Rabindranath Tagore was a modern thinker who helped develop the Bengali language and culture into a "High Culture" through his sophisticated ideas. For Tagore, freedom of the mind was more important than political freedom. He believed that ideas should allow for freedom and not be rigidly imposed. Through his experiments at Santiniketan and Sriniketan, Tagore sought to create alternative models of education and rural development that were distinct from colonial influences and empowered local communities. His lifelong efforts reflected a restless search for new ideas and perfection through continuous adaptation.

1. THE FACE OF MODERNITY
RABINDRANATH TAGORE

2. WHY IS TAGORE MODERN ?
• Max Mueller’s theory of Culture
Language sophistication interlinked with
thought sophistication produces High
Culture e.g. Sanskrit & Upanishadic
philosophy creates High Culture
• Tagore’s creating and building the Bengali
language interlinked with sophistication of
ideas produced High Culture which we
still cling to today.

3. MODERNITY FOR TAGORE
• Defining what is “Freedom”
• Freedom of the Mind
over
• Political Freedom

4. TAGORE’S THOUGHTS
“I have come to accept the inevitable limitation of ideas when
solidified in an institution” – to Elmhirst (1930)

5. TAGORE’S THOUGHTS
"In Santiniketan some of my thoughts have become clogged by accumulation of
dead matter …. I do not believe in lecturing or in compelling fellow workers in
coercion; for all true ideas must work themselves out through freedom… there
are men who make idols of their ideas, and sacrifice humanity before their altar.
But in my worship of the idea I am not a worshipper of a Kali. So the only
course left open to me, when my fellow workers fall in love with the form and
cease to have complete faith in the idea, is to go away and give my idea a new
birth and create new possibilities for it. This may not be a practical method, but
possibly it is the right one." – to William Pearson (1915)

6. CONTINUOUS FORWARD MOVEMENT
• A restless mind in search of ideas
• Even “ideals” not immutable for him
• Ceaseless move towards perfection
• His life – an example of “protean changes in ideas
and action”

7. GREATEST ELEMENT IN MODERNITY
Freedom of choice – creating alternative spaces to
choose from
•
Unique niche for literary creativity
•
Social activities pertaining to:
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Education
Anti-communalism
Nationalism
Religion
Rural reconstruction

8. SEARCH FOR ALTERNATIVE MODELS
Creating “identity” through
• His dress
• His writings
• His music

9. MUSIC
RABINDRASANGEET
Bengali songs rooted in the soil and born out of an
essentially Bengali ambience.
•
•
•
•
Hindusthani Classical Music
Carnatic Music
Maithili dialect
Western tunes

10. NEGOTIATIONS WITH MODERNITY
Experiments with
• Education
• Rural reconstruction
• Creating environmental
awareness
• Innovative festivities
Through
• Santiniketan
• Sriniketan

11. INSTITUTION BUILDING
• Build an alternative model of education
• Distinct from that of the colonizers.
As a means to qualify to stand in equal terms
with them.
• “Swadeshi Samaj”
through education

12. INSTITUTION BUILDING
3 stages of education – divided in
3 tiers (Bhavanas)
• Reading – Patha (the School)
• Learning – Siksha (the College)
• Knowledge – Vidya (the Research)

13. TAGORE’S SANTINIKETAN EXPERIMENT
Gradual shift of the education model
• From Upanishadic Brahmoism
• To secular, self reliant, artistic,
comprehensive education;
awakening of the mind
• Festivities: secular events;
fair for rural artisans & students

14. IDEALS OF EDUCATION
• Creating an awakening of the mind
• An awareness of belonging to a
social setting through an understanding
of the spirit of togetherness
• To bring out the latent
potential in every student

15. FESTIVITIES
Silpotsava
Varshamangala
Sarodotsava
Navavarsha
Vasantotsava
Vriksharopana
Halakarshana
Maghotsava

17. RURAL RECONSTRUCTION
PHASE 1 1899 TO 1906 – SILAIDAHA
a) Experimented with new crops :
American corn, Nainital potatoes, Patna peas, sugarcane,
cauliflower and silk – funding was done with his own money.
He called this effort “Quixotic” !
b) Establishment of Krishi Bank
c) Training centre for handloom weaving
d) Sent son Rathindranath and son-in-law Nagendranath
Gangopadhyay to Illinois Univ USA to study agriculture and
animal husbandry

18. RURAL RECONSTRUCTION
PHASE 2 1908 TO 1909 – SILAIDAHA
a) Created Self Help Groups for village uplift
PHASE 3 1915 TO 1940 – SILAIDAHA
& SRINIKETAN
a) With help from Acharya Prafulla Chandra Roy, introduced tractors for
ploughing hard land for second crop where only single crop monsoon
planting was done earlier.
b) On Padma riverbed in dry season grew kankur and watermelon
c) Part of zamindari revenue utilized for creating farmer insurances for
difficult times and starting schools and madrasas.
d) Funded student hostels and scholarships
e) Built granaries
f) Introduced village panchayats for arbitrating and solving local problems

19. RURAL RECONSTRUCTION
PHASE 2 1908 to 1909 – SILAIDAHA CONTD
g)
Advocated building a model village with ideal parameters of plantation,
health and education
h) Encouraged utilization of aals for growing dates, bananas and pineapple
i) Infrastructure development e.g. roads, wells, ponds.
j) Created democratic representation from both Hindu & Muslim
communities of panchapradhan with 1 representative from the zamindar
k) Advocated building a model village with ideal parameters of plantation,
health and education
l) Built primary schools and dispensaries
m) Revived lost handicrafts
n) Created a separate team of professionals in social service for village uplift

20. TAGORE’S SRINIKETAN EXPERIMENT
•
Catered to the needs of villages
•
Training in vocational arts
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Carpentry
Weaving
Animal husbandry
Harvesting
Village health & hygiene
Installed observatory with the
help of Dr Meghnad Saha
Used technology for rural

21. INDIA INC. VS BHARAT
(OUR GREATEST CONFLICT IN 2010)
Urban elite vs Rural poor
Tagore foresaw this and worked to bridge the gap