Rabindranath Tagore Biography
Born: May 7, 1861
Died: August 7, 1941
Achievements: Rabindranath Tagore became the first Asian to became Nobel laureate when he won
Nobel Prize for his collection of poems, Gitanjali, in 1913; awarded knighthood by the British King
George V; established Viswabharati University; two songs from his Rabindrasangit canon are now the
national anthems of India and Bangladesh
Rabindranath Tagore was an icon of Indian culture. He was a poet, philosopher, musician, writer, and
educationist. Rabindranath Tagore became the first Asian to became Nobel laureate when he won
Nobel Prize for his collection of poems, Gitanjali, in 1913. He was popularly called as Gurudev and his
songs were popularly known as Rabindrasangeet. Two songs from his Rabindrasangit canon are now
the national anthems of India and Bangladesh: the Jana Gana Mana and the Amar Shonar Bangla.
Rabindranath Tagore was born on May 7, 1861 in a wealthy Brahmin family in Calcutta. He was the
ninth son of Debendranath and Sarada Devi. His grandfather Dwarkanath Tagore was a rich landlord
and social reformer. Rabindra Nath Tagore had his initial education in Oriental Seminary School. But
he did not like the conventional education and started studying at home under several teachers. After
undergoing his upanayan (coming-of-age) rite at the age of eleven, Tagore and his father left Calcutta
in 1873 to tour India for several months, visiting his father's Santiniketan estate and Amritsar before
reaching the Himalayan hill station of Dalhousie. There, Tagore read biographies, studied history,
astronomy, modern science, and Sanskrit, and examined the classical poetry of Kalidasa.
In 1874, Tagore's poem Abhilaash (Desire) was published anonymously in a magazine called
Tattobodhini. Tagore's mother Sarada Devi expired in 1875. Rabindranath's first book of poems, Kabi
Kahini ( tale of a poet ) was published in 1878. In the same year Tagore sailed to England with his
elder brother Satyandranath to study law. But he returned to India in 1880 and started his career as
poet and writer. In 1883, Rabindranath Tagore married Mrinalini Devi Raichaudhuri, with whom he had
two sons and three daughters.
In 1884, Tagore wrote a collection of poems Kori-o-Kamal (Sharp and Flats). He also wrote dramas Raja-o-Rani ( King and Queen) and Visarjan (Sacrifice). In 1890, Rabindranath Tagore moved to
Shilaidaha (now in Bangladesh) to look after the family estate. Between 1893 and 1900 Tagore wrote
seven volumes of poetry, which included Sonar Tari (The Golden Boat) and Khanika. In 1901,
Rabindranath Tagore became the editor of the magazine Bangadarshan. He Established Bolpur
Bramhacharyaashram at Shantiniketan, a school based on the pattern of old Indian Ashrama. In 1902,
his wife Mrinalini died. Tagore composed Smaran ( In Memoriam ), a collection of poems, dedicated to
his wife.
In 1905, Lord Curzon decided to divide Bengal into two parts. Rabindranath Tagore strongly protested
against this decision. Tagore wrote a number of national songs and attended protest meetings. He
introduced the Rakhibandhan ceremony , symbolizing the underlying unity of undivided Bengal.
In 1909, Rabindranath Tagore started writing Gitanjali. In 1912, Tagore went to Europe for the second
time. On the journey to London he translated some of his poems/songs from Gitanjali to English. He
met William Rothenstein, a noted British painter, in London. Rothenstien was impressed by the
poems, made copies and gave to Yeats and other English poets. Yeats was enthralled. He later wrote
the introduction to Gitanjali when it was published in September 1912 in a limited edition by the India
Society in London. Rabindranath Tagore was awarded Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913 for Gitanjali.
In 1915 he was knighted by the British King George V.
In 1919, following the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, Tagore renounced his knighthood. He was a
supporter of Gandhiji but he stayed out of politics. He was opposed to nationalism and militarism as a
matter of principle, and instead promoted spiritual values and the creation of a new world culture
founded in multi-culturalism, diversity and tolerance. Unable to gain ideological support to his views,
he retired into relative solitude. Between the years 1916 and 1934 he traveled widely.
