Rabindranath Tagore was a Bengali poet, novelist, musician, and painter. He was born in 1861 in Kolkata and died in 1941. He is best known for his works Gitanjali and Gora, for which he became the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913. Tagore founded an experimental school at Shantiniketan which emphasized connecting to nature and global unity. He was a spiritual humanist who believed in individual freedom within spiritual and social bonds between all people.

1. BBiirrtthh
77tthh MMaayy,, 11886611
DDeeaatthh
77tthh AAuugguusstt,, 11994411

3. CONTENTS
1. Biography
2. Early yEars
3. school and collEgE lifE
4. MarriagE
5. faME and intErnational rEcognition
6. political opinion
7. Major works
8. his philosophy
9. awards and achiEvEMEnts
10. soME of his QuotEs and paintings
11. trivia
12. Evaluation of tagorE’s philosophy

4. Biography
From
To
11886611
11994411

5. YOUNG TAGORE
Birth 7th May, 1861
Place of Birth Kolkata
Father’s Name Debendranath Tagore
Mother’s Name Sarada Devi
Grandfather Dwarkanath Tagore
1st School Oriental Seminary
2nd School Normal School
3rd School Bengal Academy
4th School St. Xavier’s School
Occupation Poet, Dramatist, Writer, Painter
Awarded Title Gurudev
Awards Noble Prize for Literature
Death 7th August, 1941

7. At the age of 16, he published his first
substantial poetry under the pseudonym-
Bhanushingho [Sun Lion] and wrote his first
book of short stories and dramas.
His father wanted him to become a Barrister
and he was sent to England for this reason.
In 1879, he enrolled at University College, London, but was called back by
his father to return to India in 1880.

8.  He read law at University
College, London, but left his
college to explore Shakespeare
and more. He was called by his
father and returned degreeless to
Bengal in 1880.
 On 9th December, 1883, he
married Mrinalini Devi; They
had five children, two of whom
died before reaching adulthood.
 In 1890, Tagore began managing
his family’s vast estates in
Shilaidaha, a region now in
Bangladesh.

9.  In 1890, while on a visit to his ancestral estate in
Shelaidaha, his collection of poems, ‘Manasi’, was
released. The period between 1891 and 1895 proved
to be fruitful during which, he authored a massive
three volume collection of short stories,
‘Galpaguchchha’.
 In 1901, he moved to Shantiniketan, where he composed
‘Naivedya’, published in 1901 and ‘Kheya’, published in 1906. By
then, several of his works were published and he had gained
immensely popularity among Bengali readers.
 In 1912, he went to England and took a sheaf of his translated
works with him. There he introduced his works to some of the
prominent writers of that era, including William Butler Yeats, Ezra
Pound, Robert Bridges, Ernest Rhys, and Thomas Sturge Moore.

10. His popularity in English speaking nations grew manifold after
the publication of ‘Gitanjali: Song Offerings’ and later in 1913,
he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.
In 1915, he was also granted knighthood by the British Crown,
which he renounced after the 1919 Jalianwala Bagh massacre.
From May 1916 to April 1917, he stayed in Japan and the U.S.
where he delivered lectures on ‘Nationalism’ and on
Personality’.
In 1920s and 1930s, he travelled extensively around the world;
visiting Latin America, Europe and South-east Asia. During
his extensive tours, he earned a cult following and endless
admirers.

11. *Tagore’s political outlook was a little ambiguous. Though he censured
imperialism, he supported the continuation of British administration in
India.
*He criticized ‘Swadeshi Movement’ by Mahatma Gandhi in his essay
"The Cult of the Charka", published in September 1925. He believed in
the co-existence of the British and the Indians and stated that British
rule in India was "political symptom of our social disease".
*He never supported nationalism and considered it to be one of the
greatest challenges faced by humanity. Nevertheless, he occasionally
supported the Indian Independence Movement and following the
Jallianwala Bagh massacre, he even renounced his knighthood on 30
May 1919.
*On the whole, his vision of a free India was based not on its
independence from the foreign rule, but on the liberty of thought,
action and conscience of its citizens.

12. • ‘Gitanjali’, a collection of poems, is considered
his best poetic accomplishment.
• A proficient songwriter, Tagore composed 2,230
songs, which are often referred to as ‘Rabindra
Sangeeth’. He also wrote the national anthem for
India - ‘Jana Gana Mana’- and for Bangladesh -
‘Aamaar Sonaar Banglaa
• ‘Galpagucchaccha’ a collection of eighty stories
is his most famous short story collection which
revolves around the lives of rural folks of Bengal.
The stories mostly deal with the subjects of
poverty, illiteracy, marriage, femininity, etc. and
enjoy immense popularity even today.

