The Legacy of Tagore

 Rabindranath Tagore who won the Nobel prize in 1913 is an enduring symbol of nationalism as well as Internationalism. He was a cosmopolitan who didn’t forget his national roots. In him combined the mosaic of arts such as painting, singing , writing, philosophy and social reform. His creativity bloomed outside the school and inside the lap of nature. His nature was a happy combination of solitude and public service. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan writes that Tagore’s works “ speak of the vicissitudes of friendship , the beauty of love, the pain of desolation, laughter and tears, terror and delight, the vanity of human wishes, the pains and heartaches of unfulfilled desires, the horror of moral obliquity, the shame of infamous conduct.”

 His legacy certainly shows us the way out of the labyrinth in which we find ourselves in. His ideas on education, nationalism , and internationalism are relevant even today after his death seventy years ago. If Tagore were alive today, what would he say regarding our education system that encourages cut- throat competition, materialistic pursuits, intellectual parasitism, disappearance of local languages and unbridled aggressiveness of the lone super power? 

 Tagore never liked the rigid school system that stifled the creativity of the individual. He liked to look at the waves of the river Padma or slanting sunlight on a particular day that awakened his creativity. Tagore’s father didn’t scold his son or impose his ideas on him but asked the boy to accompany him to see the beautiful Himalayas. Our present system of education forces children to get things by heart and hanker after marks. But Tagore wanted education not as a means to materialistic advancement but as individual enrichment . He would have felt repelled by the term ‘personality development’ which in these days means corporate personality development. He would have rejected the violence embedded in present system of education which has become merely a tool to the vagaries of world economy prone to crisis after crisis—political or economic. To Tagore, Education is a permanent part of the exploration of adventure of life and not a treatment to cure students of the disease of ignorance but a function of health, the natural expression of their mind’s vitality.

 In his work Reminiscences , he refers to an incident in which three pilots of the British planes bombarding the tribal hamlets were captured by tribal people. But these pilots were not harmed but given hospitality by their captors. Tagore questions, who are more civilized—those who came to bombard innocent villagers or those who looked after those people who came to kill them? 

 Tagore was for altruism.‘ He gave up his entire prize money to build Santi Niketan. Though he came from the family of landlords, he was uncomfortable like Tolstoy. To raise more money to realize his goal, he had toured the western countries. Like Vivekananda, Tagore agonized and acted to build his nation into a formidable one. Radha krishan writes that for Gandhi, the measure of man’s greatness is not his material possession , but the truth in him which is universal. 

 Tagore was not a conformist and wanted to see , observe and come to conclusions through his personal experience and observation. When every one was spreading rumors against Russia , he went there to observe the new experiment going on there and praised what was great. He wrote “Letters from Russia” in which he praised the proletariat but also expressed concern that the working class might have thought that one day they need not labour at all which is not possible. He called the workers as pillars carrying the lamp of the new civilization. 

 Tagore’s independence of mind was also revealed when he gave up title ‘Sir’ in protest against Jallianwallabagh Massacre in. He also didn’t completely support the boycott of schools and colleges by the young and the negative feelings inherent in the Non cooperation movement. The legacy of Tagore wants our intellectuals to raise their voice against the trampling of the rights of tribals in the name of mining and the embracing of the nuclear weapons as solutions to our problems or threat s of war. Tagore alive would not support the rejection of negotiation in favour of violence and counter violence either by the State or by the non-state actors or groups. In Tagore’s heartland rested mercy but not hatred for the Muslims or the British. He believed in change through common sense and love. Radhakrishan, our former President points out that like Gandhi , Tagore had contributed to the awakening of the nationalistic spirit and stood against the cowardice of the weak and arrogance of the strong.

 Nowadays many languages are dying every day under the influence of English language. Tagore wanted Indians to learn modernization not just from the British but also other cultures --- the French, Germans, Japanese etc. If Tagore were alive today, he would have certainly felt bad at the gradual death of the rich and diverse languages in the world. He would have advised us to strive for true cosmopolitan culture that fuses the elements of African, Latin American and Asian cultures along with the virtues of western values such as respect towards the public good, acknowledgement of others’ achievements, accountability, dignity of labour, intellectual independence etc.

 Nirad Chaudhuri in his article on Tagore mentions that Tagore refused to excuse those pundits who criticized him prior to winning the Nobel Prize but came to greet him with sweets and flowers after he became the Nobelite. Nirad C. Chaudhuri also points out the deep anguish felt by Tagore due to the negative feeling of some of his compatriots to the extent that he wanted not to be born again in this land . But his soul would not feel restless when it finds how we Indians are cherishing his legacy long after his death.

 Tagore’s Gitanjali certainly deserves the Prize for its beauty of feelings, free expression, and powerful appeal to realize eternal truth. He prays to God to strike at the root of penury in his heart, to make his head hold high amidst difficulties and doesn’t want to send death empty handed when it visits him. His love for life was matched by his fearlessness towards death. 

 Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan remarks.” His religion is based on vision, experience rather than on Knowledge.” To him religion means the purification of the soul and extinction of the ego. Many critics criticize that today it doesn’t appeal much in changed conditions. But Yeats and the West might have found new fashions to praise but we find Tagore ‘s legacy more relevant today than yesterday . Some remarked that Tagore’s waning popularity was due to hasty translation of his Bengali poems by the poet himself under pressure from publishers.

 In his stories like Post office, Kabuliwallah we find great humanism. In his Home and the World , we find how quiet strength is more powerful than violent revolution. In his Chitra, one finds beauty unsurpassable and in his novel Gora, one finds the futility of the divide between the East and the West. His books such as Sadhana, Personality , Man reveal his probing into the secret chamber of human heart. His work on Nationalism is a collection of articles which reveals the limitations of nationalism . 

Tagore writes, “There is only one history, the history of man. All nations are merely chapters in the larger one. And we are content in India to suffer for such a great cause.”

 Tagore ‘s legacy is not for Globalization that gobbles up freedom of small nations and justifies inequality and Big brother attitude but a blend of the best elements of the East and the West and gives a fitting reply to Kipling’s vain hope. He and his works herald a new civilization based on peace and unity. Radhakrishan aptly remarks that Tagore’s “ voice was the conscience of our age. He became a spokesman and guide for his generation. He bequeathed to his country and the world a life which had no littleness about it.”

***Triveni 81.4(2012): 22-24.