1n 1921, Rabindranath Tagore established Viswabharati University. He gave all his money from Nobel
Prize and royalty money from his books to this University. Tagore was not only a creative genius, he
was quite knowledgeable of Western culture, especially Western poetry and science too. Tagore had
a good grasp of modern - post-Newtonian - physics, and was well able to hold his own in a debate
with Einstein in 1930 on the newly emerging principles of quantum mechanics and chaos. His
meetings and tape recorded conversations with his contemporaries such Albert Einstein and H.G.
Wells, epitomize his brilliance.
In 1940 Oxford University arranged a special ceremony in Santiniketan and awarded Rabindranath
Tagore with Doctorate Of Literature. Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore passed away on August 7, 1941 in
his ancestral home in Calcutta.
Sarojini Naidu
Born: 13 February, 1879
Passed Away: 2 March, 1949
Contributions
Sarojini Naidu was truly one of the gems of the 20th century India. She was known by the sobriquet
"The Nightingale of India". Her contribution was not confined to the fields of politics only but she was
also a renowned poet. The play "Maher Muneer", written by Naidu at an early age, fetched a
scholarship to study abroad. She briefed the struggles of freedom for independence to the political
stalwarts of European nations, she had visited. She married Dr. Muthyala Govindarajulu Naidu, a
South India. The marriage took place at a time when inter-caste marriage was not acceptable in the
society. Her acts helped in raising many eyebrows. In 1905, a collection of poems, she had
composed, was published under the title of "Golden Threshold".
Life
Sarojini Naidu was born on February 13, 1879 in Hyderabad. Her father, Dr. Aghornath
Chattopadhyaya was a scientist, philosopher, and educator. He founded the Nizam College of
Hyderabad. Her mother, Varada Sundari Devi was a Bengali poetess. Dr. Aghornath Chattopadhyaya
was the first member of the Indian National Congress in Hyderabad. For his socio-political activities,
Aghornath was dismissed from his position as Principal.
Since childhood, Sarojini was a very bright and intelligent child. Though Aghornath wanted his
daughter to become a mathematician or scientist, young Sarojini was fond of poetry. At an early age,
she wrote a "thirteen-hundred-lines" long poem "The Lady of the Lake". Impressed with her skills of
expressing things with appropriate words, Aghornath Chattopadhyaya encouraged her works. Few
months later, Sarojini, with assistance from her father, wrote the play "Maher Muneer" in the Persian
language.
Kabir
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kabir (IAST: Kabr) was a 15th-century Indian mystic poet and saint, whose writings influenced
Hinduism's Bhakti movement and his verses are found in Sikh's scripture Adi Granth.[1][2][3] His
early life was in a Muslim family, but he was strongly influenced by his teacher, the Hindu bhakti
leader Ramananda.[1]
Kabir is known for being critical of both Hinduism and Islam, stating that the former were
misguided by the Vedas and the latter by the Quran, and questioning their meaningless rites of
initiation such as the sacred thread and circumcision respectively.[1][4] During his lifetime, he was
threatened by both Hindus and Muslims for his views.[5]:4 When he died, both Hindus and Muslims
he had inspired claimed him as theirs.[2]
Kabir suggested that True God is with the person who is on the path of righteousness,
considered all creatures on earth as his own self, and who is passively detached from the affairs
of the world.[2] To know God, suggested Kabir, meditate with the mantra Rma, Rma.[5]:4
Kabir's legacy survives and continued through the Kabir panth ("Path of Kabir"), a religious
community that recognises him as its founder and is one of the Sant Mat sects. Its members,
known as Kabir panthis.[6]
Early life and background[edit]
The years of year of Kabir's birth and death are unclear.[7][8]:14 Some historians favor 13981448 as
the period Kabir lived,[5][8]:5 while others favor 14401518.[1][8]:106[9]
Many legends, inconsistent in their details, exist about his birth family and early life. According to
one version, Kabir was born to a Brahmin unwed mother in Varanasi, by immaculate conception
and delivered through the palm of her hand,[5]:5 who then abandoned him in a basket floating in a
pond, and baby Kabir was picked up then raised by a Muslim family.[1][5]:45 However, modern
scholarship has abandoned these legends for lack of historical evidence, and Kabir is widely
accepted to have been born and brought up in a family of Muslim weavers.[5]:35 According to the
Indologist Wendy Doniger, Kabir was born into a Muslim family and various birth legends attempt
to "drag Kabir back over the line from Muslim to Hindu".[10]
Some scholars state that Kabir's parents may have been recent converts to Islam, they and Kabir
were likely unaware of Islamic orthodox tradition, and are likely to have been following the Nath
(Shaiva Yogi) school of Hinduism. This view, while contested by other scholars, has been
summarized by Charlotte Vaudeville as follows,[11]
Circumcised or not, Kabir was officially a musalman, though it appears likely that some form
of Nathism was his ancestral tradition. This alone would explain his relative ignorance of Islamic
tenets, his remarkable acquaintance with Tantric-yoga practices and his lavish use of its esoteric
jargon [in his poems]. He appears far more conversant with Nath-panthi basic attitudes and
philosophy than with the Islamic orthodox tradition.
