Q.1 Discuss the life-sketch and major work of Ravindra Nath Tagore.

Ans:--Rabindranath Tagore, popularly known and called as Gurudev, was born in Kolkata on
May 8, 1861 in an illustrious family of thinkers, reformers, social and cultural leaders and
intellectuals. His father was Maharishi Devendranath and mother Sharda Devi. It was a time
of gloom and cheerlessness when India’s soul almost lay prostrate at the feet of the foreign
rulers. The first war of Indian independence fought in 1857 was crushed and there prevailed
an uneasy peace and silence of the graveyard. Politically, India was deep in slavery and
culturally in wilderness. People were foolishly aping the ways of the West and there was
hardly any ray of hope of lights.

Tagore was a great humanist, painter, patriot, poet, playwright, novelist, story-teller,
philosopher, and educationist. As a cultural ambassador of India he gave voice to the country
and became an instrument in spreading the knowledge of Indian culture around the world.
Tagore, as a child, did not like to go to school and so was taught at home. He began to write
from his early age. Tagore began to write poems, songs and stories about different aspects of
the Indian culture and society. He was very talented, energetic and wise and whatever he
touched was exceptionally enriched. His genius like the rising Sun began to create wonders.

He shed light and warmth and revived the mental and moral spirit of the people. His writing
proved path-breaking and revolutionary. He was full of anguish, pain and sorrow at the
Jalianwala Bagh tragedy in which General Dyer and his soldiers had killed hundreds of
innocent civilians and wounded thousands of others on 13 April, 1999 in Amritsar. This
massacre agitated and worked up Tagore so much that he could not sleep the whole night
when he heard about it. He once decided to renounce and relinquish his knighthood as a
protest and immediately penned a letter to Viceroy. And he wrote, “The time has come when
pledges of honour make our shame glaring in their incongruous context of humiliation and I,
for my part, wish to stand shorn of all special distinctions, by the side of my countrymen,
who for their so-called insignificance are liable to suffer degradation not tit for human
beings.”

Tagore did not have a road-map for India’s freedom but his national sentiments and
patriotism were of the highest order. He was a great poet, philosopher and visionary and
voice of the country. He was a great nationalist but his patriotism ultimately merged suitably
into internationalism. Tagore was against divisions, boundaries and discrimination on the
basis of territory, geography, race etc. He believed in the oneness of life and its expression.
He tried his best to bring the people of the world close to one another through his message of
love, brotherhood, peace and poetry.

Tagore radiated universal love and harmony through his works and life. He knew patriotism
is essential, it is good and healthy but to a certain limit only and after that limit neither it was
enough nor desirable. He had declared, “My country that is forever India, the country of my
forefathers, the country of my children, my country has given me life and strength.” And
again, “I shall be born in India again. With all her poverty, misery and wretchedness, I love
India best.” But he did not stop there and embraced the whole humanity. He believed and
firmly that patriotism is never enough and it should expand into universal love, brotherhood
and in a concept of one world dispensation.

Rabindranath Tagore was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature on 13 November, 1913 for
his collection of so beautiful and lyrical poems called. Geetanjali (a bouquet of flowers). It
was a moment of great pride and honour for all the Indians. He was the first Indian to get this
honour and decoration. Greetanjali was published in 1910. He also composed Puravi, the
Evening Songs and the Morning Songs. He wrote on many subjects — social, political,
cultural, religious, moral etc. Rabindranath Tagore wrote Manasi in 1890, a collection of
social and poetical poems stamped with the mark of his early genius and art. Most of his
works deal with the life, land and the people of Bengal. He chiefly wrote in Bengali.

Rabindranath Tagore collection of stories entitled Galpaguccha portrays the poverty,

illiteracy and backwardness of the people so well and effectively. His other well-known
poetry collections include Sonar Tari, Chitra, Kalpana and Naivedya. His plays include
Chitrangda and Malini, Gora, Raja and Rani, Binodini and Nauka Dubai are his novels. The
loss of his wife, a son and a daughter between 1902 and 1907 saddened him a lot. He was
deeply and truly religious and spiritual which stood him in good stead during the hour of
crisis. He went abroad on lecture tours and spent a long time there.

Rabindranath Tagore was also a great educationist and founded a unique university called
Shantiniketan (abode of peace). He never sought God in the privacy of a cave, ashram or
temple but in the people and humanity at large. He once said “Deliverance is not for me in
renunciation, I fell the embrace of freedom in thousand bonds of delight.” This voice and
song of humanity, a great son of India, a great bard and lover of nature died in Kolkata on 7th
August, 1941, a few years before India’s independence in 1947, He also gave India its
national anthem “Jana Gana Mana.” Truly, whatever his genius touched turned into gold and
immortality.

In the horizon of education in India, Rabindranath Tagore shone like a morning star radiating
his versatile genius along with his multi-dimensional personality in all area of his life. The
entire humanity in the globe knows him as a vendantist, a prophet of Indian Renaissance, a
spiritualist, an artist of world repute, dramatist, a stage-player, a sage, a musical composer, a
guru, a prolific writer, a prophet of Indian culture, a distinguished teacher and a lover of
nature and mankind.

