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Tagore Lived a Full Life

by Parveen Anam
ON the 7th of May.
1861. on the 25th day of the month of Baishakh. which remained one of his favourite months ever afterwards, Rabindranath Tagore was born. To the fourteenth child, the event seemed to be of little Importance. But for the Bengalee nation it was a momentous occasion. As was evident years later.
The Bangalee loves his poetry and his music. And Tagore fulfilled this thirst adequately. Brought up in an austere household, Tagore lived a full life. His mother died when he was but eight years old and he was more or less under the care of his elder sister. The stringent lifestyle was no surprise to the children in the rambling Jorashanko household; they were happy and content complaining only when the tailor Nlyamat forgot to put a pocket into their tunic. for no boy has yet been born so poor as not to have the wherewithal to stuff his pockets' tn the words of the poet.
However, his yearning for the great beyond' which for him was actually symbolic of a child's curiosity, helped him in moulding the ideals of his education for children in later years. He wrote his first verse at the age of eight and the elders smiled Indulgently and said The boy has no doubt a gift for writing." It was thia boy with the gift for writing who in later years was to bring the greatest laurel for the Bangalee nation tn the form of the Nobel Prize for Literature. He was at his beloved
Shantiniketan. -when word came on 13th Nov. 1913, of the award of the Nobel Prize for his Gitanjall. published the year before. And yet writing to his niece Indtra from London. Tagore, who was awarded the Prize for his English rendering of the Gitanjall, had said. 1 cannot Imagine to this day how people eame to like it so
much. That I cannot write In English is such a patent fact that 1 never had even the vanity to feel ashamed of IL If any body wrote an English note asking me to tea, I did not feel equal to answering it. That I have written in English, seems to be a delusion. "
Yet it was his own people, his own nation, their sorrows
and their Joys, which moved the great poet, to achieve what he did. It was his own land he loved most. He went abroad frequently, more so after the award both for sojourns and lecture tours. But somehow, he could never write when he was away from his beloved Bengal. His 'muse' dried up or flowed only In driblets. His best works were all produced tn his own land amongst his own people. His fountain of poems and songs overflowed in his native Bengal. His love of life was strong. His success as a short story writer helped him to arrive at a sound diagnosis of the social evils that plagued his beloved land. He spent much of his time In the countryside. which brought him In direct contact with the soil of the land. He grew to love his people who he had a chance to see first-hand and his love was at times possessive. He did everything within his means to help his peasants. From 1890 to the year of his death in 1941, one of his principal interests was the peasant. He helped and made it possible for them to build their own schools and hospitals, roads and water tanks. The handsome amount of money from the Nobel Prize was donated to the school at Shantiniketan and Invested in an agricultural co-operative bank. Now his peasants could get their loans at cheap interest rales
Yet. the artist in him was restless His poems and songs. k>vcd by his people are immortal. He took part In the tnde pendence movement, in his own characteristic way. When violence raised its ugly head, he retired, a sadder but wiser man. His patriotic songs were an inspiration and part of his heroism. They continued to inspire his countrymen and prompted Ezra Pound to remark later Tagore has song Bengal into a nation." His poems are the national anthems of two countries; India and Bangladesh.
His simplicity of style tn poetry is evident. Some are pa triottc, others simple and dreamy. His personal sorrows and loneliness helped to enrich his life, instead of warping It. Each private tragedy made him come back richer in spirit and thoughts. Hts zest for life was manifest in his love for children. "Each child comes to this world with the message
that God has not lost faith tn humanity" said the great poet.
Nature of course has always been a participant In his plays, not something in the background. His love for his country was too deep to allow him to despise the traditional values. He never belittled his countrymen or scorned the complexity and conpadictions of his society, lir 1919, in protest at the abominable Jailanwala Bagh Incident, he returned his Knighthood to the British. In his letter to the Viceroy. Lord Chelmsford, on the 29th of May, he reminded the Viceroy that the brutality at Jailanwala was 'without parallel 1n the history of civilised governments'. — 'And 1 for my part wish to stand shorn of ail adornment by the side of my countrymen, tn their anguish and terror — "It
was a gesture that restored the self-respect of his nation. The Knighthood in Itself had of course added little to his stature, but the courage tn such an act revived the flame of hope In his people at a time when it was badly needed. The British never forgave him for such "un-heard of Impertinence".
His humility set him apart; he had rightly said, "My countrymen will remember me through my songs." And today, again on his birthday, his people remember him. through his Immortal songs music, plays and essays, drama and short stories. And it Is with pride and hope that the Bangalee can say. In the words of Rabindranath Tagore, "make my life simple and straight, like a flute of reed for Thee to fill with music."