Charlotte Vaudeville on Kabir (1974),
[11]
KALIDAS
Introduction
One of the greatest poets and dramatists in
Sanskrit. His chronicle of the kings of the
Raghu clan ('Raghuvamsha'), the great play
'Shakuntala' and other works depict,
through many great characters, the highest
ideals of life as seen by the ancientpeople of
Bharat.
Author - K.T.Pandurangi
Kalidas
There are hundreds of languages in the
world. However, great and classical literature
which people in all countries need to read is
found only in a few languages. One such
great language is Sanskrit. It is one of the
oldest languages. It is the mother of several
Indianlanguages such as Hindi, Bengali and
Marathi in the North. Kannada, Telugu and
other languages in the South have also been
nourished by it.
It needs the genius of poets who create
literary epics and great thinkers for a
language to achieve world-renown. Sanskrit
is eminently lucky in this respect. Sages'
celebration of the wonders of nature, the sky,
the stars, mountains and rivers, the sun, the
moon, the clouds, fire ('Agni') and their
devout offering of prayers to the Universal
Power are all found in the Vedic classics
which/are in Sanskrit. Puranas and historical
epics like the Ramayana and the
Mahabharata vividly describe the battle
between the good and the evil. They also
portray the virtues like devotion to truth, a
sense of sacrifice, heroism, cultured living,
etc. In Sanskrit there are also beautiful
stories of birds and animals like
Panchatantra; stories extolling good and
basic qualities of wisdom and intelligence.
Sanskrit can also justly boast of a rich
treasure house of plays, poems and many
scientific and philosophical treatises.
Mahadevi Varma
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mahadevi Varma (Hindi: ) best known as an outstanding Hindi poet, and was a freedom
fighter, woman's activist and educationist from India. She is widely regarded as the
"modern Meera".[1] She was a major poet of the Chhayavaad generation, a period of romanticism
in Modern Hindi poetry ranging from 19141938. With passage of time, her limited but
outstanding prose has been recognised as unique in Hindi Literature. She was a prominent poet
in Hindi Kavi sammelans (Gatherings of poets).
She was the Principal, and then the Vice-Chancellor of Prayag Mahila Vidyapeeth, a woman's
residential college in Allahabad. She was awarded India's highest literary award, for lifetime
achievement, the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship in 1979, followed by theJnanpith Award in 1982.
[2]
She was the recipient of the Padma Bhushan in 1956[3] and the Padma Vibhushan in 1988,
India's third and second highest civilian awards respectively.[4]
Life[edit]
Mahadevi was born in Farukhabad in a family of lawyers. She was educated at JabalpurMadhya Pradesh. She was the eldest child of Govinda Prasad Varma and Hemaa rani and had
two brothers, Jagmohan and Manmohan, and a sister, Shyaama. She got married to Dr Swarup
Narain Varma in Indore when she was in her childhood. She stayed with her parents while her
husband studied in Lucknow to complete his education, during which time, she received her
higher education at the Allahabad University and passed her B.A.examination in 1929 and
completed her master's degree-M.A. in Sanskrit in 1933.
After the death of her husband in 1966, she moved permanently to Allahabad and lived there
until her death.
Mahadevi was appointed as the first headmistress of Allahabad (Prayag) Mahila Vidyapeeth,
which was started with a view to imparting cultural and literary education to girls through Hindi
medium. Later, she became the chancellor of the institute.