His brain child, ‘Shantiniketan’ bears the telling testimony of his high ideals and philosophy
of life which brought a metamorphosis in the domain of education. The ‘Geetanjali,’ which
claimed the world highest prize in the field of literature, is a replica of his versatile genius.
R.N. Tagore was born on 6th May, 1861 in Calcutta. His life is a life enriched in experience
of many which compounded his distaste towards the prevailing system of education. He
himself says, “Some people get hammered into shape in the book-learning factories, and
these are considered in the market to be goods of a superior stamp It was my fortune to
escape almost entirely the impress of these mills of learning. The masters and Pandits who
were changed with my education soon abandoned the thankless task (his teacher) realised that
this boy could never be driven along the beaten track of learning.”
His short span of school life made him realise that school was a place which tempted to
stymie and stifle the native growth of the child and brought untold harm to the development
of personality. This heart-felt realisation helped him to formulate his own philosophy of life
and of education.

At the age of 40, in 1901, he himself established his Shantiniketan Ashram (School) with ten
boys only to materialize his own ideas and ideals. This institution turned into a world famous
Vishwa Bharati-a seat of international university and a melting point of Eastern and Western
culture-a confluence of humanity. An apostle of peace and universal brotherhood he passed
away on August 7, 1941 leaving his indelible imprint in the hearts of mankind.

Literary works of Rabindranath Tagore:--Although Tagore wrote successfully in all

literary genres, he was, first of all, a poet. Among his fifty and odd volumes of poetry are:--
Manasi (1890) (The Ideal One), Sonar Tari (1894) (The Golden Boat), Gitanjali (1910)
(Song Offerings), Gitimalya (1914) (Wreath of Songs), and Balaka (1916) (The Flight of
Cranes).
The English renderings of his poetry, which include The Gardener (1913), Fruit-
Gathering (1916), and The Fugitive (1921), do not generally correspond to particular
volumes in the original Bengali.
Tagore’s major plays are Raja (1910) [The King of the Dark Chamber], Dakghar (1912) [The
Post Office],  Achalayatan (1912) [The Immovable], Muktadhara (1922) [The Waterfall],
and Raktakaravi (1926) [Red Oleanders].
He is the author of several volumes of short stories and many novels, among
them Gora (1910), Ghare-Baire (1916) [The Home and the World], and Yogayog (1929)
[Crosscurrents].
Besides these, he wrote musical dramas, dance dramas, essays of all types, travel diaries, and
two autobiographies, one in his middle years and the other shortly before his death in 1941.
Tagore also left numerous drawings and paintings, and songs for which he wrote the music
himself.

Legacy of Rabindranath Tagore:--Rabindranath Tagore changed the way Bengali literature

was perceived as he left an everlasting impression on the readers. Many countries have his
statues erected and host many yearly events to pay tribute to the legendary writer. Many of
his works have been made global, thanks to a host of translations by many famous
international writers. There are five museums dedicated to Tagore. While three of them are
situated in India, the remaining two are in Bangladesh. The museums’ house his famous
works, and are visited by millions every year.
Q.2 Describe the Philosophical and Educational ideas of Tagore.
Philosophical Idea:--
Rabindranath was a philosopher, poet, dramatist, teacher, essayist and painter of outstanding
repute. His philosophy of life was based on the ideals of dedication, patriotism and
naturalism. Although he was an ideal philosopher, but the thoughts of naturalism, pragmatism
and individualism are also reflected in his philosophy. The values which contributed a lot
towards enrichment of his life are discussed as follow:

(1) Idealist:--Tagore believes that man should realize the "ultimate truth" which will liberate
him from the worldly bondage. Experience according to him is within the world of illusion
(Maya). He thoughts the world is the place of both truth and illusion (Maya).
In Tagore's view man is born with enormous surplus force which is excess of his physical
need. This surplus is the limitless potentiality of human personality and creativity. In this lies
the infinite future of man. The surplus potentiality manifests itself in man's religious spiritual
and moral activities. As an idealist he was an ardent supporter of truth, virtues and values.
According to Tagore, "By art man can experience the wholeness of life. The fine arts were
nothing but intellectual and spiritual discipline. He said Bhakti can spiritualize Kama.

(2) Humanist:--Tagore said nature and man are created by supreme power. There is a strong
link between man and nature. So man should act naturally to feel the presence of superpower
within him. Love fellowmen in a natural way. Realization of self is the essence to realize the
Godhood.

(3) Naturalist:--Tagore said nature is the great teacher which is not hostile to man. Nature is
kind, generous and benevolent like mother. In his view, "Education diverted from nature has
brought untold harm to young children." Man should develop his relation with the nature as
his fellowmen.

(4) Patriotism:--Tagore was a great poet and patriot. His writings were filled with patriotic
values. He had joined in freedom movement to make the country free from foreign yoke.
Sense of national service, patriotic feeling, dedication etc. was fostered through his writings.
"Jana Gana Mana Adlii Nayak Jai Hai" is the famous National song which elicited a strong
sense of integration.

(5) Internationalist:--Rabindranath Tagore was in favour of one world creation of unit

amidst cultural, colour and religious diversities is the need of the time for peaceful co-
existence in the globe. Forgetting selfishness one we should work to establish world culture
based on love, affection fellow feeling and mutual understanding. Cosmopolitan feelings are
explicit in his writings and paintings. Tagore's internationalist thought and attempt for
making united world is appreciated all over the world.

