Works of Rabindranath Tagore

The Works of Rabindranath Tagore consist of poems, novels, short stories, dramas, paintings, drawings, and music that Bengali poet and Brahmo philosopher Rabindranath Tagore created over his lifetime.

Works

Tagore's literary reputation is disproportionately influenced by regard for his poetry; however, he also wrote novels, essays, short stories, travelogues, dramas, and thousands of songs. Of Tagore's prose, his short stories are perhaps most highly regarded; indeed, he is credited with originating the Bangla-language version of the genre. His works are frequently noted for their rhythmic, optimistic, and lyrical nature. However, such stories mostly borrow from deceptively simple subject matter — the lives of ordinary people.

Dramas

Tagore's experiences with drama began when he was sixteen, when he played the lead role in his brother Jyotirindranath's adaptation of Molière's "Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme". Tagore wrote his first original dramatic piece when he was twenty — "Valmiki Pratibha" ("The Genius of Valmiki"), which was shown at the Tagores' mansion.Harv|Chakravarty|1961|p=123.] His works — emphasizing fusion of lyrical flow and emotional rhythm tightly focused on a core idea — were unlike previous Bengali drama. Tagore stated that his works sought to articulate "the play of feeling and not of action". In 1890 he wrote "Visarjan" ("Sacrifice"); it has been regarded as his finest drama.Harv|Chakravarty|1961|p=123.] In the original Bangla language, such works included intricate suplots and extended monologues. Later, Tagore's dramas used more philosophical and allegorical themes. For example, his 1912 "Dakghar" ("Post Office") received rave reviews in Europe and was shown in London (at the Irish Theater), Berlin, and Paris.Harv|Chakravarty|1961|pp=123-124.] Lastly, Tagore's "Chandalika" ("Untouchable Girl") was modeled on an ancient Buddhist legend describing how Gautama Buddha's disciple Ananda asks water of an "Adivasi" (tribal girl, probably of the numerous Santal tribes found throughout western regions of Bengal.Harv|Chakravarty|1961|p=124.]

Tagore's plays also are important to Bengali literature. All of his plays have been repeatedly staged and re-interpreted over the years. His most famous play, perhaps, is "Raktakaravi" ("Red Oleanders") — the name of a red flower. It tells of a king who lives behind an iron curtain while his subjects have cruelty and death delivered upon them at the slightest pretext. People are forced to work in the mines so that the kleptocratic king and his cronies may render themselves even more wealthy. The play follows the heroine Nandini, who leads the people and finally the king himself towards the destruction of this artifact of subjugation. However, this ultimate victory is preceded by numerous deaths, most importantly that of Ranjan, Nandini's lover, and Kishore a young boy devoted to her. Tagore devoted much effort to "Raktakaravi", with (at least) eleven extant revisions. However, Tagore's motivation in writing "Raktakaravi" is disputed, with some suggesting negative opinions formed during his visit to the mines of Bombay. Others attribute it to dislike of the West, while others think that a woman motivated him to create Nandini. Tagore's other notable plays include "Chitrangada", "Raja", "Valmiki-Pratibha", and "Mayar Khela".

