Page 8 - NIS English February 16-28
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Personality Rabindranath Tagore
An Ode to ‘Gurudev’
Rabindranath Tagore or
‘Gurudev’ was not just a
poet and writer but also
a composer, philosopher
and painter. His poems and
hymns were so popular
that two nations - India and
Bangladesh adopted them
as their national anthems.
India’s ‘Jana Gana Mana’ and
Bangladesh’s ‘Amar Sonar
Bangla’ are both taken from
his compositions
BORN: May 7, 1861 DIED: August 7, 1941
orn on May 7, 1861, in the Jorasanko when he was around eight-year-old. By the time
mansion in Kolkata, Rabindranath Tagore he turned 16, he released his first collection of
Bwas the son of a religious reformer poems under the name Bhanusimha. Around the
Debendranath Tagore and Sarada Devi. He same time, he started writing short stories and
was a polymath whose creations still continue to dramas under his own name. In 1878, Tagore
enthrall the people. travelled to England with the intent of becoming a
barrister. However, in 1880, he returned to Bengal
SPECIAL BONDING WITH LITERATURE without a degree and again started writing. This
SINCE CHILDHOOD time round, he was inspired to produce his own
Tagore was exposed to literature and art literary works by fusing elements of Bangla and
since his childhood. He was brought up in an European literature. On December 22, 1901,
atmosphere where literary magazines were he founded a school Brahmacharyasram which
published, musical recitals were held, and later came to be known as Santiniketan. In 1921
theatre was performed. He started writing poems he established the Visva-Bharati University.
6 New India Samachar
