Rabindranath Tagore, son of Maharshi Debendranath Tagore, a leader of Brahmo Samaj, was born on May 7, 1861 in Calcutta. He was the fourteenth and the youngest child of Debendranath and Shardadevi. They lived in a joint household in Jorasanko. Tagore belonged to a family of poets, scholars, philosophers, artists, musicians and freedom fighters. The family name was actually Thakur; Tagore is its anglicized version. He grew up in the lap of nature, learning to love and worship it.
Tagore was admitted into the Oriental seminary in 1868. Rabi, as Rabindranath was called in his childhood and young days, cleared his first examination with distinction and stood first in Bengali. At this time he got his first lesson in composing poems from Jyotiprakash, grandson of Girindranath, Rabi’s uncle. Soon he found himself in this new hobby and started filling it up with poems. But school and classroom was a bar with four walls. At this stage, special arrangements were made for imparting lessons in English. The lessons were held in the evenings. He used to feel so miserable that he would consider the birds luckier than himself as they did not know the art of lighting lamps and were spared the misfortune of taking lessons at night. His ideas were also expressed in form of poetry.
"I do not aspire to study and be learned
or be wise and a good boy as you wish
I would rather play always and wander about
To search for the corzune in the Mulberry bush.
When I hear the cart-driver’s song,
to cross the vast fields, he drives fast,
I cannot learn my lessons any long"
And promise to become uliterate at last.’He found lessons in the school uninteresting and hated the idea of punishment for making mistakes. He was then transferred to a regular school and thereafter to St. Xavier’s.
THE GUARDIAN ANGEL
In 1875, when Tagore was only fourteen years old, his mother passed away. This was the first time that he encountered death at such close quarters. Her death introduced him to the harsh realities of life. Deeply affected by the incident, he became extremely sensitive. He reached out to his sister-in-law (his elder brother’s wife), Kadambari for support. After that she always kept guarding Rabi, even when she would shift with her husband to places away from their ancestral house. She was a highly gifted lady. She not only loved literature but also took keen interest in it, particularly in poetry. She naturally felt delighted and encouraged the poetic talent of her brother-in-law, Rabi. She proved to be Rabi’s guardian angel who replaced his mother and alongside became his playmate, the company he wanted the most in the critical period of his adolescence. It was she who introduced Biharilal, the first lyric – poet in Bengal to Rabi. She also admired
Bankim Chandra Chaterjee’s writings. She preferred her younger brother-in-law to read them for her. Thus a warm friendship and love grew between young Rabindranath and Kadambari devi. Kripalne, an eminent biographer of Rabindranath described this love as : "Too deep and sacred to be categorized in terms of normal human relationship."
"Where Thou and in union with the multitudo.
I shall seek union with Thee,
Neither in the forest, nor in solchede,
Nor inside my own mind,
But where Thou art the beloved of everybody
Thou art my beloved too" –
At this time he wrote a patriotic poem, which was published in the Amrit Bazar Patrika. In fact, his first poem was written at the age of seven.
Debendranath, who used to spend most of his days in Himalayas, returned in 1873 for Rabi’s sacred thread ceremony. After that Debendranath took Rabi with him to spend few months in Himalayas.
On the way towards the hills, it was decided to spend a few days at Shantiniketan were his father had already built a garden house to spend time in meditation. The stay at Shantiniketan made a profound impression on his mind and long afterwards, played a significant part in shaping his future life.
This journey disciplined him and taught him many things. He learnt Sanskrit from his father, wandered around freely in the mountains and forests, feasted his eyes on the scenic beauty and moved from peak to peak.
This trip brought about a mutation in his character. The little boy who went to the Himalayas with his father was left behind in the mountains and Calcutta welcomed a grown-up man. During the four months that he spent in the Himalayas, he was completely separated from the routine of home and school life. The little hero had returned from his adventures. He was now a budding poet and was encouraged to develop self-discipline, independence of spirit and dislike domineering behavior.