(6) Vedantist:--Tagore's philosophy reveals that he was a vedantist in true sense of terms. He
had faith in one Supreme Being that is the Brahma. He finds unity in diversities in the world
and a spiritual unity between man and man, man and nature. The relationship between god
and man must be like the relationship between love and joy. He believes both the presence of
God in all manifestation of matter and spirit.

Educational Idea
Rabindranath Tagore was primarily an educationist rather than a political thinker. He put
emphasis on 'naturalism' for framing educational model. In education, freedom is the basic
guiding force for inculcating interest within a student who will derive inspiration from nature
to pursue any branch of knowledge he likes. The establishment of Shantiniketan fulfilled the
desired goal of Tagore in the educational front.

1. Unity of West and East:--Tagore's education marked a novel blending of the ideas of the
East and West. The spiritualism of Indian philosophy and progressive outlook of the western
people were blended together to give rise to an educational philosophy which marked its
distinction in comparison to other educationists of India.

2. Natural growth in natural circumstance:--Tagore envisaged that nature is the best

teacher to the pupil. Nature will provide the student with necessary situation to earn
knowledge. No pressure should be exerted upon the student to learn anything. It is nature
which will be the guiding force to inculcate the spirit of learning in the mind of a student to
pursue the education he likes. It will shape his behavior and character.

3. Goodbye to book-centered education:--For the first time in the arena of education,

Tagore established a new mile-stone. With boldness and firmness, he rejected a book-
centered education for students. To him it is not just to confine the mind of boys and girls to
text-books only. It will kill the natural instincts of a student and make him bookish. It will kill
his creative skill. So, students should be freed from the-book-centered education and should
be given a broader avenue for learning.

4. Freedom to learner:--Tagore had championed the cause of freedom. The same he wanted
to implement in the field of education. With that object he had opened Shantiniketan, Sri
Niketan and Brahmachari Ashram. Accordingly, he gave free choice to students to develop
their interest in any field they like. To him, education should be after the heart of a man. He
explained freedom in three-categorized ways i.e. freedom of heart, freedom of intellect and
freedom of will.
Education imparted in a natural way will lead to the fulfillment of these three freedoms. One
may pursue the vocational education or education of an intellect, or education in any branch
of the arts or one may become a sansei by observing celibacy.

5. Teaching - practical and real:--According to Tagore, teaching should be practical and

real but not artificial and theoretical. As a naturalist out and out, Tagore laid emphasis on the
practicality of education. That will definitely increase the creative skill within a learner. That
creativity will bring perfection in the learning process and the student will be a master in his
own field but not a slave to mere theoretical knowledge which one delves deep.
6. Palace of fine arts (dance, drama, music, poetry etc.:--Tagore attached great importance
to the fine arts in his educational curriculum. To him, game, dance, music, drama, painting
etc. should form a part of educational process. Students should take active part in these finer
aspects of human life for these are very essential to enrich soul.
In his words "Speaking is for mankind and music for nature speaking is clear and limited by
its needs; whereas music is mystic and expressive for a romantic eagerness. That is why;
speaking creates nearness between man and man, while music helps us to identify ourselves
with nature. When the harmonies of sounds are released with our expression then speaking
loses much of its limited significance, but on the contrary getting together of the two muses
had an all pervading character".

7. Education for rural reconstruction:--Tagore was aware about the rural poverty of our
country. So, he wanted to eradicate it through education. The practical training imparted in
different crafts to the students will make them skilled artisans in their field. They can remove
the poverty of the rural bulk by applying their education helping thereby in the process of
rural reconstruction.

Q.3 What are the aims and methods of education given by Tagore? Discuss.
Aims of Education:--
The aims of education as reflected in educational institution founded by Rabindranath Tagore
in Santiniketan are as follows:--

(1) Self Realization:--Spiritualism is the essence of humanism; this concept has been
reflected in Tagore's educational philosophy. Self-realization is an important aim of
education. Manifestation of personality depends upon the self-realization and spiritual
knowledge of individual.

(2) Intellectual Development:--Tagore also greatly emphasized the intellectual development

of the child. By intellectual development he means development of imagination, creative free
thinking, constant curiosity and alertness of the mind. Child should be free to adopt his own
way learning which will lead to all round development.

(3) Physical Development:--Tagore's educational philosophy also aims at the physical

development of the child. He gave much importance to sound and healthy physique. There
were different kinds of exercises. Yoga, games & sports prescribed in Santiniketan as an
integral part of the education system.

(4) Love for humanity:--Tagore held that the entire universe is one family. Education can
teach people to realize oneness of the globe. Education for international understanding and
universal brotherhood is another important aim of his educational philosophy. The feeling of
oneness can be developed through the concepts like fatherhood of God and brotherhood of
man all creatures are equal on this earth.
(5) Establishment of relationship between man & God:--Man bears the diverse qualities
and potentialities offered by God. These qualities are inborn and innate. The relationship
between man and God is strong and permanent. However the dedication to spiritualism and
sacredness will lead to the harmonious relationship with man, nature and God.

(6) Freedom:--Freedom is considered as an integral aspect of human development.

Education is a man-making process, it explores the innate power exists within the man. It is
not an imposition rather a liberal process their provides utmost freedom to the individual for
his all-round development. He says, Education has leaning only when it is imparted through
the path of freedom".

