G.L Khajuria
Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore – An Immortal universal literati was born on 07th May,1861 in Kolkatta. while he orginally wrote in Bengali, later reached out to the wider audience in the west with his translation of poetry that conveyed peace of Soul and harmony with nature. However the Swedish academy on its website says that Tagore writing is deeply rooted in both indian and western learning traditions.
The British Government in 1915 honouredGurdev with knighthood as a true patriot of India which he returned it very shortly in protest against British Policies in the country.
The revered Gurudev was profoundly a man of letters with his prolific signature in Geetangli, theGardener, Hungry stones, the crescent Moon and many more english translations replete with lyrical and spiritual essence.
His writings are simple and directionless a expression combinaedwith rythmic flow of words harmoniously fused with deep human passion and significance. The thoughts in Geetangali are profoundly Indian conveying spiritual universal message.
Gurudev’s touching speech on his being awarded Noble prize reads as under.
“I am glad that I have been able to come at last to your country and that I may use the opportunity for expressing my gratitude to you for honour you have done to me by acknowledging work and awarding me Noble Prize.
I remember the afternoon when I received the cablegram from my publisher in England that the prize had been awarded to me. I was staying then at the school shantinikam, about which I suppose to know you.
At the moment, we were taking a partyover a forest nereby school and when I was passing by telegram office and post office, a man came running to usand held up telegraphic message.
I had also an English visitor with me in the same carriage I did not think that the message of any importance and I just put it into my pocket, thinking that I will read it when I reach my destination but my vivitor supposed he knew the content and he urged me to read it, saying that it contained an important message And I opened and read the message which I could hardly believe.
I first thought that possibly the telegraphic Language was not quite correct and that I might misread the meaning of it, But but at last feltcertain about it but you can well understand how rejoicing it was for my boys in school and for teachers.
What touched me more deeply than more than anything else was that these boys who loved me and for whom I have had deepest love felt proud of the honour that had been awarded to him and whom they had the feeling of reverence for which I realized that my countrymen share with me the honour that had been awarded to myself.
The rest of the afternoon passed in this manner and when the night came I sat upon terrace alone and I asked myself the question what are reasons could be of my poem being accepted and honoured by the west inspite ofmy belonging to a different race parted and repeated by seas and mountains from the children of the west.
And I can assure you that it was not with a feeling of exactation but with a searching of feeling of exactation but with a searching of heart that I question myself and I felt humbled at that moment.
I remember how my lives interest developed from the time when I was very young.
when I was about 25 years I used to live in utmost seclusion in the solitude of an obsure Bengal village by the riverGanga in boathouse.
The wild duck which came during the Time of autumn from Himalayan lakes were only my companion, and in that solitude I seem to have drunk in the open space like wine overflowing with sunshine and the murmur of river used to speak to me and tell me the secrets nature & And I passed the days in solitude dreaming and giving shape to my dream in poems and studies and sending out my thoughts to the Calcutta public school through magazines and other papers, you can well understand that It was a life quite different from the life of west, I don’t knows if any of your western poets of western poets or writers do pass the greatest art of their young days in such absolute seclusion.
I am almost certain that it cannot be possible and that seclusion itself has no place in the western world. And my life went on like this I was an obsure individual – to most of my countryman in those days.
I mean that my name was hardly known outside my own province, but I was quite content with that obscurity, which protectedme from curiosity of crowds.
(The author is former Deputy Conservator of Forest).
