bites.org · dwarakanath original family surname: kushari rarhi brahmins, village: kush, burdwan...
TRANSCRIPT
Rabindranath Thakur1861—1941
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Family and milieubites.org.in
Dwarakanath
Original family surname: Kushari
Rarhi Brahmins, village: Kush, Burdwan district of Bengal
Ancestors were “Pirali” Brahmins – Brahmins who had converted to Islam
Dwarakanath Tagore – grandfather
Well-versed in Bengali, English, Arabic, Farsi as well as legal matters
Ventures in banking, insurance, shipping
Very prominent citizen of Kolkata at that time [give years]
Passed away in London
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Debendranath
One of the founders of the Brahmo Samaj (1843)
Deeply spiritual, but did not renounce his considerable material possessions
Spirit of detachment
Master of the Upanishads
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Milieu
Family at the forefront of the Bengal Renaissance
Literary magazines
Dhrupad musicians, Western classical music performances at home – in the courtyardbites.org.in
Jorasanko Thakurbari The ancestral house
of the Thakur-s
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Panoramic view
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Jorasanko Thakurbari The courtyard for
performances
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The Ambience
Immersed in music, plays
Brahmo Samaj meetings, in which prayer songs played a very big part
Many prayer songs were written by father Debendranathbites.org.in
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Travels: India and Englandbites.org.in
Awakening of the poet
After Upanayan, left Kolkata with his father
Shantiniketan, Amritsar, the hill station Dalhousie
Acquaintance with the classical poetry of Kalidasa
When he was 16, he completed a collection of poems called “Bhanusingher Podabolee”
“Gahanakusumakunjamajhey”
The story he himself said – a rainy afternoon, he took a slate and wrote this word
Liked the sound of it and wanted more (inspired by the classical poetry of Vidyapati, in Brajabuli)
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Gahana kusuma
Bhanusingha
Sajani sajani bites.org.in
England
Visit to England – to study law
Paid little heed to studies – attracted strongly to folk songs of England, Scotland and Wales, to the opera
While in England, started writing prose -- began novels and short stories
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Balmikiprotibha
Balmiki banditsbites.org.in
Manager of the Family Estatebites.org.in
Return
Returned in 1880, married to Mrinalini Devi in 1882
Personal tragedy
Passing of sister-in-law Kadambari Debi
She was the young Rabindranath’s sounding board
She was always the first person to hear his new poems and songs
Left him devastated
One of his early book of poems “Shoishob Sangeet” appeared in 1884
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1890: Started managing the family estate
The family mansion at Shilaidaha, district Kushtia, present Bangladesh
Acquaintance with rural Bengal began
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Lalon Fakir
He heard many traditional folk songs, including the simple and extremely moving songs of Lalon Fakir
Gagan Harkara was a runner, who used to sing
Horinam Jodi torbites.org.in
Shantiniketan
School at Shantiniketan, district Birbhum
Ashrama, education in the midst of nature
True education does not explain things; true education arouses curiosity
Contact with the Bauls of Birbhum
In the middle, “Kotha o Kahini”
Uttarayan, with its 5 houses
Udayan, Konark, Shyamali, Udichi, Punoscho,
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Geetanjali, Partition of Bengalbites.org.in
The Deeply Creative Years
Personal tragedies
Father, wife, youngest son
1905: Partition of Bengal
Amar shonar bangla
1910: Geetanjali appears in Bengali
1913: The Nobel
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Vishwa-Bharati and Paintingbites.org.in
Travelling over the world
1916: Set off on a tour of Japan and the USA
1919: Jalianwala Bagh and return of knighthood
1921: Vishwa-Bharati inaugurated
1924: Japan, China and Argentina
Going to war after praying at Stupa-s
Japanese and Chinese studies in Shantiniketan
“Bengal art” school: Japanese and Chinese painters who came, wash painting
Influence on Abanindranath
Starts painting (Victoria Ocampo) … began with doodles on his manuscripts
1928: First oil painting
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The Last Decadesbites.org.in
The “Kallol” group
A young group of writers, who began by opposing Rabindranath
“Realistic Literature”
Stalwarts
Premendra Mitra
Buddhadeb Basu
Kazi Nazrul Islam
Manishchandra Ghatak
Gokulchandra Nag
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The Kallol group
Rabindranath wrote that he appreciated the literary effort, but the demand for realistic literature was just the “flaunting of poverty” and “unrestraint of lust.”bites.org.in
A Final Lookbites.org.in
The phenomenon
Single-handedly developed the Bengali language
Kazi Nazrul Islam: “He altogether transformed the Bengali language”
Amartya Sen: “Gigantic and epoch-making influence on the language: He reshaped and reconstructed modern Bengali”
A rational giant, portrayed in the West as a mystic
Amartya Sen: The West came to know of him as a romantic and a spiritualist
Nnever got acquainted with his deep desire for critical thinking and human freedom
The various shades of his poetry
Buddhadeb Basu: His deepest poetry is sublime
But he was carrying the burden of a relatively immature language on his shouldders
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Epilogue
Where the mind is without fear and
the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been
broken up into fragments by
narrow domestic walls,
Where the mind is led forward by Thee
into ever-widening thoughts and actions
Into that heaven, my father,
Let my country awake
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