Short stories

Tagore began his career in short stories in 1877 — when he was only sixteen — with "Bhikharini" ("The Beggar Woman").Harv|Chakravarty|1961|p=45.] With this, Tagore effectively invented the Bangla-language short story genre.Harv|Dutta|Robinson|1997|p=265.] The four years from 1891 to 1895 are known as Tagore’s "Sadhana" period (named for one of Tagore’s magazines). This period was among Tagore's most fecund, yielding more than half the stories contained in the three-volume "Galpaguchchha", which itself is a collection of eighty-four stories.Harv|Chakravarty|1961|p=45] Such stories usually showcase Tagore’s reflections upon his surroundings, on modern and fashionable ideas, and on interesting mind puzzles (which Tagore was fond of testing his intellect with). Tagore typically associated his earliest stories (such as those of the "Sadhana" period) with an exuberance of vitality and spontaneity; these characteristics were intimately connected with Tagore’s life in the common villages of, among others, Patisar, Shajadpur, and Shilaida while managing the Tagore family’s vast landholdings.Harv|Chakravarty|1961|p=45] There, he beheld the lives of India’s poor and common people; Tagore thereby took to examining their lives with a penetrative depth and feeling that was singular in Indian literature up to that point.Harv|Chakravarty|1961|pp=45-46] In particular, such stories as "Cabuliwallah" ("The Fruitseller from Kabul", published in 1892), "Kshudita Pashan" ("The Hungry Stones") (August 1895), and "Atithi" ("The Runaway", 1895) typified this analytic focus on the downtrodden.Harv|Chakravarty|1961|p=46] In "The Fruitseller from Kabul", Tagore speaks in first person as town-dweller and novelist who chances upon the Afghani seller. He attempts to distill the sense of longing felt by those long trapped in the mundane and hardscrabble confines of Indian urban life, giving play to dreams of a different existence in the distant and wild mountains: "There were autumn mornings, the time of year when kings of old went forth to conquest; and I, never stirring from my little corner in Calcutta, would let my mind wander over the whole world. At the very name of another country, my heart would go out to it ... I would fall to weaving a network of dreams: the mountains, the glens, the forest .... ".Harv|Chakravarty|1961|pp=48-49] Many of the other "Galpaguchchha" stories were written in Tagore’s "Sabuj Patra" period (1914–1917, again, named after one of the magazines that Tagore edited and heavily contributed to).Harv|Chakravarty|1961|p=45] Tagore's "Golpoguchchho" ("Bunch of Stories") remains among the most popular fictional works in Bangla literature. Its continuing influence on Bengali art and culture cannot be overstated; to this day, "Golpoguchchho" remains a point of cultural reference. "Golpoguchchho" has furnished subject matter for numerous successful films and theatrical plays, and its characters are among the most well known to Bengalis. The acclaimed film director Satyajit Ray based his film "Charulata" ("The Lonely Wife") on "Nastanirh" ("The Broken Nest"). This famous story has an autobiographical element to it, modelled to some extent on the relationship between Tagore and his sister-in-law, Kadambari Devi. Ray has also made memorable films of other stories from "Golpoguchchho", including "Samapti", "Postmaster" and "Monihara", bundling them together as "Teen Kanya" ("Three Daughters"). "Atithi" is another poignantly lyrical Tagore story. Tarapada, a young Brahmin boy, catches a boat ride with a village zamindar. It turns out that he has run away from his home and has been wandering around ever since. The zamindar adopts him, and finally arranges a marriage to his own daughter. The night before the wedding Tarapada runs away again. Strir Patra (The letter from the wife) has to be one of the earliest depictions in Bangla literature of such bold emancipation of women. Mrinal is the wife of a typical Bengali middle class man. The letter, written while she is traveling (which constitutes the whole story), describes her petty life and struggles. She finally declares that she will not return to his patriarchical home, stating "Amio bachbo. Ei bachlum" ("And I shall live. Here, I live").

In "Haimanti", Tagore takes on the institution of Hindu marriage. He describes, via "Strir Patra", the dismal lifelessness of Bengali women after they are married off, hypocrisies plaguing the Indian middle class, and how Haimanti, a sensitive young woman, must — due to her sensitiveness and free spirit — sacrifice her life. In the last passage, Tagore directly attacks the Hindu custom of glorifying Sita's attempted self-immolation as a means of appeasing her husband Rama's doubts (as depicted in the epic Ramayana). Tagore also examines Hindu-Muslim tensions in "Musalmani Didi", which in many ways embodies the essence of Tagore's humanism. On the other hand, "Darpaharan" exhibits Tagore's self-consciousness, describing a young man harboring literary ambitions. Though he loves his wife, he wishes to stifle her literary career, deeming it unfeminine. Tagore himself, in his youth, seems to have harbored similar ideas about women. "Darpaharan" depicts the final humbling of the man via his acceptance of his wife's talents. As with many other Tagore stories, "Jibito o Mrito" provides the Bengalis with one of their more widely used epigrams: "Kadombini moriya proman korilo she more nai" ("Kadombini died, thereby proved that she hadn't").

Novels

Among Tagore's works, his novels are among the least-acknowledged. These include "Chaturanga", "Gora" (1910), "Shesher Kobita", "Ghare Baire", "Char Odhay", and "Noukadubi". "Ghare Baire " or "The Home and the World", (which was also released as the film by Satyajit Ray, "Ghare Baire") examines rising nationalistic feeling among Indians while warning of its dangers, clearly displaying Tagore's distrust of nationalism — especially when associated with a religious element. In some sense, "Gora" shares the same theme, raising questions regarding the Indian identity. As with "Ghore Baire", matters of self-identity, personal freedom, and religious belief are developed in the context of an involving family story and a love triangle.

"Shesher Kobita" (translated twice, as "Last Poem" and as "Farewell Song") is his most lyrical novel, containing as it does poems and rhythmic passages written by the main character (a poet). Nevertheless, it is also Tagore's most satirical novel, exhibiting post-modernist elements whereby several characters make gleeful attacks on the reputation of an old, outmoded, oppressively-renowned poet (named Rabindranath Tagore).

Though his novels remain under-appreciated, they have recently been given new attention through many movie adaptations by such film directors as Satyajit Ray. Most prominent among these is a version of "Chokher Bali", which features Aishwariya Rai. A favorite trope of these directors is to employ "rabindra sangeet" in the film adaptations' soundtracks.

Among Tagore's notable non-fiction books are "Iurop Jatrir Patro" ("Letters from Europe") and "Manusher Dhormo" ("The Religion of Man").

Poetry

Internationally, "Gitanjali" (Bangla: গীতাঞ্জলি) is Tagore's best-known collection of poetry. Song VII from "Gitanjali" reads as follows:

Original text in Bangla and Roman scripts (গীতাঞ্জলি 127):

Free-verse translation by Tagore ("Gitanjali", verse VII):Harv|Tagore|1977|p=5.]

