The 156th birth anniversary of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore is being celebrated today. Though best known as a poet, Rabindranath Tagore was a man of many aptitudes. The first Indian to win a Nobel for literature, he wrote and composed a wide array of songs. He was an educationist who established a university that challenged the conventional form of education. A painter, whose art form played an important role in modernizing Bengali art.
Born in 1861 to Debendranath Tagore and Sarada Devi, Rabindranath Tagore started writing at the age of six and went on to become the first Indian -- and the first Asian -- to win the Nobel Prize for literature for "Gitanjali". Known vividly for his vast collection of poems, prose, plays, stories and novels, Tagore put women in the forefront in his works to convey feminism very strongly. Being a progressive thinker, his writings often were based on bold subjects that were far ahead of the time. He strongly believed in fighting for women's upliftment using his pen as a weapon. Focusing largely on emancipation, his writing campaigned for women's liberation, equality, freedom, justice, power and dignity and rights.
Interesting facts about Tagore
The first non-European to win a Nobel Prize: When Tagore was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913, he became the first non-European to win it. He was awarded the prize after the publication of his acclaimed collection of poems Geetanjali.
Tagore and Rabindrasangeet
Rabindranath Tagore has composed more than two thousand songs. His songs known as Rabindrasangeet have become a symbol of cultural ethos of both India and Bangladesh.
The poet has composed the national anthems of more than two countries
Most people know that Tagore wrote the national anthems of India and Bangladesh – ‘Jana Gana Mana’ and ‘Amar Sonar Bangla’ respectively. But few know that Sri Lanka’s national anthem was also inspired by Tagore. Ananda Samarakoon who came to Visva Bharati, the university founded by Tagore, was influenced by Tagore. He went back to his country, then under British rule, and composed the Sri Lankan national anthem.
Tagore had warm relations with Mahatma Gandhi and Albert Einstein
The kind of relationship Tagore shared with Mahatma Gandhi and Albert Einstein was remarkable. It was Tagore who conferred the title of ‘Mahatma’ on Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi in the year 1915. Though Tagore differed with Mahatma Gandhi on certain issues, yet he admired Gandhi-ji like anything. And with Albert Einstein, Tagore met four times between 1930 and 1931. It is said that their conversations were marked ‘by their curiosity about the other’s contributions, their pursuit of truth and their love of music’.
His achievements
1. An Indian polymath
Without doubt, Rabindranath Tagore remains one of those people who brought the concept of modern Indian on the world stage. He still continues to inspire youngsters who want to take up any form of art, for, he himself excelled in many of them.
2. Wide variety of contributions
He made contribution to various forms of art including music, painting, theatre, poetry, writing, and also to education.
3. His impact
Tagore was renowned throughout much of Europe, North America, and East Asia. In Japan, he influenced such figures as Nobel laureate Yasunari Kawabata.
4. Work translated in many languages
Tagore's works were widely translated into English, Dutch, German, Spanish, and other European languages by Czech indologist Vincenc Lesný, French Nobel laureate André Gide, Russian poet Anna Akhmatova, former Turkish Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit, and others. In the United States, Tagore's lecturing circuits, particularly those of 1916–1917, were widely attended and wildly acclaimed.
5. Winning the Nobel Prize
Being the first Indian and Asian to win a Nobel Prize, he revolutionised the thought of Indians who needed a hero to look up to.