(7) Co-relation of Objects:--Co-relation exists with God, man and nature. A peaceful world
is only possible when correlation between man and nature will be established.

(8) Mother tongue as the medium of Instruction:--Language is the true vehicle of self-
expression. Man can freely express his thought in his mother-tongue. Tagore has emphasized
mother tongue as the medium of instruction for the child's education.

(9) Moral and Spiritual Development:--Tagore emphasized moral and spiritual training in
his educational thought. Moral and spiritual education is more important than bookish
knowledge for an integral development of human personality. There must be an adequate
provision for the development of selfless activities, co-operation and love fellow feeling and
sharing among the students in educational institutions.

(10) Social Development:--According to Tagore, "Brahma" the supreme soul manifests

himself through men and other creatures. Since He is the source of all human-beings and
creatures, so all are equal. Rabindranath Tagore therefore said, "service to man is service to
god". All should develop social relationship and fellow-feeling from the beginnings of one's
life. Education aims at developing the individual personality as well as social characters
which enables him to live as a worthy being.

Method of Education:--
(1) Teaching through Tours and Trips:--Tagore believed that the subjects like history,
geography, economics and other social sciences can be effectively taught through excursions
and tours to important spots. By this students will get an opportunity to observe numerous
facts and gain first-hand knowledge through direct experience.

(2) Learning by activities:--Rabindranath Tagore said that for the development of child's
body and mind, learning through activity is essential. Therefore he included activities like
climbing tree, drama, jumping, plucking fruits, dancing etc. in his educational programs.

(3) Narration-cum-discussion and debate method:--Narration-cum-discussion and

debating activities were organized Tagore's education center to develop oratory abilities of
the students. Students were encouraged to solve problems of various areas through rational
debate and thorough discussion.

(4) Heuristic Method:--Rabindranath Tagore introduced heuristic method as an important

method of teaching in his educational institution. In this method first, the students, are asked
questions to clarify their doubts on topics and teachers try to satisfy them by their correct
answers. Then the teacher asks the questions to students to evaluate how far the students are
able to comprehend the topic discussed in the class.

Tagore’s Curriculum of Education:--Tagore was dead against the prevailing British system

of education which was life-less, monotonous, listless, useless, colourless, lop-sided, purely
academic, and dissociated from the life-line of the society. In his scheme of education he has
struck a balance between the education of the nature and education of man, and between the
culture of east and the that of west (oriental and occidental culture), His curriculum was
flexible, dynamic and child-centred and aimed at development of personality in all its
aspects.

He emphasized a list of subjects, albeit, he did not favour book learning and he wanted the
best book was the ‘Nature’ where the child would get adequate knowledge. He favoured the
study of mother-tongue and at the higher level of education; he favoured learning of English
to know the treasure of knowledge in the fields of culture, literature and science. He also
suggested the study of world history, culture of India, literature, geography, science etc.
Besides he suggested the following activities for the promotion of aesthetic and emotional
faculties. They are music, fine arts, painting, drawing, dance, dramatics, and crafts like book-
binding, carpentry, weaving, serving, gardening etc.

Moreover, Tagore stressed upon community living and community services for the
realization of truth from the standpoint of spiritual development. To sum up, his curricular
framework emphasized subjects, activities and services.

Tagore’s Concept of Discipline:--Like Sri Aurobindo, Gurudev Tagore strongly favoured

self-discipline in place of rigid and harsh discipline imposed from outside. Discipline should
grow from within without any interference in an atmosphere of freedom. In a free, complete
and creative atmosphere, the pupil would be automatically disciplined. He rightly
mentioned, “I never said to them. Don’t do or don’t do that. I never prevented them from
climbing trees or going where they liked. I wanted to make these children happy in an
atmosphere of freedom.” Therefore, he was an advocate of child’s freedom and activities.

Tagore’s Views on Teacher:--In his scheme of education, Tagore has placed high premium
upon the role of teacher. The teacher is the embodiment of all cardinal values and ideals. He
is truly the love of nature and the child. He is not the hard task-master, rather a friend,
philosopher and guide. He is a stage-setter and director of the child’s freedom and activities,
he said, “He who lost the child in himself is absolutely unfit for the great work of educating
the children.” He added that a teacher can never truly teach unless he is still learning
himself. “A lamp can never light another lamp unless it continues to burn its own flame”.
Therefore, he has to inspire the-children for their development.

Conclusion
Rabindranath Tagore, a true philosopher developed an ideal experimental education
institution in Santiniketan. Tagore was a great advocate of spiritual education and also
stressed on harmonious development of the child with equal emphasis on mental, social and
emotional growth. Tagore was the greatest prophet of modern Indian renaissance who sought
to bring change through education.

