Rabindranath Tagore is the proverbial man of Bengal, Bengali and thousands of years of history, philosophy, and culture, surrounded by thousands of rivers, mountains and hills. Bengali literature got the touch of straightness, vitality and aesthetics in this writing. He was a great man, a symbol of humanity, a philosopher, a messianic poet of India, a patriot, a painter, a lyricist, and a composer. Composer of national anthems of Bangladesh and India. Moreover, according to the most popular belief, the Sri Lankan composer Anand Samarakoon composed Sri Lanka's national anthem inspired and influenced by the Indian Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore. Tagore was the first non-European and Bengali to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913. He was the main initiator of the Bengali Renaissance. Through the ideology of non-violence, Tagore created an aesthetic vision of world peace in the sick and turbulent world conditions of the 20th century with madness, social instability and political misogyny. Who gifted the world with a vast literary treasure and enriched the Bengali language. This great world poet has travelled to different parts of the world to familiarise himself and others with his literature. He has visited more than thirty countries in five continents. He travelled to engage non-Bengalis with his literary works and spread his philosophical ideology worldwide. Many of his trips were very important. For example, his visit to England in 1912. His writings fascinated Anglo-Irish poets William Butler Yeats, Ezra Pound, Robert Bridges, Ernest Rice, and Thomas Sturge Moore. Tagore lived for a few months at Heath Villas in Hampstead Heath, North London, where he translated his famous poetry collection 'Gitanjali'. Poet Yeats wrote the foreword to the English translation of Gitanjali. I will shed light on some isolated incidents of the London life of Rabindranath Tagore, the author of Gitanjali, the great world-renowned poet in the urban poetry of the banks of the Thames.
Tagore was one of the most celebrated Indian poets, writers, and philosophers of his period. He is also known as the "Father of Modern India" for his significant contributions to Indian culture and art. Tagore was born into a Brahmin family in 1861 and was entrenched in India's literary and spiritual traditions from an early age. His father, Devendranath Tagore, was a philosopher and religious reformer, and his mother, Sarada Devi, ingrained in him a deep appreciation for music and literature. Rabindranath was his parents' fourteenth child and eighth son. Satyendranath, his older sibling, was the first Indian to take and pass the ICS (Indian Civil Service) examination in London. In Bombay, he entered the Indian Civil Service. Tagore travelled to England in 1878 to grant his father's request. Devendranath Tagore's father desired for his son to become a lawyer. He enrolled at a Brighton, East Sussex, England public school to fulfil his father's wishes. He remained in a Tagore family home in Medina Villas near Brighton and Hove for a few months. He attempted to study law at University College London but was unable to concentrate. Therefore, he abandoned his formal education. His independent mind could no longer endure the constraints of school. He chose Shakespeare's Coriolanus, Antony and Cleopatra, and Thomas Browne's Christian classic Religio Medici for independent study. Tagore finally returned to India in 1880 but without a degree. Nonetheless, it is undeniable that during his first visit to the United States, despite his inability to pass the university, he acquired a solid understanding of life philosophy and oriental classical literature, music, and culture, significantly impacting his later life and writing. He introduced clarity and traditional aesthetics to his thinking.
Due to Tagore's resistance and terrible negativity towards rote learning, he built a lecture hall in Santiniketan in 1901 with only five students. Its main objective was to promote free thinking and creative education. The family's philosophical and cultural environment significantly influenced Tagore's thinking. Tagore's family was actively associated with the Brahmo movement. The Brahmo movement was a religious movement that sought to revive Hinduism by adapting it to the needs of the modern world. Tagore was truly educated at home by private tutors rather than in the traditional way. He travelled extensively in Europe and the United States. His literary life has repeatedly captured scientific, philosophical ideas widely reflected in many of his writings. In his poetry, Tagore often writes about the deep spiritual beauty of the natural world in a variety of rhyme after rhyme. He also believed in love's power, and that true love can overcome all obstacles and worldly illusions. The literature, culture and philosophy of the Orient learned, learned and experienced through the five senses during Billet's travels have strongly influenced his literature and music.
Tagore visited Great Britain several times during his lifetime. According to sources in the UK's Open University archives, Rabindranath Tagore visited the UK nine times. Sometimes, he stayed for several months, sometimes for a short time. His first tour was from 10 October 1878 to February 1880. He spent about seventeen months at that time. His father sent him to London for his studies. But I have already mentioned that he could not finish his studies. The duration of his subsequent tours was respectively - 10 September 1890 to 9 October 1890, 16 June 1912 to 19 October 1912, 19 April 1913 to 3 September 1913, 5 June 1920 to 6 August 1920, 24 March 1921 to 16 April 1921, 4 August 1926. to 20 August 1926, 11 May 1930 to July 1930. Rabindranath Tagore spent many years travelling between colonial India and metropolitan Britain. Through his travels, he created a vital bridge between the successful East and Oriental cultural traditions of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Rabindranath Tagore's international reputation was considerable due to his family's social and creative literary practice before adulthood.