IN ENGLAND
When Rabi was seventeen, his second brother Satyendranath suggested that Rabindranath should go to the United Kingdom to prepare himself for the Bar. His father also gave his consent and the two brothers sailed for England in 1878.
He stayed there for about three years and studied English literature at the London University. He wrote long letters home talking about his experiences. His apparent liking for white women and the life there so alarmed his father that he asked Rabindranath to return home. He was sent to acquire an educational qualification but returned before that, following his father’s instructions.
During the short stay at London, Tagore got good acquaintance with Western music. He noticed its difference from Indian music and the peculiarity of the western music that attracted him the most was its romantic characteristic.
While in England he wrote a poem, Bhanga Hriday, in which he wrote about the sufferings of a broken heart away from home.
MARRIAGE
On December 9, 1883, he was married to Bhabatarini, the daughter of Benimadhav Chowdhury. She was ten years old, quite thin, not good- looking, almost illiterate and seemed to be old-fashioned. But Tagore accepted his father’s choice without even meeting her. The wedding took place at the family home in Jorasanko. Bhabatarini’s name was changed to Mrinalini. Rabindranath’s brother Dwijendranath suggested this change in name.
ANGEL’S LOSS
After his marriage, his sister-in-law Kadambari committed suicide for some unknown reason. Tagore now felt very lonely. During the most difficult and trying times of his youth, Kadambari had been there by his side. She had not only been a mother to him but had also supported and chastened his wild adolescent yearnings. Her death sharpened his sensibilities, giving his work even more depth and if anything, improving it. His overwhelming grief found expression in his poetry. ‘Tumki kebali chhabi’ (Are you only a portrait?).
SPROUTING OF A LITERARY GENIUS
Tagore was sent to Bombay, where a lady tutor was employed to teach him. A warm and affectionate relationship developed between them. She encouraged and inspired him. Inspired by her, he wrote a poem. He even gave his teacher a name, that of a character from his poem - Nalini.
The period from 1890 to 1900 was the time when Tagore’s literary genius was at its peak. It was during these years that he wrote the best of his works like, Manashi, Sonar Tari, Chaitali, Ksamika, Kalpana and Kadi O Komal.
Most of his works were written in Bengali. His narratives gave a glimpse of the life of women during that time. He was a staunch supporter of widow remarriage and the uplift of women.
SHANTINIKETAN
In 1898, Rabindranath with his life and five children, three daughters and two sons shifted, to his estate house in Shelaidah. He had decided to educate his children himself. From this time he was planning to start a school with a different class than that of the normal schools. Shantiniketan, where he had been with his father, haunted him and being there was his dream. He decided to start a school at Shantiniketan and on December 22, 1901, the school at Shatiniketan was inaugrated by Rabindranath with five pupils and five teachers.
Much time had not passed and still school and family were being organized, when Mr. Mrinalini Devi fell ill and was brought to Calcutta. She could not recover and breathed her last on November 23, 1902.
Mrinalini loved Rabindranath so deeply that to please him, she learnt Bengali as well as English and Sanskrit. She translated an abridged version of the Ramayan in Bengali from Sanskrit.
Tagore had two sons and three daughters. In keeping with his reformist ideas, he got his son married to a young widow, Pratima Devi. Tagore’s work was probably the culmination of the cultural awakening that Raja Ram Mohan Roy dreamt of and fought for.
In 1902, Mrinalini fell ill and was brought to Jorasanko from Shanti Niketan. Doctors were unable to diagnose her illness. Her death shattered Tagore and broke his heart. He poured his feelings out in a series of poems. But the cruel games that destiny played with him were not yet over, more deaths of his loved ones followed.
His second daughter Renuka was diagnosed with tuberculosis. He desperately tried to save her life. It was then that he wrote Pnakhi (Deception, which appears in Palataka). He said:
"When treatment for a year and a half wore out her bones
Then they said, ‘needs change of air’."