Q.4 Discuss in details the views of R.N Tagore on Nationalism, spirituality and Indian
Society.
Ans:--The question of Rabindranath Tagore and nationalism has been a much debated one
among historians, scholars and academicians alike. The various opinions prevailing
about Tagore’s ‘anti-nationalism’, ‘internationalism’, ‘ambivalent nationalism’ and the
like could, perhaps, gain a different dimension altogether, by focusing on what the
significance of the word ‘nation’ was for Tagore and subsequently, the uniquely
individual ideology of nationalism that he subscribed to. It is precisely through a closer
observation of Tagore’s understanding of the history of Indian society and civilization at
large, as also his holistic approach to humanity, that his concepts of nation and
nationalism can be traced.
In one of his lectures delivered in the USA, which was later anthologized under the title
Nationalism (1917), Rabindranath Tagore asserts: Evidently, from this deliberate
juxtaposition of the nation and the society, Tagore’s contention of defending or
preserving the natural, political character of the human community in favour of an
organizational power becomes clear from the very outset. Indeed, this is one of the
very foundational concepts behind Tagore’s discourse of nationalism.
This, however, cannot be comprehended either in isolation from the contemporary socio-
political conditions prevailing in colonial India under the British Raj, or without taking
into account the fact that there have been significant shifts in Tagore’s attitude to the
Indian nationalist movement between the 1890s to 1941.2 As Tagore himself wrote in a
critical response to Sachin Sen’s book, The Political Philosophy of Rabindranath , ‘It
needs to be taken into account that a set of political ideas did not emerge from my mind
at a particular time – they developed in response to life experience and evolved over the
years.’ As is known, prior to 1916-17, Tagore did participate in the nationalist
movement, particularly during 1902-1905, actively supporting the cause of Swadeshi
agitation against the Partition of Bengal. However, unlike the extremists, Tagore
advocated a ‘constructive swadeshi’.
Following the massive sufferings of people during these years, which went largely
unheeded by the British government, his stance of building (or rather, re-building) a
self-sufficient, self-reliant Indian society in the model of the past, instead of passively
surviving at the mercy of the state or the political administrative instrument took a
stronghold. This has been amply addressed by Tagore in his seminal political essay in
Bengali, Swadeshi Samaj (1905), written primarily in the wake of a severe water-crisis
in erstwhile Bengal.
Tagore’s fervent appeal to his countrymen to realize the potential of self-help within the
indigenous community or ‘samaj’, the traditional Indian model of unifying a whole
population of diverse peoples and races — in that, the Indian parallel of the European
‘nation’— and therefore, to engage in social reconstruction has been variously addressed
in his political essays of the period, be it Bharatbarshiya Samaj (1902), Abastha o
Byabastha (1905) or Swadeshi Samaj (1905). Besides, his establishment of the
Santiniketan ashram school in 1901 as an alternative/indigenous model of education
along with support from contemporary intellectuals like Brahmabandhab Upadhyay,
marked a significant step towards a ‘swadeshi’ education movement. As Sumit Sarkar
points out:
It may also be useful to note at this juncture that even before his explicit address of a
social reconstruction in Swadeshi Samaj, Tagore expressed his scepticism about the
suitability of reincarnating the European ‘Nation’ in the Indian framework, notably in
the two essays, Nation Ki (1902) and Bharatbarshiya Samaj (1902)—the former
elucidating the emergence of the Western concept of the ‘nation’ as discussed by the
French thinker, Ernest Renan, and the latter impressing the differences in the social and
political structures of India and Europe, and the futility of replicating the foreign concept
of the ‘nation’ in India, which has been a land of ‘no nations’.

Between 1907 and 1916, Tagore eventually grew sceptical of the militant course that the
mainstream Indian nationalist movement often took. His political novels like Gora (1910),
Ghare Baire (1916) or, The Home and the World, where patriotism and humanity
come into essential conflict with each other, present some of the most reflective insights
of his political views during this phase. Besides, the First World War had had a deep
impact on Tagore’s mind, and had consequently, shaken his faith in the administration of
the British government all the more. It was at this juncture that his Nationalism lectures,
delivered in course of his visit to Japan and USA during 1916-17, had carried his message
of the abhorrence of the ‘Nation’ as a monstrous organization and the nationalism as a
narrow concept inciting moral bankruptcy.

As Amartya Sen pertinently observes, ‘Tagore shared the admiration for Japan
widespread in Asia for demonstrating the ability of an Asian nation to rival the West in
industrial development and economic progress...But then Tagore went on to criticize the
rise of a strong nationalism in Japan, and its emergence as an imperialist nation.’ Tagore
saw Japanese militarism as ‘illustrating the way nationalism can mislead even a nation
of great achievement and promise.’

Therefore, the central idea of nationalism in Tagore as it comes by during this period
may primarily be outlined as that reflected in his own words:---
I am not against one nation in particular, but against the general idea of all nations where
whole peoples are furiously organizing themselves for gaining wealth and power.
Nationalism is a great menace. It is the particular thing which for years has been at the
bottom of India’s troubles.

Post 1917, one of the most shocking events in the history of India’s colonial struggle
occurred, and given that we stand at the centenary of the event, it becomes all the
more worthy of note – the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre of 1919. Our attention may
particularly be drawn to what Tagore’s ideal of achieving freedom was by taking note of
one of his letters written to Mahatma Gandhi on the eve of the havoc, on April 12,
1919:--
I have always felt, and said accordingly that the great gift of freedom can never come to
a people through charity. We must win it before we can own it. And India’s opportunity
for winning it will come to her when she can prove that she is morally superior to the
people who rule

The ghastly incident which followed the very next day, on April 13, 1919, at Amritsar,
had morally upset Tagore and his faith in the greatness of the British people and
civilization (as opposed to the imperial domination of the British ‘Nation’)—the
reflection of which had been vividly expressed in his letter to the Viceroy, asking to be
relieved of the knighthood he had accepted four years ago:

The universal agony of indignation roused in the hearts of our people has been ignored
by our rulers...I for my part want to stand, shorn of all special distinctions, by the side of
those of my countrymen who for their so-called insignificance are liable to suffer a
degradation not fit for human beings.

