu, a writer and a global citizen, I believe that I should continue Tagore’s mission of interfaith acceptance. “Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls,” there lies Rabindranath Tagore’s dream of true peace.