Essays

The family of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore was originally known as Banerjees, who were respectfully called Thakurs'. The name Thakur' was later anglicized as Tagore by the Britishers. Rabindranath was the youngest son of Devendranath Thakur. He was born on May 6» 1861 at Calcutta. He lost his mother at an early age and thus he was mostly cared for by the servants. He hated conventional schooling and much to his dislike he was sent to Bengal Academy and to St. Xaviers but finally he was allowed to study at home with the family relenting to his resolute desire.

At home, he grew up imbibing the rich discussions held in his father's study, endlessly. He got the first taste of the Upanishads at home under the guidance of his father. At home he extensively read the mystical and the Vaishnav poets of India.

He was sent to England to study law in 1877 but he returned to India only after a year for his love of writing. After returning, he devoted himself completely to writing. In fact, poetry came to him naturally. He had published more than 6000 lines of verse before he was 18 along with prose. He became an active member of the Bengal Literary Academy and frequently contributed to many periodicals- He became famous as the 'Shelley of Bengal' amidst the intelligentsia of the society- When Rabindranath Tagore made his presence felt in the literary society, Bengal at that time was in the full swing of Renaissance in every field - religion, literature and politics. The time was ripe "for him to reach greater heights and newer horizons. He too was at the prime of his poetic capability and sensibility which bursted into his excellent poetry, drama and novels. His mystic nature, profound piety and deep religiosity earned him the title of Maharishi. His ideals culminated in the establishment of Shantiniketan in 1901 near Bolpur in Bengal. It was modelled on the Gurukul Pattern of education of Ancient India. He hoped to create a peaceful retreat for students where they would flower into young and versatile minds of India. The school became Vishwabharti in 1921.

Rabindranath was writing at a time when the entire country was thrown into the fever of freedom struggle. A sensitive poet like him could not sit in his Ivory Tower.  Therefore, he also plunged with deep passion into the struggle trying to stir millions with the power of his pen, hp wrote a number of patriotic poems, songs and articles especially during the painful patriotic of Bengal in 1905. Our National Anthem - Jana Gana Mana is the proud creation of Gurudev. In 1909, 'Gitanjali', the monumental work of the poet, was published. In 1913, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature and the University of Calcutta honoured him with the honorary Doctorate the same year. He was also Knighted by the British Government but the Jalliawala Bagh massacre on April 13, 1919 repulsed the tender heart of the poet. In protest, he returned his knighthood. He died on August 7, 1941 and not only the entire nation but the whole intellectual community of the world suffered an irreparable loss. The nation lost a great poet, philosopher, social reformer, mystic and a greater human being.