Celebrating Tagore: The Bard of Bengal and Beyond

On May 7, 1861, a child was born in Kolkata’s Jorasanko Thakur Bari (The Royal Abode of the Tagore family)  — a child who would redefine literature, music and education. Rabindranath Tagore, or “Gurudev,” was not merely a poet, but a universe unto himself.

Tagore penned his first poem when he was eight years old. At sixteen, he was writing under a pen name. But he didn’t limit himself to poetry — he penned novels, essays, short stories, plays, and more than 2,000 songs, all collectively referred to as Rabindra Sangeet. His words spoke to every emotion, from divine love to human love, from patriotism to philosophical self-analysis.

In 1913, Tagore was the first Asian to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature for the English translation of his work ‘Gitanjali’. He went on to found Visva-Bharati University at Shantiniketan, envisioning a world of learning founded upon freedom, imagination, and global intercourse.

Tagore was an outspoken critic of blind nationalism and imperial colonialism. In protest against the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, he chose to renounce his knighthood in 1919, in favor of conscience over colonial glory.

He has written the National anthems of two countries: Jana Gana Mana of India and Amar Shonar Bangla of Bangladesh. A few lines of the Sri Lankan National Anthem are also taken from his writings.

On his birthday, we don’t only remember a poet, we celebrate the birth of a great educator, thinker, philosopher, and his visions move across generations.

Written by Priyanshu 

Edited by Rupam Shukla