"Jodi Tor Dak Shune Keu Na Ashe, tobe akla cholo re" - (if nobody comes to you when you call for them - then walk alone .."
I do not recall from where did my fascination for Rabindranath Tagore’s literature all started. It may have been class 11 when I put up on notice board a poem by the bard on a self designed poster since I was in ‘Tagore house’. May be it went further back when we sang his songs in the school choir. Although to be honest, singing the English translations of his Bengali songs was a slightly tedious affair. A song is more lyrical in its native language, translations can’t do that justice.
I cannot put my finger down and say what drew me towards his literature but the romance lingered. I randomly came across his quotes in newspapers. The following quote I picked up from TOI and wrote across the first page of my diary. This was perhaps around the time I was sitting at home waiting for my results for Engineering entrance and I felt as if someone was speaking to me directly to stop being anxious about my future.
“Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers
But be fearless in facing them..
Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain
But for the heart to conquer it..
Let me not live in anxious fear to be saved
But hope for the patience to win my freedom.”
My college library had a good old literature section and provided me with enough Tagore material to scribble in my diary. Interestingly around this time I got my first mobile and with that I started texting Tagore across to my friends. A handful of us had really caught on the literary bug and soon my collection started expanding.
“Praise shames me for I secretly beg of it!”
“Death belongs to life as birth does
The walk is in the raising of the foot as in the laying of it down”
“How small is the earth and confined
Watched and followed by the persistent horizons
The light like a cage has shut out the dark eternity
And the hours hop and cry within its barriers.”
Imagine texting the following poem. All this effort my neighbor had put in to send across her Tagore favourite.
Fireflies
"I touch God in my song as the hill touches the far away sea with its waterfall
The butterfly counts not months but moments and has time enough.
Let my love, like sunlight surround you and give you illumined freedom.
Love remains a secret even when spoken, for only a lover truly knows that he is loved.
Emancipation from the soil is no freedom for the tree.
In my love, I pay my endless debt to thee".
Then finally I picked a personal copy of Gitanjali. (Now that event is dated, 5th Oct 2005). It’s a English translation. Even a good translation cannot match the glory of the original creation, but nevertheless I found immense beauty in the little verses. When I read the verses I feel as if it is the voice of a person deeply in love that echoes across. You can sense the vulnerabilities and fragilities of the human existence submitting to the strength of an all-encompassing love. The human ego is lost in the strong undercurrent of love. It’s the humble sole rejoicing in the bliss of a selfless love and yearning to embrace the loved one. The idealism here very rarely manifest in our relationships but then its exhilarating to look up to the ideal of love. I for my part appreciate the imagination that can perceive this beauty in relationships. The imagination, subtleties, submission and humility in the verses fill me with a tender feeling.
Thereafter I picked up ‘Complete work of Tagore’ which has essays, short stories and his poems. It was a complete delight. Since I read it back in college, I remember certain scenes and characters like a distant memory. I still have this image of a postman living in a quaint village, a woman silently accepting her plight while gazing out at the sea etched in my mind. The stories give a deep insight into the interaction of the individual and the society around that time. Further the psychological portrayal of the characters gives you a feeling of déjà-vu (at least I can say that for myself). The most endearing characters are perhaps the women in his stories and literature. They are enigmatic, intelligent, real and strong. Very few writers can delve this beautifully into the intricacies of the female mind :)
The next phase of Tagore came in when I was working in Kolkata for 2 years. The Indian museum in Kolkata has an entire set of paintings by the Tagore family. The city has a unique relation with him. There is this metro station in Kolkata ‘Rabindra Sadan’, the graffiti on the platform draws inspiration from the poet’s life. There are sketches of him around, his poems, his songs are all written across. Being a non-Bengali I missed out on the ‘letter’ but still enjoyed the ‘spirit’. Then there is the ‘Rabindra Sangeet’ that is an integral part of all social gatherings. Well a little story here, we watched the Hindi movie Rock On in Priya theatre Kolkata, when the movie finished, the casting didn’t have the Rock on track playing instead it was the Rabindra Sangeet. Perhaps I still have to develop an hear for that. I still have Shantineketan to explore.
This is his 150th centenary year and I am truly overwhelmed how he still continues to exist in our midst. His creative faculties have well surpassed him and continue to challenge minds. For me the romance is far from over, there is lots to explore yet!