13. Although Tagore wrote successfully in all literary genres, he was first
of all a poet. Among his fifty and odd volumes of poetry, some of
them are:
Manasi (1890) [The Ideal One]
Sonar Tari (1894) [The Golden Boat]
Gitanjali (1910) [Song Offerings]
Gitimalya (1914) [Wreath of Songs]
Balaka (1916) [A Flight of Swans]

14. Tagore’s Major Dramas
Raja (1910) [The King of the Dark Chambers]
Dakghar (1912) [The Post Office]
Achalayatan (1912) [The Immovable]
Muktadhara (1922) [The Waterfall]
Raktakaravi (1926) [Red Orleander]
Tagore’s Major Novels
Gora (1910)
Ghare-Baire (1916) [The Home and the World]
Yogayog (1926) [Crosscurrents]

15. Gitanjali is a collection of poems .The original Bengali
collection of 157 poems was published on August 14,
1910. The English Gitanjali or Song Offerings is a
collection of 103 English poems of Tagore's own English
translations of his Bengali poems first published in
November 1912 by the India Society of London. It
contained translations of 53 poems from the
original Bengali Gitanjali, as well as 50 other poems which
were from his drama Achalayatan and eight other books of
poetry — mainly Gitimalya (17 poems), Naivedya (15
poems) and Kheya (11 poems).
In 1913, Tagore became the first non-European to win
the Nobel Prize for Literature largely for the
English Gitanjali. The English Gitanjali became very
famous in the West, and was widely translated.
The word gitanjali is composed from "gita", song, and
"anjali", offering, and thus means – "An offering of songs";
but the word for offering, anjali, has a strong devotional
connotation, so the title may also be interpreted as "prayer
offering of song".

16. The connecting thread
between
India and the world and the
study of humanity beyond the
limits of nation and geography
resurrected his people by
the introduction of schools.
As one of the earliest educators to think in terms of the global village,
Rabindranath Tagore felt that a curriculum should revolve organically
around nature with classes held in the open air under the trees to
provide for a spontaneous appreciation of the fluidity of the plant and
animal kingdoms, and seasonal changes.

17. As a Vedantist: He had a firm belief in the philosophy of
‘Veda’.
He believed in “I am Brahma”
There is a spiritual bond between man and man.
As an Individualist: He believed in giving right type of
freedom to individual.
Every individual is unique.

18. As an Idealist: He believed that the man should live for the
ultimate truth which liberates us from cycle of birth and death
Had faith in absolute values.
As a Spiritualist: He believed that every individual should try
to attain spiritual perfection.
As a Humanist: He preached human brotherhood, having
faith in fundamental unity of mankind.
He remarked that ”even God depends upon man for perfecting
his Universe.”

19. As a Naturalist: He considered nature as a great teacher.
God revealed himself through various forms, colors and
rhythm of nature.
Tagore’s Internationalism: He was an ardent prophet of
world unity.
He believed in world brotherhood.

20.  For his momentous and revolutionary literary
works, Tagore was honoured with the Nobel Prize in
Literature on 14 November 1913.
 He was also conferred knighthood in 1915, which
he renounced in 1919 after the Jallianwallah Bagh
carnage.
 In 1940, Oxford University awarded him with a
Doctorate of Literature in a special ceremony
arranged at Shantiniketan.

21. SOME OF HIS QUOTES

22. SOME OF HIS
PAINTINGS

23. TRIVIA

 This venerated poet and author was the first
non-European to win a Nobel Prize in
Literature.
 This great Bengali poet was an admirer of
Gandhi and was the one who gave him the
name “Mahatma”.
 He is the only poet to have composed
national anthems for two nations – India and
Bangladesh.

24. According to Radha Krishnan –
 “Rabindranath did not claim to produce any original
philosophy. His aim was not to analyze or speculate about
the Indian tradition .He expressed in his own vivid
phrases and homely metaphors, and showed its
relevance to modern life.”
In the words of H.B.Mukherji –
 “Tagore was the greatest prophet of educational
renaissance in modern India. He waged ceaseless battle
to uphold the highest educational ideal before the
country, and conducted educational experiments at his
own institutions, which made them living symbols of what
an ideal should be.”