Tagore was supposed to go to London in early 1912 but fell ill and spent much time at the Padma River recuperating. Later that year, he went to London, and that's when he translated his works from "Gitanjali" into English. Indian Society publishes the book. After the publication of the book, he became popular and famous. During that tour, Gandhi-disciple missionary Reverend Charles F. Andrews, Irish poet William Butler Yeats and English poet-artist Thomas Sturge Moore became admirers of his work. The three-bedroom home in Heath Villas, Hampstead Heath, North London, is now in talks to be acquired by the Indian government. In 2015, when West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee visited the UK, she requested the Indian High Commission in London to purchase the property on behalf of the West Bengal government. She promised to convert the historic house into a museum-cum-memorial to pay tribute to the famous poet and writer. But since then, there has been no further progress in this regard. While at home, Tagore showed the Gitanjali collection to artist and writer Sir William Rothenstein, who was so impressed that he sent it to Yeats. Yeats read the songs at Rothenstein's home on 7 July that year, with Alice Mennell and Evelyn Underhill in the audience. A blue plaque can be seen at this villa on Heath in Hampstead. It says Rabindranath Tagore, an 1861-1941 Indian poet, stayed here in 1912 (Source: English Heritage). In 1913, Tagore was awarded the Nobel Prize for Gitanjali. Rabindranath became a world poet. King George V awarded him a knighthood 1915 for his birthday, but Tagore renounced it after the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre. Hundreds of innocent people died in the brutal massacre at Jallianwala Bagh in Punjab. Regarding the knighthood, Tagore explained in a letter addressed to the then British Viceroy of India, Lord Chelmsford (Uma Dasgupta, 2004).
Besides lecturing on Indian culture and philosophy, Rabindranath also wrote several books during his stay in England. Several of his books were published in England, such as Glimpses of Bengal Life (London: Luzac & Co., 1913), The Gardener (London: Macmillan, 1913), Sadhana (1913), Chitra (Indian Society, 1914), 100 Poems of the Poet (Indian Society, 1915), Hundred Stones and Other Stories (1916), Masi and Other Stories (1918), Home and the World (1919), Gora (1923) etc. Which made him more prevalent among people all over Europe who sincerely appreciated his work. After travelling several times across England, Rabindranath returned to Calcutta but left an indelible mark on British soil through his literary works that continue to inspire generations to this day. Tagore came in contact with many eminent persons during his visit to England. Notably, George V, and poet William Butler Yeats. These encounters were significant for Tagore, as they helped him gain international recognition from audiences outside India, which no other Indian writer or thinker had achieved. His new understanding of Western literature and culture significantly influenced his later writing style. For example, Tagore's stories written after his meeting with Yeats began using more symbolism. Many of Yeats's poems contain themes involving myth or legend. So, it is clear how beneficial these trips were for Rabindranath Tagore. The friendship between Rabindranath Tagore and William Butler Yeats is one of history's most famous literary friendships. Although both famous poets wrote in different languages, their shared love and mutual appreciation for literature led to a unique bond that left its mark on world culture. Tagore first encountered Yeats' work while reading 'The Lake Isle of Innisfree' during a visit to England in 1912. He then wrote his poem, ' Innisfree', believed to have been inspired by Yeats' work. Tagore and Yeats met for the first time on 27 June 1912 at photographer William Rothenstein's house. Rothenstein had sent Yeats a manuscript of a partial translation of Tagore's Gitanjali. The two poets exchanged copies of each other's books. Tagore gave Yeats an engraved copy of Gitanjali while Yeats presented Tagore with an autographed copy of Cool in the Wild Swans. Despite living thousands of miles apart, their friendship transcends geographical boundaries and becomes unbreakable. Their love and passion for literature make their relationship stronger.
During Tagore's lifetime, he won the world's crown, was awarded as a Nobel laureate, was honoured by the world, the love and respect of millions of people, and climbed to the peak of fame. It may not be possible for anyone to get so much in one life, but Tagore was a little different. After all this, the fate of this great poet seemed to be written something else. A lot of pain, depression and madness surrounded his life. And so, I see that Tagore's life was whole of tragedy. What was the characteristic of any Bengali elite family? Poet, writer and journalist Dipankar Gautam says, "Kabiguru got almost all of what sorrow is called in one lifetime." Indeed. His wife died when Tagore was 41 years old. Tagore had three daughters and two sons. Rathindranath, Shamindranath and Bela, Renuka and Meera. Queen (Renuka) fell ill and died. Then, the younger son, Shami, died of cholera. The poet wrote after the death of his son - "Today everyone has gone to the forest in the moonlight." The poet sent the queen's son-in-law to college to study medicine but returned without studying. The eldest daughter's son-in-law was sent to college to study barrister and returned without studying. The younger daughter, Meera (Atoshir), also sent her son-in-law to America to study agriculture. This greedy man wrote letters to the poet repeatedly asking for money. The poet wrote - "All the money I get from the Jamindari, I send to you." A few days after returning home, the younger daughter also died. The elder daughter died the most painfully. After the elder son-in-law returned from exile, he quarrelled with the younger son-in-law and left the poet's house. Daughter Bela fell ill. Kabiguru used to drive to his daughter's house every day to see this sick girl. This son-in-law used to insult the poet in all kinds of ways. He used to stand at the table before the poet and smoke a cigarette. However, the poet went to see his daughter every day. One day, the poet was going, and midway, he heard that Bela had died. The poet did not go for the last visit. The poet did not go to see the previous sight. He came back from the middle of the road. Haimainti's story is like the story of the poet's daughter! How deep the grief is, the poet's pen came out - "There is sorrow, there is death, it takes grief. Still peace, still joy, still eternal wake up." The poet's death was due to excessive suffering and inflammation of sweat. Why did the poet's eldest son not even get the last farewell from Rathindranath? A granddaughter of a distant relation was at the moment of the poet's final farewell. Everyone knows that the poet was a Zamindar, but how many people know about this sad life of the poet? The song that he wrote in his early youth is as if it came true in the last life of the poet - "I am the only one left. What was gone is gone, what remains is but an illusion".
(Sources: English Heritage, UK Open University, Indian Society, Uma Dasgupta, The Times, London, The Fortnightly Review, India Times)