The word ‘then’ reflects the pain that he felt. It was only when she was dying that they said this. His daughter Renuka passed away after few days of her mother’s death in sept.1903. Four years later his son Shamindranath died of cholera. He had gone on a trip to Munger, where he caught cholera and never returned. His father Debendranath also passed away. His personal losses metamorphosed into pieces of priceless literature. All the deaths that had occurred had been untimely. He wrote in the memory of his son,
"When Biju went away to that world beyond death,
Cutting away the many bonds of his father-
It felt as though the dawn in my room had died from a bursting heart."
TAGORE THE NATIONALIST
Bengal was partitioned in 1905 and Tagore was gripped by the fever of nationalism. Though he was initially a supporter of Gandhi he could not accept his ideology and parted ways with anything political. In fact, it was Gandhi who had given him the title ‘Gurudev’. Though no two people could be as dissimilar as these two, as Nehru put it, they had a fond affinity for each other. Gandhi consulted Tagore on the methods to be used to gain freedom for India.
Jawaharlal Nehru said of him and of Gandhiji:
"Both Gurudev and Gandhiji took much from the West and from other countries, especially Gurudev. Neither was narrowly national. Their message was for the world. And yet both were one hundred percent India’s children, and the inheritors, representatives and expositors of her age-old culture. How intensely Indian both have been, in spite of their wide knowledge and culture! The surprising thing is that both of these men with so much in common and drawing inspiration from the same wells of wisdom and thought and culture, should differ from each other so greatly ! No two persons could probably differ so much as Gandhi and Tagore ! Again, I think of the richness of India’s age-long cultural genius which can throw up in the same generation two such master-types, typical of her in every way, yet representing different aspects of her many-sided personality."
Though personal suffering left him a broken person, he did not spend time in grieving. Instead he poured out all his sorrow and pain into his writing and devoted his energies to various reform and nationalist activities. Gitanjali, his masterpiece was born out of this loss. He also translated it and it was acclaimed the world over. Wherever he travelled he was received with great enthusiasm and respect.
He then founded a school outside Calcutta, Shanti Niketan. It was dedicated to the emerging Western and Indian philosophy and education- one thing that he had wanted to achieve all his life. This was mainly because in India, he had to defend Western thought and outside he had to defend Indian thought. Shanti Niketan later became a university and was renamed Vishwa Bharati.
His father bequeathed Tagore’s political ideals to him. He used his literature to mobilize social and political reform. His patriotic songs are cries for freedom and awakening. He who wrote the lyric Jana Gana Mana …. That was to be made the national anthem of India. He also wrote the national anthem of Bangladesh. He was a nationalist, like his father. But, foremost he was a poet, ‘the man who dreamt and inspired faith.’ He said, " It is the dreamer who builds civilization; it is he who can realize the spiritual unity reigning supreme over all differences of race." He staunchly believed that India must earn her freedom.
LATER YEARS
Tagore travelled beyond the mainland of India. He travelled to America where he met Einstein. He also went to England where he was acquainted with W.B. Yeats, and many other persons of literary merit. Many people were now reading the translations of the Gitanjali.
After this he travelled to many parts of the world where he met many literary figures and exchanged ideas. He also wrote much and stayed at Shanti Niketan. His works, especially the Gitanjali, were translated into many languages and read all over the world during this period.
In his later years he tried to finance the Vishwa Bharati University personally from his income from his lecture tours and the royalties that he received. By 1941 his health had deteriorated considerably. Tagore was plainly ready for death. He avoided leaving Shanti Niketan. The doctors insisted that he be operated upon or he would suffer frightfully. So, finally he consented. But, two weeks later, on the August 7, 1941, he died, in Jorasanko, where he was born. Residents came in thousands to take a last look at the poet who had stirred their hearts and their consciousness. His body was cremated on the banks of the Hoogly river.
Today, he is the most widely read of the poets of Bengal. In fact he is the only poet that Bengal actually worships. For the people of India and abroad, he was the very quintessence of Indian culture and the living voice of India.
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