Here's why Rabindranath Tagore is cooler than you thought
In the memory of Kavi Guru Rabindranath Thakur, on his 74th death anniversary, let's find out some cool facts about him.
Baishe Srabon, or the 22nd of the month of Shravan, which happens to be today, is the day an eminent bard of all times breathed his last in India. Rabindranath Tagore, or more precisely, Rabindranath Thakur, has been remembered and honoured for the great treasure of literature that he has left behind at his wake. But do we know about the kid, the carefree soul, and the inspiration that he has been?
1. Wrote his first poem when he was still a kid
His first two-liner poem was based on food, about how he eats sun-dried ripe mango, squashed with milk andshondesh (milk cake), and how the ants pass by with tears in their eyes. That was the humble beginning of the bard who would grow up to bring India her first the Nobel Prize.
2. Never went to school, but founded one of India's foremost universities
Tagore despised the concept of confined classrooms from his boyhood. Home schooled and brought up by servants along with several other siblings, Tagore never got himself any affiliated degree. But nonetheless, he founded a school for children at Santiniketan and then went on to build an unconventional university, Visva Bharati.
3. Even Audrey Hepburn was his fan
'I seem to have loved you in numberless forms, numberless times
In life after life, in age after age, forever.'
These lines of Rabindranath Tagore from his poem 'Unending love' (Ananta Prem) had touched even the heart of actor Audrey Hepburn, making it her favourite. Listen to actor Gregory Peck read out the poem in Hepburn's memory.
4. He was a poet, author, playwright, songwriter, singer, painter and even composed music
Did you know that Tagore composed the music of the original version of our National SongVande Mataram? Did you know he took up painting at the age of 60, when people usually retire? No wonder he was called Gurudev (master), for he excelled in so many spheres of art in one lifetime that going through even half of it can makes one's head spin.
5. He is not just a writer... he is a genre
You need not be a Bengali to know that there are genres called Rabindra Sangeet (songs by Tagore), Rabindra Nritya (dance form dedicated specifically for Rabindra Sangeet) and Rabindra Nritya Natya (Tagore's dance dramas). The man has left behind enough art for a person to spend their entire life mastering. At a point of time, Tagore becomes a form of lifestyle.
6. He and Albert Einstien had been in one frame
One comes across this picture of the two, clicked in 1930, Albert Einstein welcomed Tagore into his home in Berlin, during which the two had a riveting conversation about the timeless rift between science and religion.
7. He made AR Rahman sing in Bengali
Again, you do not have to be a Bong to have your heart well up when you hear Rahman's remake ofChitto Jetha Bhayshunyo, or as it is calledJagao Mere Des Ko in his version. Tagore wrote this poem before independence of India, basically voice his dream of what the free, new India should be like. If you have never come across these line, do yourself a favour a listen to the remake version of this son by AR Rahman, where the maestro himself has sung the first few lines in Bengali.