07/05/2021
“Don’t limit a child to your own learning.”
Rabindranath Tagore was a poet, song composer, author, playwright and painter who used literature to paint both the picture of society and the individual. Tagore’s foresight helped produce numerous relatable emotions. On the other hand, his writing also presented a mirror to society.
The first non-European person to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, Rabindranath Tagore was born on May 7, 1861, in Calcutta. Here are some lesser-known facts about the unparallel artist.
1. He is the only person whose songs are used as the national anthem for not one, but three countries. Apart from India’s ‘Jana Gana Mana’, Bangladesh’s anthem ‘Amar Sonar Bangla’ was also Tagore’s creation. The lyrics of Sri Lanka’s anthem were translated from Tagore’s work in Bengali.
2. He did not like the stereotypical setup of a school; he himself refused to go to one and was homeschooled. Later, his vision of liberated teaching was realized through Vishwabharati University.
3. Tagore was an avid traveller and travelled to more than 30 countries, adapting foreign norms and spreading Indian culture.
4. Tagore was a contemporary of scientist Albert Einstein. The litterateur met the scientist at the latter’s house in 1930 and had a conversation about science, the divine, philosophy and nature of the universe.
5. His relation with Mahatma Gandhi was of mutual respect and admiration. Despite having contradicted what each other considered better for the freedom struggle, it was Tagore who conferred the title of Mahatma on the father of the nation.
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