Oct 08, 2004 05:37 PM
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(Updated Oct 08, 2004 05:37 PM)
?Whenever we try to render one of his plays or operas he will begin composing new songs or write a new play, attend the rehearsals and insist on accompanying the players. Is there anybody who can suppress the artist in him? In consideration of his health we have sometimes stopped rehearsals of these performances or seasonal festivals ? but the results have been disastrous. There is nothing that keeps up his spirits (and his health) at Shantiniketan as the atmosphere of art and music. Can we deprive him of this sustenance? I have been brutally attacked in the press ? but what is the use of explaining? Who in our country, will understand the life of an artist??
- Rathindranth Tagore (Tagore?s son) as quoted in Rabindranath Tagore: The Myriad-Minded Man, Pgs 321-322)
These lines probably best sum up Rabindranath Tagore, a truly myriad-minded personality ? poet, dramatist, painter, novelist, short story writer, thinker, educationist and social reformer. In their book, Rabindranath Tagore: The Myriad-Minded Man, authors Krishna Dutta and Andrew Robinson give us a comprehensive image of a man, whom not just they, but the poet?s peers and generations to come have perceived him, despite his multi-faceted personality - a creative artist. What comes out in the book is Tagore performing multi-roles under the watchful eye of Tagore the artist.
The book is a journey by itself, beginning with Tagore?s birth in Jorasanko and covers the key moments of his life that saw the emergence and dominance of the man considered to be the pinnacle of Indian renaissance.
The book peeps into his life and personal relationships ? his relationship with his wife which till date remains truly unexplored; his father Maharashi Debendranath, his sister-in-law Kadambari, his children, particularly son Rathindranath, Mahatma Gandhi, WB Yeats, GB Shaw, William Rothenstein and many more.
Kadambari was married to his elder brother Jyotirindranath Tagore. There was a special bond between Rabindranath and Kadambari, beautifully epitomized in Nashtanirh (the basis of Satyajit Ray?s classic, Charulata).
Mahatma Gandhi and Tagore were two giants living in the same period and since they espoused radically different views, they more often than not clashed. According to Nehru, if Mahatma Gandhi gave India its political impetus then Tagore gave it a spiritual thrust. One was a man of action and the other a man of ideas. Tagore in his life time was often considered to be an impractical poet. The two legends disagreed over many things ? Gandhi?s non-cooperation movement was one and education the other amongst many other issues.
Tagore?s concept of education that embraced art and literature in its whole was aimed at elevating the soul while Gandhi on the other hand always felt that education needed to be utilitarian. In his later years, Tagore was won over by the freedom movement started by Gandhiji and towards the end handed over the responsibility of Shantiniketan to him after his death. It was Tagore who conferred the title Mahatma to Gandhi while Gandhi in his turn, referred to Tagore as the Great Sentinel.
Litterateur William Rothenstein* introduced Tagore and his works to Europe in general and WB Yeats* in particular. Yeats was one person responsible for recommending his name to the Nobel Committee in Stockholm. Britain was distressed to say the least as an Indian was given the award over and above their own Thomas Hardy. Europe?s attitude to Tagore was ambivalent.
If it gushed over his writing, especially Gitanjali and The Gardner, it was exasperated with his sentimentality of his later works ? Yeats actually wondered what was wrong with Tagore and their relationship with him withered. *Bernard Shaw?s attitude to him best exemplified Europe?s attitude to Tagore post-Nobel Prize. He was most reverential to the bard but joked in private, ?I wonder how many wives the old Bluebeard has?? Though there was the odd translation of The Post Office by Andre Gide, Tagore?s international reputation took a beating in Europe in the 1930?s.
In India, especially in Bengal, Tagore was almost worshipped but always dismissed and disparaged as being too impractical. His thoughts were not considered fit in a social context. Enviousness could have been a reason, argue Dutta and Robinson.
Rabindranath Tagore: The Myriad-Minded Man is a fond critique of one of India?s most outstanding personalities and it scores in taking a critical estimate of this outstanding public figure rather than being plain and simply eulogistic. For instance, though Tagore was theoretically opposed to child marriage he did marry his daughter when she was a child. His reaction at his wife?s death is also looked upon disapprovingly. Similarly, the authors have not cast a blind eye at his literary lapses, particularly the translations (even the ones which Tagore did himself) and owe the European beating to this primarily.
Rabindranath Tagore: The Myriad-Minded Man is brilliant if you ask me to sum it up in one word. Pick it up to rediscover Tagore.
