Rabindranath Tagore

Introduction:

Sir Rabindranath Tagore, Sobriquet Gurudev aka Kabi Guru Rabindranath Thakur was a 19th century poet renowned also as a musician, artist, educationist, social reformer, and a philosopher.

Of Bengali decent, the Indian was born in 7 May 1861. Biswa Kabi (as he was also called) even got Interviewed by the great Mathematician, Albert Einstein in 1930.
His Works:
Most of his works were in his native Endonym Bangla (Bengali). Some are;

• Nationalism in India is an essay that talks about how the main challenges of India, as well as other countries, is more social than political.
• Chitto Jetha Bhayshunyo (Where the mind is without fear) is a novel that expresses Tagore’s vision of a more enlightened India.
• Ghare-Baire (The home and the world) is a novel that describes the battle Tagore had with himself, considering the Western culture.
• Birpurush (The Hero) is a poem that talks about a child that imagines he saves his mother from bandits.
• Gora is the longest novel of the twelve novels that Tagore wrote. It is made up of two different love stories. These stories talk about two pairs of lovers whose love was tested by different aspects of life including Religion, Politics.
• Jete Nahi Dibo (I Won’t Let You Go) is a poem where he was about to leave to his workplace after the Durga Puja festival but his 4 year old daughter refused to let him go.
• Dui Bigha Jomi (Two Bighas of Land) is a poem about a peasant who was evicted from his land. N.B. Bigha is a measurement of land.

His Contributions And Awards:

Some accomplishments are;

• Tagore won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913, becoming the first non-European to win it. His win was mainly due to Gitanjali (Song Offerings) which talks about Devotion to God.
• India and Bangladesh used his compositions as their national anthems. India’s national anthem is “Jana Gana Mana”, while Bangladesh’s national anthem is “Amar Shonar Bangla”.
• He had many universities named after him.
• He was part of the Bengal renaissance.
• He totally transformed Indian literature, art music and philosophy.
• He composed about 2230 songs, promoting Bengali music across the world.
• He was able to act in his own drama play “Valmiki Pratibha”.

Conclusion:

Tagore was an influential poet known for his contributions to Bengali, India and the whole World. Tagore became an Indian legend before dying at the age of 80 in August 7 1941 and is still seen as such till this very day.