"The traveller has to knock at every alien door to come to his own,
& one has to wonder through all the outer worlds to reach the innermost shrine in the end".
I do not recall from where did my fascination for Rabindranath Tagore’s literature all started. It may have been class 11 when I put up on notice board a poem by the bard on a self designed poster since I was in ‘Tagore house’. May be it went further back when we sang his songs in the school choir. Although to be honest, singing the English translations of his Bengali songs was a slightly tedious affair. A song is more lyrical in its native language, translations can’t do that justice.
I cannot put my finger down and say what drew me towards his literature but the romance lingered. I randomly came across his quotes in newspapers. The following quote I picked up from TOI and wrote across the first page of my diary. This was perhaps around the time I was sitting at home waiting for my results for Engineering entrance and I felt as if someone was speaking to me directly to stop being anxious about my future.
“Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers
But be fearless in facing them..
Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain
But for the heart to conquer it..
Let me not live in anxious fear to be saved
But hope for the patience to win my freedom.”
My college library had a good old literature section and provided me with enough Tagore material to scribble in my diary. Interestingly around this time I got my first mobile and with that I started texting Tagore across to my friends. A handful of us had really caught on the literary bug and soon my collection started expanding.
“Praise shames me for I secretly beg of it!”
“Death belongs to life as birth does
The walk is in the raising of the foot as in the laying of it down”
“How small is the earth and confined
Watched and followed by the persistent horizons
The light like a cage has shut out the dark eternity
And the hours hop and cry within its barriers.”
Imagine texting the following poem. All this effort my neighbor had put in to send across her Tagore favourite.
Fireflies
"I touch God in my song as the hill touches the far away sea with its waterfall
The butterfly counts not months but moments and has time enough.
Let my love, like sunlight surround you and give you illumined freedom.
Love remains a secret even when spoken, for only a lover truly knows that he is loved.
Emancipation from the soil is no freedom for the tree.
In my love, I pay my endless debt to thee".
Then finally I picked a personal copy of Gitanjali. (Now that event is dated, 5th Oct 2005). It’s a English translation. Even a good translation cannot match the glory of the original creation, but nevertheless I found immense beauty in the little verses. When I read the verses I feel as if it is the voice of a person deeply in love that echoes across. You can sense the vulnerabilities and fragilities of the human existence submitting to the strength of an all-encompassing love. The human ego is lost in the strong undercurrent of love. It’s the humble sole rejoicing in the bliss of a selfless love and yearning to embrace the loved one. The idealism here very rarely manifest in our relationships but then its exhilarating to look up to the ideal of love. I for my part appreciate the imagination that can perceive this beauty in relationships. The imagination, subtleties, submission and humility in the verses fill me with a tender feeling.
Thereafter I picked up ‘Complete work of Tagore’ which has essays, short stories and his poems. It was a complete delight. Since I read it back in college, I remember certain scenes and characters like a distant memory. I still have this image of a postman living in a quaint village, a woman silently accepting her plight while gazing out at the sea etched in my mind. The stories give a deep insight into the interaction of the individual and the society around that time. Further the psychological portrayal of the characters gives you a feeling of déjà-vu (at least I can say that for myself). The most endearing characters are perhaps the women in his stories and literature. They are enigmatic, intelligent, real and strong. Very few writers can delve this beautifully into the intricacies of the female mind :)
The next phase of Tagore came in when I was working in Kolkata for 2 years. The Indian museum in Kolkata has an entire set of paintings by the Tagore family. The city has a unique relation with him. There is this metro station in Kolkata ‘Rabindra Sadan’, the graffiti on the platform draws inspiration from the poet’s life. There are sketches of him around, his poems, his songs are all written across. Being a non-Bengali I missed out on the ‘letter’ but still enjoyed the ‘spirit’. Then there is the ‘Rabindra Sangeet’ that is an integral part of all social gatherings. Well a little story here, we watched the Hindi movie Rock On in Priya theatre Kolkata, when the movie finished, the casting didn’t have the Rock on track playing instead it was the Rabindra Sangeet. Perhaps I still have to develop an hear for that. I still have Shantineketan to explore.
This is his 150th centenary year and I am truly overwhelmed how he still continues to exist in our midst. His creative faculties have well surpassed him and continue to challenge minds. For me the romance is far from over, there is lots to explore yet!
"The traveller has to knock at every alien door to come to his own,
& one has to wonder through all the outer worlds to reach the innermost shrine in the end".
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