Therefore, evidently, the fact that Tagore was not an anti- nationalist or anti-patriot in
the actual sense of the term, as some critics have erroneously pointed out, goes without
saying. Rather, what becomes clear is his disapproval of blind nationalism in the amoral,
narrowly political sense of the term, shorn of human sensibilities into a mad play of
fanaticism, where ‘machine must be pitted against machine, and nation against nation, in
an endless bullfight of politics’.

It is this idea which finds a greater place in Tagore’s writings throughout the later
period of his life, simultaneously upholding the moral spirit of humanity and human
unity above everything else, as the highest ideal to be achieved by man. This supreme
goal, Tagore argues, must be at the root of all human actions. It is only through the path
to human unity that freedom in all spheres can be achieved, be it political, artistic or
spiritual. To that end, all such forces as are narrow, divisive, turning man against man
must be smothered, before they can engulf and destroy humanity. That is to say, a deep-
seated humanism was the basis of Tagore’s political and philosophical views alike. This
has been lucidly expressed in Tagore’s 1922 essay, The Nation:
Nations do not create, they merely produce and destroy...when this idea of the Nation,
which has met with universal acceptance in the present day tries to pass off the cult of
collective selfishness as a moral duty, simply because that selfishness is gigantic in stature,
it not only commits depredation, but attacks.

Interestingly in Tagore, the ideals of political, creative and spiritual freedom overlap and
unify into one and the s ame entity: Man. As while expressing his views on the ‘creative
unity’ and ‘religion of man’ Tagore lays stress on the ‘spiritual Unity of Man’, so with
regard to his political ideas since the 1920s, he talks of the same as being the way to
attaining independence:

Most of his notable literary writings of the period, including plays like Raktakarabi (1923),
Tasher Desh (1933), and the novel, Char Adhyay (1934), revolve around this concept.
Therefore, one may as well conclude that the singular strain (if at all there is one) which
runs through Tagore’s concept of nationalism over the years is that of universalism or
universal humanism. It is neither against the freedom of the country, nor against progressive
modernism that Tagore voices his protest, but against a self-ravaging system of politics
and organisation that is detrimental not only to India or the East but to the entire humanity
at large.
He advocates the importance of the national movement (which might as well transcend
into the international) but one with a constructive ideal at its core, rather than a ‘spirit of
violence’ which lay dormant in the ‘psychology of the West’ and has finally ‘roused
itself and desecrated the spirit of Man’.12 Hence, the poet’s final prophecy that a new
dawn will emerge ‘from the East where the sun rises. A day will come when unvanquished
Man will retrace his path of conquest, despite all barriers, to win back his lost human
heritage.’

Q.5 Discuss the views of R.N Tagore on British rule and colonialism.
Ans:--Tagore was strongly involved in protest against the Raj on a number of occasions,
most notably in the movement to resist the 1905 British proposal to split in two the province
of Bengal, a plan that was eventually withdrawn following popular resistance. He was
forthright in denouncing the brutality of British rule in India, never more so than after the
Amritsar massacre of April 13, 1919, when 379 unarmed people at a peaceful meeting were
gunned down by the army, and two thousand more were wounded. Between April 23 and 26,
Rabindranath wrote five agitated letters to C.F. Andrews, who himself was extremely
disturbed, especially after he was told by a British civil servant in India that thanks to this
show of strength, the “moral prestige” of the Raj had “never been higher.”

Tagore’s criticism of the British administration:--India was consistently strong and grew
more intense over the years. This point is often missed, since he made a special effort to
dissociate his criticism of the Raj from any denigration of British – or Western – people and
culture. Mahatma Gandhi’s well-known quip in reply to a question, asked in England, on
what he thought of Western civilization (“It would be a good idea”) could not have come
from Tagore’s lips. He would understand the provocations to which Gandhi was responding –
involving cultural conceit as well as imperial tyranny.

D.H. Lawrence supplied a fine example of the former: “I become more and more surprised to
see how far higher, in reality, our European civilization stands than the East, Indian and
Persian, ever dreamed of …. This fraud of looking up to them – this wretched worship-of-
Tagore attitude is disgusting.” But, unlike Gandhi, Tagore could not, even in jest, be
dismissive of Western civilization.

Forthright in denouncing the brutality of British rule in India:--Even in his powerful

indictment of British rule in India in 1941, in a lecture which he gave on his last birthday, and
which was later published as a pamphlet under the title Crisis in Civilization, he strains hard
to maintain the distinction between opposing Western imperialism and rejecting Western
civilization. While he saw India as having been “smothered under the dead weight of British
administration” (adding “another great and ancient civilization for whose recent tragic history
the British cannot disclaim responsibility is China”).

Tagore recalls what India has gained from “discussions centred upon Shakespeare’s drama
and Byron’s poetry and above all the large-hearted liberalism of nineteenth-century English
politics.” The tragedy, as Tagore saw it, came from the fact that what “was truly best in their
own civilization, the upholding of dignity of human relationships, has no place in the British
administration of this country.” “If in its place they have established, baton in hand, a reign of
‘law and order,’ or in other words a policeman’s rule, such a mockery of civilization can
claim no respect from us.”

