Reminiscences-1: "Rabindranath Tagore"

What Rabindranath Tagore, Joseph Broz Tito, Gary Cooper, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and Eva Peron have in common? Well, they were all on born May 7; of course, the years are different. On this 7th day of May, I chose to reminisce about one of them, viz., Rabindranath Tagore.

My first introduction was to his novel, The Wreck. It was an abridged version meant for pre-university-level students. Somehow a copy came into my possession and loved it. Later I also saw a Tamil movie, based on that novel. I learn that the novel has been filmed into other languages like Hindi also. Much later, I borrowed a copy of Tagore’s “Gora” from the local library. I was fascinated by the novel. Later when I saw it displayed on a platform for sale, I jumped at the chance. So I possessed a copy of it also and could read it again. I remember to have underlined the lines most appealed to me. The journal in which I had jotted down has disappeared. Most of the quotes have disappeared from my memory. I remember at least one quote to the effect: "He who does not fight evil is also a wrong-dower; for it is he who is the cause of all evil in the world."

In my office, a few famous lines from Tagore’s Gitanjali and displayed prominently at the entrance, which I liked very much. They are:

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 words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action--
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

Beautiful lines.

On browsing I find, Project Gutenberg has many books of Tagore (full text). I am glad to furnish for the benefit of my visitors; they are as follows:

Tagore, Rabindranath, 1861-1941
http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/t#a942

* Wikipedia
* Chitra, a play in one act (English)
* Creative Unity (English)
* The Crescent Moon (English) (as Translator)
* The Cycle of Spring (English)
* Fruit-Gathering (English)
* The Fugitive (English)
* The Gardener (English)
* Gitanjali (English)
* Glimpses of Bengal - Selected from the Letters of Sir Rabindranath Tagore (English)
* The Home and the World (English)
* The Hungry Stones and Other Stories (English)
* The King of the Dark Chamber (English)
* My Reminiscences (English)
* The Post Office (English)
* Sadhana : the realisation of life (English)
* Sadhana, the Realisation of Life (English)
* Songs of Kabir (English) (as Translator)
* Stray Birds (English)

In our Literary Study Circle at Karaikudi (which is defunct now), at one meeting Tagore’s short story, Post Office, was discussed. Prof.Palani Raghuladasan who initiated the discussion. I could feel how much the short story has touched him. It is a beautiful story. Full text of Post Office is available in Project Gutenberg and I invited readers to take a look at it.

Grateful thanks to Project Gutenberg and Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.