Rabindranath Tagore — my favourite National Poet

Rabindranath Tagore — my favourite National Poet

          Rabindranath was a born poet who lisped in numbers for the numbers came. He began composing when he was barely seven years old. But he wrote great poetry after the Great Illumination which gave him a new insight into the universe. It happened when he was just eighteen. He describes this experience akin to lifting of ancient mist from his sight, "That which was memorable in this experience was its human message." Rabindranath Tagore was born in Calcutta on 7th May, 1861. He was lucky in the moment of his birth. The second half of the 19th century was the period of full flowering of the Indian Renaissance. It was an age when, in contact with the English, India was struggling to come out of hibernation, isolation and backwardness.
          In fact the Muslim rule had come to an end. The medieval slumber was over. What happened to England in the 16th century during great Renaissance it happened to India after about two hundred years. The Muslim culture was barren in the field of creation, education, social development and humanism. The English arrived and brought along with them revival of learning. Those were stirring times when men of genius like Tagore could make their presence felt.
          A humanist to the core, he was a nationalist who dreamt of India as a nation free from superstitions. He strove to develop scientific spirit among Indians. He was lucky in his birth in more than one way. His grandfather, Dwarkanath was called the prince. His own father Dabendranath was called Maha Rishi. His brother Satyendranath was the first Indian to enter the civil service. At the age of seventeen he was sent to England for higher study.
          On his return from England he was married to Mirnalini Devi in 1883. He became the secretary of Adi Brahmo Samaj of which his father was a great leader. He was a tireless critic of caste system and upheld the dignity of every caste. He was a true humanist. He came into touch with the life of the people and wrote down 'hot' from the life. He established himself as a great lyric writer. Even his prose had the ring of lyricism.

          In 1901 Tagore made a great contribution in the field of education. At Bolpur his father established an Ashram called Shantiniketan. Here Rabindranath founded his open-air school which later on developed into famous university Vishva Bharti. The year 1905 witnessed the partition of Bengal and Tagore took an active part. In the year 1911 partition of Bengal was revoked. But the English had succeeded in creating a permanent communal divide. Tagore composed Jan Gana Mana, national song on the eve of reunification of Bengal.
          Guru Dev, as Tagore was affectionately called, won Nobel Prize in 1913 for his Gitanjali & knighted in 1915. However, Tagore renounced the Knighthood in 1919 in protest against Jalianwala Bagh massacre. The little space here is too short to describe a personality larger than life. At the age of 80 the end of the fruitful life came in 1941. As a humanist, poet and true nationalist he will ever be remembered.