On Tagore’s birthday

If Rabindranath Tagore was born on 7th of May 1861, he is 150 years old now. We don’t have him physically anymore but his legacy as a great poet is still young among us. What makes Tagore so deeply involved in our everyday existence? When infamous Monem Khan tried to stop Rabindra sangeet in the 60’s, our national reaction was not because that we wanted to listen Tagore songs only, it was due to his deep attachment to our national psyche. In Tagore’s genius we find the very gist of our culture, he was an exponent of our emotion and he was a vivid sign of our traditions. The inherent nature of our culture, in the broader sense the entire gamut of the Indian culture, is based on a philosophical basis. Anyone who is not ready to accept this broader interpretation will not enjoy the freedom lies in the true nature of our culture. This needs our appreciation for Vedanta and Upanishad. Tagore’s rise as a poet has deeply been influenced by the philosophy of Upanishad. Many critics are of the opinion that if Tagore was born thousands of years before he would have been a great hrishi.
His poetic prowess is a unique brew of pleasure, pain, romance, separation, emotion, devotion, logic and philosophy which can be called a unity in diversity. The greatness of Tagore is visible in his audacious poem, ‘Aji hotey shotoborsho porey’, where he clearly hoped that we will read him even after 100 years. He was right in his predictions. His deep understanding of life gave him a rare power to depict this in his writings which are essentially eternal in nature. In ‘Sonar Tori’ he emancipated himself from the illusion of life. He wrote ‘etokal nodikuley jaha loye chonu bhuley shokoli dilam tuley thorey bithorey, ebar amarey loho koruna korey’. But then he realises ‘thai nai thai choto shey tori amari shonar dhaney giyachey bhori’. The poet gathered power to negotiate with the dire realities of our life that time takes everything but the person who created those.
In any form of art and aesthetics it is always a rare expertise to create a theme by mixing pain and pleasure. Tagore did this with enough dexterity. His songs can create an addiction for anyone who can travel with his emotions. In the song ‘purbacholero paney takai ostacholero dharey ashi’, I always have to control my personal emotions when I listen ‘daak diye jar sara na pai tari lagi aaj bajai banshi’.
The name Tagore does not end in itself, he is an institution now. To be on the chariot of time is difficult but Tagore tried it and he is on it.