Critique of patriotism:--Rabindranath rebelled against the strongly nationalist form that the
independence movement often took, and this made him refrain from taking a particularly
active part in contemporary politics. He wanted to assert India’s right to be independent
without denying the importance of what India could learn – freely and profitably – from
abroad. He was afraid that a rejection of the West in favor of an indigenous Indian tradition
was not only limiting in itself; it could easily turn into hostility to other influences from
abroad, including Christianity, which came to parts of India by the fourth century; Judaism,
which came through Jewish immigration shortly after the fall of Jerusalem, as did
Zoroastrianism through Parsi immigration later on (mainly in the eighth century), and, of
course – and most importantly – Islam, which has had a very strong presence in India since
the tenth century.

Tagore’s criticism of patriotism is a persistent theme in his writings. As early as 1908, he put
his position succinctly in a letter replying to the criticism of Abala Bose, the wife of a great
Indian scientist, Jagadish Chandra Bose: “Patriotism cannot be our final spiritual shelter; my
refuge is humanity. I will not buy glass for the price of diamonds, and I will never allow
patriotism to triumph over humanity as long as I live.” His novel Ghare Baire (The Home and
the World) has much to say about this theme.
In the novel, Nikhil, who is keen on social reform, including women’s liberation, but cool
toward nationalism, gradually loses the esteem of his spirited wife, Bimala, because of his
failure to be enthusiastic about anti-British agitations, which she sees as a lack of patriotic
commitment. Bimala becomes fascinated with Nikhil’s nationalist friend Sandip, who speaks
brilliantly and acts with patriotic militancy, and she falls in love with him. Nikhil refuses to
change his views: “I am willing to serve my country; but my worship I reserve for Right
which is far greater than my country. To worship my country as a god is to bring a curse upon
it.”

As the story unfolds, Sandip becomes angry with some of his countrymen for their failure to
join the struggle as readily as he thinks they should (“Some Mohamedan traders are still
obdurate”). He arranges to deal with the recalcitrants by burning their meager trading stocks
and physically attacking them. Bimala has to acknowledge the connection between Sandip’s
rousing nationalistic sentiments and his sectarian – and ultimately violent-actions. The
dramatic events that follow (Nikhil attempts to help the victims, risking his life) include the
end of Bimala’s political romance.

This is a difficult subject, and Satyajit Ray’s beautiful film of The Home and the
World brilliantly brings out the novel’s tensions, along with the human affections and
disaffections of the story. Not surprisingly, the story has had many detractors, not just among
dedicated nationalists in India. Georg Lukács found Tagore’s novel to be “a petit bourgeois
yarn of the shoddiest kind,” “at the intellectual service of the British police,” and “a
contemptible caricature of Gandhi.” It would, of course, be absurd to think of Sandip as
Gandhi, but the novel gives a “strong and gentle” warning, as Bertolt Brecht noted in his
diary, of the corruptibility of nationalism, since it is not even-handed. Hatred of one group
can lead to hatred of others, no matter how far such feeling may be from the minds of large-
hearted nationalist leaders like Mahatma Gandhi.

Q.6 What are the views of R.N Tagore on Freedom, Cultural separation and
International concern? Discuss.
Freedom:--Unlike Gandhi, Rabindranath would not resent the development of modern
industries in India, or the acceleration of technical progress, since he did not want India to be
shackled to the turning of “the wheel of an antiquated invention.” Tagore was concerned that
people not be dominated by machines, but he was not opposed to making good use of modern
technology. “The mastery over the machine,” he wrote in Crisis in Civilization, “by which
the British have consolidated their sovereignty over their vast empire, has been kept a sealed
book, to which due access has been denied to this helpless country.” Rabindranath had a deep
interest in the environment – he was particularly concerned about deforestation and initiated a
“festival of tree-planting” (vriksha-ropana) as early as 1928. He would want increased private
and government commitments to environmentalism; but he would not derive from this
position a general case against modern industry and technology.

On Cultural Separation:--Rabindranath would be shocked by the growth of cultural

separatism in India, as elsewhere. The “openness” that he valued so much is certainly under
great strain right now – in many countries. Religious fundamentalism still has a relatively
small following in India; but various factions seem to be doing their best to increase their
numbers. Certainly religious sectarianism has had much success in some parts of India
(particularly in the west and the north). Tagore would see the expansion of religious
sectarianism as being closely associated with an artificially separatist view of culture.

He would have strongly resisted defining India in specifically Hindu terms, rather than as a
“confluence” of many cultures. Even after the partition of 1947, India is still the third- largest
Muslim country in the world, with more Muslims than in Bangladesh, and nearly as many as
in Pakistan. Only Indonesia has substantially more followers of Islam. Indeed, by pointing to
the immense heterogeneousness of India’s cultural background and its richly diverse history,
Tagore had argued that the “idea of India” itself militated against a culturally separatist view
– “against the intense consciousness of the separateness of one’s own people from others.”

