Tribute to Tagore on his death anniversary

Today morning, I woke up to Rabindrasangeet being transmitted from two Bengali TV channels and realized that they were paying tribute to Nobel laureate Rabindra Nath Tagore on his death anniversary.
Rabindra Nath Tagore – a man of many qualities, a man who has penetrated into the very fabric of Bengali culture like no one has ever done or will ever do. He was a master with creating characters, situations and was comfortable with poetry and prose. His two-liners have become memorable quotes for Bengalis from all walks of life – from the lover boy to the wise old men.
He was perfectly at ease with poetry and prose – examples are the dance dramas that he composed. Not only the songs but the music and the dance forms. It was a capsule for which the credit belonged to him and him only. Side by side, his novels and short stories keep the readers spellbound.

He belonged to a rich family but, right from his childhood, he was different – that is why he began to compose poetry just by listening to the pitter patter of raindrops on the leaves. Or – staring at the tall palm trees swaying in the wind, he could compose some more poetry that are unforgettable.
Many of his works were made into movies by Satyajit Ray and, more recently, it has become for others movie makers to jump on to the bandwagon of Tagore to come to the limelight – the dress code of his era brings back nostalgic memories which these movie makers exploit to the hilt.
Tagore was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1913 for his collection of poems and is probably the only man who has composed national anthems for two countries – India (Jana gana maa) and Bangladesh (Amar sonar Bangla).
He had established Bishwa Bharati University. It was an open air citadel of education where students came from all corners of the world. I had visited the place a couple of years back and was sad – the place had lost its charm. The buildings were in need of repairs and the surroundings looked as if no one really bothered about the upkeep. (to be continued …)
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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