Rabindranath Tagore

Biography

Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) was more than a storyteller, mystic poet, composer, playwright and philosopher all rolled into one. In each and every one of these capacities he had excelled as few mortals have managed to. He was also a celebrated artist, a successful estate manager and more than a bit of a practical psychologist.

Born into a wealthy and enlightened family, Tagore received the kind of nurture one of his talented disposition needed. Nevertheless, as a kid, this king of purple prose had difficulty convincing a few of his teachers that he indeed was the true author of some of his writings. And even though he dropped out of school, he would one day become the first non-European as well as the first non-white to win a Nobel Prize for literature and would go on to found the Visva Bharati University where scholars from all parts of the world throng today to study his worthy legacy. In 1919, Tagore would also just four years after being knighted repudiate that title to protest the massacre of Jallianwala Bagh, a decision which elevated him even more in esteem before the whole world and served to lay bare the tyranny of the Raj. In 1940, the University of Oxford would hold a special convocation at Santiniketan, the seat of Visva Bharati in India to confer its Doctorate on Rabindranath Tagore.

Tagore primarily wrote in his native language of Bengali which is one of India's 22 official languages and the only official language of Bangladesh. It is also spoken by over 250 million people today. His songs include the national anthems of India and Bangladesh, both written in Bengali although India's lingua franca is Hindi. Tagore's music and poetry are today enjoyed as much as they were in his lifetime and he is a prophetic figure as much in the orient as in the occident.

Despite being rich and recognized, Tagore had his share of misfortunes as his mother, his wife and two of his five children died rather early. But he showed remarkable resilience after these losses and the stream of his creativity flowed on till his last days.

Tagore lived in an era of chauvinism and his thoughts as reflected in his writings were stunningly unbiased and objective. It is easy to see how powerful his stories are in the act of hollowing out ignorance. And his method of doing so had been sheer magic!

Where to find Rabindranath Tagore online

Videos

Tagore's Own Voice
Tobu Monay Rekho

A Documentary Film (1961) by Academy Award Winner Satyajit Ray
Rabindranath Tagore (07 May 1861 – 07 Aug 1941) by Satyajit Ray (02 May 1921 – 23 Apr 1992)

Books

Clouds and Sunshine
Price: $0.99 USD. Words: 9,540. Language: American English. Published: October 7, 2012 by A. Datta. Categories: Fiction » Classics, Fiction » Inspirational
The clouds and the sunshine play hide-and-seek with profound implications for the future. And the quotidian history of two unrenowned humans on a leisurely rainy day despite seeming to be of no consequence is also far from mundane. The hoary-headed unseen one who has been stringing ages with ages has been sowing the seeds of lifelong joys and sorrows amid the little girl's laughter and tears …
Finally
Price: $0.99 USD. Words: 7,210. Language: American English. Published: July 3, 2012 by A. Datta. Categories: Fiction » Romance » Short stories, Fiction » Romance » General
Apurba observes Mrinmayee in the moonlight fancying that she has been put to sleep with a magic wand of silver. All he needs now is the golden wand to wake up her sleeping soul and exchange garlands. The wand of silver stands for laughter and the golden one for tears …
The Crown
Price: $0.99 USD. Words: 7,750. Language: American English. Published: June 13, 2012 by A. Datta. Categories: Plays » Medieval, Fiction » Historical » General
This play situated in 16th century royal Tripura presents a simple story of war, fraternal love, fratricide, cunning and bravery. It demonstrates that the brave die only once and that the traitor is essentially insane. Another of Tagore's masterpieces …
Missing My Bejeweled
Price: $0.99 USD. Words: 5,990. Language: American English. Published: June 6, 2012 by A. Datta. Categories: Fiction » Romance » Paranormal » General, Fiction » Horror » Ghost
In 1961, Satyajit Ray who would go on to win an Academy award for his lifetime's contribution to cinema decades later, directed the movie Teen Kanya. It was really a bundle of three shorts one of them being Monihara. When Teen Kanya was released internationally, Monihara was left out and there were only two shorts. This is an English translation of Tagore's Monihara which Ray had adapted …
Haimanti: Of Autumn
Price: $0.99 USD. Words: 5,150. Language: American English. Published: May 29, 2012 by A. Datta. Categories: Fiction » Women's fiction » Feminist, Fiction » Classics
The bride is past marriageable age. She is 17. But her prospective father-in-law identifies some merit in proceeding with the marriage and it happens. When some rumours are contradicted things change. Dewdrops are reminiscent of both laughter and tears. What will it be for Haimanti? Read yet another of Tagore's stunningly unbiased and beautiful short stories penned in an age of conservatism …
One Night
Price: $0.99 USD. Words: 2,800. Language: American English. Published: May 7, 2012 by A. Datta. Categories: Fiction » Romance » Short stories, Fiction » Romance » General
(3.50 from 2 reviews)
The second master of the village school stands on the shores of diluvium with his childhood sweetheart by his side. Her husband is away on business and any moment can be their last! This story was written by lit Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore …
Letters from an Expatriate in Europe
Price: $3.98 USD. Words: 21,490. Language: American English. Published: April 2, 2012 by A. Datta. Categories: Nonfiction » Biography » Autobiographies & Memoirs, Nonfiction » Travel » Essays & Travelogues
Tagore wrote these letters nearly three decades before becoming the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. They give an in-depth view of Victorian England through the eyes of an Indian and a Bengali. The author drew flak from his own critics for his dissections of the Anglo-Bengali and English psyches. His words are as relevant and enjoyable now as they were then …