Rabindra Jayanti: These unknown facts about Rabindranath Tagore’s inspiring person might be of great interest to you!
Highlights:
- Life of Rabindranath Tagore
- 5 Unknown Facts Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindra Jayanti: May 7 finds a special significance annually and globally as it marks the birth anniversary of the exceptional literary icon Rabindranath Tagore. This day is widely observed as Rabindra Jayanti, is also known as Pochishe Boishakh since it occurs on the 25th day of the Bengali month of Boishakh.
Rabindranath Tagore is one of the proud sons of India who was the first Asian to receive the Nobel Prize for literature. This multi-talented personality was a philosopher, poet, dramatist, painter, novelist, educationist, and composer. Shantiniketan was an entirely new educational institution that challenged the conventional education system.
He was lovingly and respectfully called Gurudev, Kabiguru, and Biswakabi. Hailing from the illustrious ‘Thakur’ family, Tagore was heavily exposed to the world of theatre, recitals (Western & Bengali), literary discussions, and classical music. He was a proponent of universalism and humanism.
A sneak peek into the Life of Rabindranath Tagore
He was born to Sarada Devi and Debendranath Tagore in 1861 in Jorasanko Thakurbari, Kolkata. Bengali calendar records Tagore’s birth year as 1268. Tagore was the youngest of 14 children. This year marks the Bard of Bengal’s 161st birth anniversary.
He had a great talent for painting and played a vital role in modernizing Bengali art. The Jallianwala Bagh massacre incredibly moved him to express his deep reverence for freedom.
These unknown facts about this inspiring person might be of great interest to you.
The first person from outside Europe to win the Nobel prize
Rabindranath Tagore got the honour of the Nobel Prize for his acclaimed political work called Gitanjali. Notably, he was the first non-European to bring this most coveted honour. In choosing him for this honour, the Nobel committee stated, “Because of his profoundly fresh, sensitive, and beautiful words by which with consummate skill, he had made his poetic thought, expressed in his own English words, a part of the literature of the West.”
Vishwa Bharti University
100 yrs of the Vishwa Bharti University is a testimony to Rabindranath Tagore’s vision to nurture the minds of future generations with education and thought. A handwritten note and sketch by Gurudev in my family library is a treasure and an inspiration. pic.twitter.com/8A1Hwe6tev
— Jitin Prasada जितिन प्रसाद (@JitinPrasada) December 24, 2020
In 2004, the prize was stolen from Vishwa Bharti University. Sometime later, the Swedish academy gave a replica of the award, one in gold and the other in bronze.
Challenging conventional Education
In 1921, Tagore founded Viswa Bharti University at Shantiniketan. This organization challenged the conventional method of classroom instruction and took Education several steps beyond the traditional standards. Stating his motive behind this significant finding, Tagore said humanity must be studied somewhere beyond the limits of nation and geography.
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Wrote National Anthem for these countries too
The world-famed national anthem of India, namely, Jana Gana Mana composed by Rabindranath Tagore. In addition to that, he has also written national anthems for other countries. The Bangladesh National Anthem, worded as Amar Shonar Bangla, was composed by Tagore. He gave the lyrics of the Sri Lanka National Anthem too.
Tagore, Gandhi, and Einstein
Photographs from history. This is a familiar one—Albert Einstein and Rabindranath Tagore. pic.twitter.com/4KGIrawljA
— Kaushik Basu (@kaushikcbasu) March 6, 2020
Gandhi and Tagore shared a deep love and reverence for each other. Rabindranath Tagore conferred the title Mahatma to Gandhi. However, on several issues, Tagore significantly deferred from Gandhi. Einstein and Tagore met four times between 1930 and 1931. They revered each other, moved by their mutual curiosity to grasp each other’s contribution, search for truth, and love for music.
More about Einstein Describing Einstein, Tagore wrote: “There was nothing stiff about him, there was no intellectual aloofness. He seemed to be a man who valued human relationships, and he showed me a genuine interest and understanding”.
