Page 116 - DENG104_ELECTIVE_ENGLISH_I

Unit 11: Where the Mind is Without Fear By Rabindranath Tagore

11.1 Biography Notes

Rabindranath Tagore was the first Asian to become Nobel laureate when he won Nobel Prize
for his collection of poems, Gitanjali, in 1913. He was awarded Knighthood by the British King
George V. He established Viswabharati University; two songs composed by him, viz, Jana
Gana Mana and Amar Shonar Bangla are now the National Anthems of India and Bangladesh
respectively.
Rabindranath Tagore was an icon of Indian culture. He was a poet, philosopher, musician,
writer, and educationist. He was popularly called Gurudev and his songs were popularly
known as Rabindrasangeet.

Rabindranath Tagore was born on May 7, 1861 in a wealthy Brahmin family in then Calcutta.
He was the ninth son of Debendranath and Sarada Devi. His grandfather Dwarkanath Tagore
was a rich landlord and social reformer. Rabindranath Tagore had his initial education in
Oriental Seminary School. But he did not like the conventional education and started studying
at home under several teachers. After undergoing his upanayan (coming-of-age) rite at the age
of eleven, Tagore and his father left Calcutta in 1873 to tour India for several months, visiting
his father’s Santiniketan estate and Amritsar before reaching the Himalayan hill station of
Dalhousie. There, Tagore read biographies, studied history, astronomy, modern science, and
Sanskrit, and examined the classical poetry of Kalidasa.
In 1874, Tagore’s poem Abhilaash (Desire) was published anonymously in a magazine called
Tattobodhini. Tagore’s mother Sarada Devi expired in 1875. Rabindranath’s first book of poems,
Kabi Kahini ( tale of a poet ) was published in 1878. In the same year Tagore sailed to England
with his elder brother Satyandranath to study law. But he returned to India in 1880 and
started his career as poet and writer. In 1883, Rabindranath Tagore married Mrinalini Devi
Raichaudhuri, with whom he had two sons and three daughters.
In 1884, Tagore wrote a collection of poems Kori-o-Komol (Sharp and Flats). He also wrote
dramas - Raja-o-Rani ( King and Queen) and Visarjan (Sacrifice). In 1890, Rabindranath Tagore
moved to Shilaidaha (now in Bangladesh) to look after the family estate. Between 1893 and
1900 Tagore wrote seven volumes of poetry, which included Sonar Tari (The Golden Boat) and
Khanika. In 1901, Rabindranath Tagore became the editor of the magazine Bangadarshan. He
established Bolpur Bramhacharyaashram at Shantiniketan, a school based on the pattern of old
Indian Ashrama. In 1902, his wife Mrinalini died. Tagore composed Smaran (In Memoriam), a
collection of poems, dedicated to his wife.
In 1905, Lord Curzon decided to divide Bengal into two parts. Rabindranath Tagore strongly
protested against this decision. Tagore wrote a number of national songs and attended protest
meetings. He introduced the Rakhibandhan ceremony, symbolising the underlying unity of
undivided Bengal.

In 1909, Rabindranath Tagore started writing Gitanjali. In 1912, Tagore went to Europe for the
second time. On the journey to London he translated some of his poems/songs from Gitanjali
to English. He met William Rothenstein, a noted British painter, in London. Rothenstien was
impressed by the poems, made copies and gave to Yeats and other English poets. Yeats was
enthralled. He later wrote the introduction to Gitanjali when it was published in September
1912 in a limited edition by the India Society in London. Rabindranath Tagore was awarded
Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913 for Gitanjali. In 1915 he was knighted by the British King
George V.

LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 111