Tagore would also oppose the cultural nationalism that has recently been gaining some
ground in India, along with an exaggerated fear of the influence of the West. He was
uncompromising in his belief that human beings could absorb quite different cultures in
constructive ways:

Whatever we understand and enjoy in human products instantly becomes ours, wherever they
might have their origin. I am proud of my humanity when I can acknowledge the poets and
artists of other countries as my own. Let me feel with unalloyed gladness that all the great
glories of man are mine. Therefore it hurts me deeply when the cry of rejection rings loud
against the West in my country with the clamour that Western education can only injure us.

In this context, it is important to emphasize that Rabindranath was not short of pride in
India’s own heritage, and often spoke about it. He lectured at Oxford, with evident
satisfaction, on the importance of India’s religious ideas – quoting both from ancient texts
and from popular poetry (such as the verses of the sixteenth-century Muslim poet Kabir). In
1940, when he was given an honorary doctorate by Oxford University, in a ceremony
arranged at his own educational establishment in Santiniketan (“In Gangem Defluit Isis,”
Oxford helpfully explained), to the predictable “volley of Latin” Tagore responded “by a
volley of Sanskrit,” as Marjorie Sykes, a Quaker friend of Rabindranath, reports. Her cheerful
summary of the match, “India held its own,” was not out of line with Tagore’s pride in Indian
culture. His welcoming attitude to Western civilization was reinforced by this confidence: he
did not see India’s culture as fragile and in need of “protection” from Western influence.

In India, he wrote, “circumstances almost compel us to learn English, and this lucky accident
has given us the opportunity of access into the richest of all poetical literatures of the world.”
There seems to me much force in Rabindranath’s argument for clearly distinguishing between
the injustice of a serious asymmetry of power (colonialism being a prime example of this)
and the importance nevertheless of appraising Western culture in an open-minded way, in
colonial and postcolonial territories, in order to see what uses could be made of it.
Rabindranath insisted on open debate on every issue, and distrusted conclusions based on a
mechanical formula, no matter how attractive that formula might seem in isolation (such as
“This was forced on us by our colonial masters – we must reject it,” “This is our tradition –
we must follow it,” “We have promised to do this – we must fulfill that promise,” and so on).
The question he persistently asks is whether we have reason enough to want what is being
proposed, taking everything into account. Important as history is, reasoning has to go beyond
the past. It is in the sovereignty of reasoning – fearless reasoning in freedom – that we can
find Rabindranath Tagore’s lasting voice.

International concerns:--Tagore was not invariably well-informed about international

politics. He allowed himself to be entertained by Mussolini in a short visit to Italy in May-
June 1926, a visit arranged by Carlo Formichi, professor of Sanskrit at the University of
Rome. When he asked to meet Benedetto Croce, Formichi said, “Impossible! Impossible!”
Mussolini told him that Croce was “not in Rome.” When Tagore said he would go “wherever
he is,” Mussolini assured him that Croce’s whereabouts were unknown.

Such incidents, as well as warnings from Romain Rolland and other friends, should have
ended Tagore’s flirtation with Mussolini more quickly than it did. But only after he received
graphic accounts of the brutality of Italian fascism from two exiles, Gaetano Salvemini and
Gaetano Salvadori, and learned more of what was happening in Italy, did he publicly
denounce the regime, publishing a letter to the Manchester Guardian in August. The next
month, Popolo d’Italia, the magazine edited by Benito Mussolini’s brother, replied: “Who
cares? Italy laughs at Tagore and those who brought this unctuous and insupportable fellow
in our midst.”

With his high expectations of Britain, Tagore continued to be surprised by what he took to be
a lack of official sympathy for international victims of aggression. He returned to this theme
in the lecture he gave on his last birthday, in 1941. While Japan was quietly devouring North
China, her act of wanton aggression was ignored as a minor incident by the veterans of
British diplomacy. We have also witnessed from this distance how actively the British
statesmen acquiesced in the destruction of the Spanish Republic. But distinguishing between
the British government and the British people, Rabindranath went on to note “with
admiration how a band of valiant Englishmen laid down their lives for Spain.”

Tagore’s view of the Soviet Union has been a subject of much discussion. He was widely
read in Russia. In 1917 several Russian translations of Gitanjali (one edited by Ivan Bunin,
later the first Russian Nobel Laureate in Literature) were available, and by the late 1920s
many of the English versions of his work had been rendered into Russian by several
distinguished translators. Russian versions of his work continued to appear: Boris Pasternak
translated him in the 1950s and 1960s.

When Tagore visited Russia in 1930, he was much impressed by its development efforts and
by what he saw as a real commitment to eliminate poverty and economic inequality. But what
impressed him most was the expansion of basic education across the old Russian empire. In
Letters from Russia, written in Bengali and published in 1931, he unfavourably compares the
acceptance of widespread illiteracy in India by the British administration with Russian efforts
to expand education:

In stepping on the soil of Russia, the first thing that caught my eye was that in education, at
any rate, the peasant and the working classes have made such enormous progress in these few
years that nothing comparable has happened even to our highest classes in the course of the
last hundred and fifty years. The people here are not at all afraid of giving complete
education even to Turcoman of distant Asia; on the contrary, they are utterly in earnest about
it. 

When parts of the book were translated into English in 1934, the under-secretary for India
stated in Parliament that it was “calculated by distortion of the facts to bring the British
Administration in India into contempt and disrepute,” and the book was then promptly
banned. The English version would not be published until after independence.