Besides "Gitanjali", other notable works include "Manasi", "Sonar Tori" ("Golden Boat"), "Balaka" ("Wild Geese" — the title being a metaphor for migrating souls),Harv|Dutta|Robinson|1995|p=192.] and "Purobi". "Sonar Tori"'s most famous poem — dealing with the ephemeral nature of life and achievement — goes by the same name; it ends with the haunting phrase "শূন্য নদীর তীরে রহিনু পড়ি / যাহা ছিল লয়ে গেল সোনার তরী" ("shunya nadir tire rahinu pari / jaha chhilo loye gelo shonar tori" — "all I had achieved was carried off on the golden boat — only I was left behind."). In "Dui Bigha Jomi" ("A Strip of Land"), Tagore explores the plight of a sharecropper whose meager parcel of farmland is taken over — using falsified papers — by a moneylender; the poem concludes: "rajar hosto kore shomosto kangaler dhon churi" ("it is the king's hand that steals from the downtrodden"). "Sonar Tori" also contains "Hing Ting Chhot". Although comic in form, it illuminates what Tagore saw as Bengali society's crippling lack of vision, originality, and wisdom: "durbodh ja chhilo kichu hoye gelo jol, shunno akasher moto ottonto nirmol" ("Oh yes, now all has been explained, like the empty expanse of the open sky"). Throughout his life, Tagore experimented with different poetic styles. For example, in his early years, he occasionally wrote his works in "Shadhu Bhasha" (a Sanskritized dialect of Bangla); later, Tagore moved seamlessly to using "Chalit" (a more popular dialect). Lastly, the poems in "Balaka" mark the start of an epoch; the most notable of these reads:

Later, with the development of new poetic ideas in Bengal — many originating from younger poets seeking to break with Tagore's style — Tagore absorbed new poetic concepts, which allowed him to further develop a unique identity. Examples of this include "Africa" and "Camalia", which are among the better known of his latter poems.

Music and artwork

Tagore was also an accomplished musician and painter. Indeed, he wrote some 2,230 songs; together, these comprise "rabindra sangeet" (রবীন্দ্র সংগীত), now an integral part of Bengali culture. Yet, Tagore's music is inseparable from his literature, most of which — poems or parts of novels, stories, or plays alike — became lyrics for his songs. These ran the gamut of human emotion, and are still frequently used to give voice to a wide range of experiences. Such is true of two such works: Bangladesh's "Aamaar Sonaar Baanglaa" (আমার সোনার বাঙলা) and India's "Jana Gana Mana" (জন গণ মন); Tagore thus became the only person ever to have written the national anthems of two nations. Tagore also had an artist's eye for his own handwriting, embellishing the cross-outs and word layouts in his manuscripts with simple artistic leitmotifs.

At age sixty, Tagore took up drawing and painting; successful exhibitions of his many works — which made a debut appearance in Paris upon encouragement by artists he met in the south of FranceHarv|Dutta|Robinson|1997|p=222.] — were held throughout Europe. Tagore — who likely exhibited protanopia ("color blindness"), or partial lack of (red-green, in Tagore's case) colour discernment — painted in a style characterised by peculiarities in aesthetic and colouring style. Nevertheless, Tagore took to emulating numerous styles, including that of craftwork by the Malanggan people of northern New Ireland, Haida carvings from the Pacific Northwest region of North America, and woodcuts by Max Pechstein.Harv|Dyson|2001.]

ee also

*Rabindra Sangeet
*Ekla Chalo Re
*Rabindranath Tagore
*"Rabindranath Tagore" (film)—a biographical documentary by Satyajit Ray.
*Life of Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1901)
*Life of Rabindranath Tagore (1901–1932)
*Life of Rabindranath Tagore (1932–1941)
*Political views of Rabindranath Tagore

Citations

References

* Harvard reference
Surname1 = Chakravarty
Given1 = A
Year = 1961
Title = A Tagore Reader
Publisher = Beacon Press
ID = ISBN 0-8070-5971-4.
* Harvard reference
Surname1 = Dutta
Given1 = K
Surname2 = Robinson
Given2 = A
Year = 1995
Title = Rabindranath Tagore: The Myriad-Minded Man
Publisher = St. Martin's Press
ID = ISBN 0-312-14030-4.
* Harvard reference
Surname1 = Dutta
Given1 = K (editor)
Surname2 = Robinson
Given2 = A (editor)
Year = 1997
Title = Rabindranath Tagore: An Anthology
Publisher = St. Martin's Press
ID = ISBN 0-312-16973-6.
* Harvard reference
Surname1 = Dyson
Given1 = KK
Year = 2001
Title = Rabindranath Tagore and his World of Colours
Periodical = Parabaas
URL = http://www.parabaas.com/rabindranath/articles/pKetaki2.html
Access-date = April 1, 2006.
* Harvard reference
Surname1 = Tagore
Given1 = R
Year = 1977
Title = Collected Poems and Plays of Rabindranath Tagore
Publisher = Macmillan Publishing
ID = ISBN 0-02-615920-1.