Rabindranath Tagore and his eternal legacy.

Rabindranath Tagore is a legendary figure in the golden pages of our Indian History, blazing with versatility and immortal widsom. He is famous worldwide as a Bengali polymath – poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He reshaped Bengali literature and music as well as Indian art with Contextual Modernism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Most of us know him as the composer of India's National Anthem Jan-Gan-Man and also as the composer of Bangladesh's National Anthem Amar Shonar Bangla. He was also the first non-eurpoean individual to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913, authoring Gitanjali - a beautiful poetical masterpiece.

Tagore was a prolific composer with approximately 2,232 songs to his credit. His songs have distinctive characteristics in the music of Bengal, popular in India and Bangladesh. His unique outlook on Raags and Taals, making Indian Classical Song Scheme in harmony with Western Tunes, adding a flavour of Carnatic Classical Music and even Bengali Folk Music to it earns his fusions the name Rabindra Sangeet which is still a sky-rocketed music that every Modern Bengali proudly sings.

Rabindranath Tagore was 1 year and 8 months elder to Swami Vivekananda. In their youths, both of them joyfully participated together in Bhajans of then the Brahmo Samaj - A Hindu Monotheistic Society. The Brahmo Samaj was a monotheistic sect of Hinduism. The movement began through meetings of Bengalis in Calcutta in 1828. One of the leading figures of Brahmo Samaj was Ram Mohun Roy. Debendranath Tagore, the father of Rabindranath Tagore, was a key member of the Brahmo Sabha. It is well-noted that Swami Vivekananda greatly admired the beautiful songs that his young friend, Rabindra composed.

In the Brahmo Sabha Bhajans, the young Swami Vivekananda, before as Narendranath, always sang his friend Rabindra's songs. The Brahmo Samaj would often fill with infinite electricity and unbridled ecstasy when Narendranath sang Rabindranath's compositions, with his beautiful voice and absolute mastery over Mridangam Dholak and Tanpura!

Just 2 days ago, on 8th of August, was the 80th death anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore. Moreover, after 5 days, on 15th August, is the 75th Independence Day of India. Thus, to end this blog, I decided to present you all a poem composed by Shri Shri Rabindranath Tagore on FREEDOM. 

"Freedom from fear is the freedom

I claim for you my motherland!

Freedom from the burden of the ages, bending your head,

breaking your back, blinding your eyes to the beckoning

call of the future;

Freedom from the shackles of slumber wherewith

you fasten yourself in night's stillness,

mistrusting the star that speaks of truth's adventurous paths;

freedom from the anarchy of destiny

whole sails are weakly yielded to the blind uncertain winds,

and the helm to a hand ever rigid and cold as death.

Freedom from the insult of dwelling in a puppet's world,

where movements are started through brainless wires,

repeated through mindless habits,

where figures wait with patience and obedience for the

master of show,

to be stirred into a mimicry of life."

I bow down to this Bengali Legend. May I get 1% of the clarity and wisdom that Rabindranathji got in his wonderful life.

Thanks,

Daksh Parekh.