Robindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore (or Robindranath Tagore (Bengali: রৱীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকূর, Hindi: रवीन्द्रनाथ ठाकुर), (7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941), also popularly known as Gurudev, was a Bengali poet, music composer, philosopher who reshaped Bengali literature and music, as well as Indian art with contextual modernism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Author of Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse", he became the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913. He is sometimes referred to as "the Bard of Bengal".
Indian National Anthem Jana Gana Mana is the composition of Robindranath Tagore.
Contents
Winner of Nobel Prize
After Tagore wrote his book "Gitanjali", the Nobel Prize in Literature 1913 was awarded to to him "because of his profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse, by which, with consummate skill, he has made his poetic thought, expressed in his own English words, a part of the literature of the West".
Political career
Tagore opposed imperialism and supported Indian nationalists, and these views were first revealed in Manast, which was mostly composed in his twenties. Evidence produced during the Hindu–German Conspiracy Trial and latter accounts affirm his awareness of the Ghadarites, and stated that he sought the support of Japanese Prime Minister Terauchi Masatake and former Premier Ōkuma Shigenobu. He urged the masses to avoid victimology and instead seek self-help and education, and he saw the presence of British administration as a "political symptom of our social disease".
Tagore wrote songs lionising the Indian independence movement. Two of Tagore's more politically charged compositions, "Chitto Jetha Bhayshunyo" ("Where the Mind is Without Fear") and "Ekla Chalo Re" ("If They Answer Not to Thy Call, Walk Alone"), gained mass appeal, with the latter favoured by Gandhi. Though somewhat critical of Gandhian activism, Tagore was key in resolving a Gandhi–Ambedkar dispute involving separate electorates for untouchables, thereby mooting at least one of Gandhi's fasts "unto death".
Tagore renounced his knighthood in response to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in 1919. In the repudiation letter to the Viceroy, Lord Chelmsford, he wrote -
- The time has come when badges of honour make our shame glaring in the incongruous context of humiliation, and I for my part, wish to stand, shorn, of all special distinctions, by the side of those of my countrymen who, for their so called insignificance, are liable to suffer degradation not fit for human beings.
Interaction with Chaudhary Chhaju Ram
रवीन्द्रनाथ टैगोर चकित रह गए - जिन दिनों रवीन्द्रनाथ टैगोर अपने शान्ति निकेतन विद्यालय का वार्षिक उत्सव मना रहे थे, उन दिनों कलकत्ता के बड़े-बड़े सेठों को उत्सव में पधारने के लिए निमन्त्रण दिया। परन्तु सेठ चौ० छाजूराम को शायद छोटा व्यापारी समझकर निमन्त्रण नहीं दिया। सेठ छाजूराम अपने घनिष्ठ मित्र सेठ बिड़ला जी के कहने पर उनके साथ इस शुभ कार्य के अवसर पर चले गए। उत्सव में कुछ सांस्कृतिक, साहित्यिक कार्यक्रमों के बाद ठाकुर रवीन्द्रनाथ टैगोर झोली बनाकर चन्दा, दान मांगने के लिए सबके आगे घूमे। बड़े-बड़े सेठों ने कागज पर धनराशि लिखकर उनकी झोली में भेंट कर दी। सबसे बाद में टैगोर साहब आपके पास भी गये। तब आपने टैगोर जी से नम्रता से कहा कि इनमें से जो सबसे अधिक दान वाली पर्ची है उसे निकालने की कृपा करें। पर्चियां देखी गईं, जिनमें सबसे अधिक राशि वाली पर्ची सेठ बिड़ला जी की 5,000 रुपये की थी। देखते ही दानवीर सेठ चौ० छाजूराम ने 20,000 रुपये की राशि भेंट कर दी और सब पर्चियां वापिस करवा दीं तथा स्वयं खड़े होकर उन सबसे दुगुनी धनराशि मांगी। यह सब देखकर टैगोर जी चकित रह गये। तत्पश्चात् वहीं पर ही आपकी टैगोर जी ने भूरि-भूरि प्रशंसा की।[1]
External Links
- Tagore's page on nobelprize.org
- tagoreweb.in
- The writings of Tagore
- eldritchpress.org
- Home Page of Visvabharai University
- Rabindranath Tagore Jivani
References
- ↑ Jat History Dalip Singh Ahlawat/Chapter X (Page 885)