2. About the Poet

Rabindranath Tagore was born on May \(7\), \(1861\), in Kolkata, India. He was a Bengali poet, composer, writer, social reformer, playwright, painter. Tagore started writing at a very early age of eight. At the age of \(16\), he published his first collection of poems, under the name "Bhanusimha", which is translated as "Sun Lion". Tagore was against the idea of classroom teaching and never attended school properly. He lived during the pre-independent times when India was still under the control of the British. As he grew up, he established a school called "Visva- Bharathi" in a calm and serene place called Shantiniketan, where he employed the gurukula method. Pupils would take lessons under a tree, and the Gurus gave them emotional, spiritual, and intellectual guidance. The Visva Bharathi later on went on to become a famous University in Bengal.

 

 

Tagore is well known for strongly condemning the British rule in India. He predominantly wrote in Bengali. He expressed his strong views on the importance of Indian independence through his literature. He started writing short stories and drama that bring out the Indian essence of freedom. His poetry collection "Gitanjali" won him the most prestigious Nobel Prize in Literature in \(1913\). He was the first non-European to receive a Nobel Prize in Literature, and the second non-European to receive the Nobel Prize. It was written in Bengali and was translated into more than 15 languages. It had spirituality as its main theme and its motto was "I am here to sing thee songs". Most of the poems were addressed to God. It had around \(103\) collections of Poetry.

 

Although Tagore was advocating for independence, he urged the Indians to learn from the west. He believed that one should always make use of one's opportunities, attack the outsiders with their own weapon. He wrote plays involving Indian mythological characters, which were translated into English, thereby making the western World aware of India's rich culture and literature.

 

Famous works:

Famous Quotes of Tagore: