I am privileged to be part of the wonderful celebrations being conducted by the Bhavan's Cultural Centre, Andheri to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore. The celebrations kicked off yesterday with a panel discussion on Tagore's contribution to humankind. What touched me was the wonderful speeches by a couple of Bengali professors from Bhavan's in Calcutta, who reminded the audience in the other coast of the country that Tagore did not just belong to West Bengal but to all of humanity.
In a similar vein, Tagore said "Patriotism cannot be our final spiritual shelter; my refuge is humanity. I will not buy glass for the price of diamonds, and I will never allow patriotism to triumph over humanity as long as I live. "
Tagore taught us to embrace all the good things the rest of the world had to offer and while accepting his Nobel price, he told the audience that it was very much a part of Indianness to accept and embrace other cultures.
The event yesterday was unnecessarily delayed because his highness, the vice-chancellor of the University of Mumbai was 1-hour late!! It was ironic that he spoke about freedom of expression and some of the values that Tagore propogated when the VC himself banned Rohington Mistry's "Such a Long Journey" because the latest generation Shiv Sena brat demanded it on flimsy grounds. The VC said students should read less books and spend more time outdooors, so I guess he banned the book because he wanted the students to be outdoors!!
The organisers also screened a wonderful documentary on Tagore, made the great Satyajit Ray. The restored version will be re-released by the prime minister today. The evening was capped off with a screening of Uphaar, a movie based on one of Tagore's short stories. The film, which was primarily screened in Kerala, stared Jaya Bachchan and I have to say that it was in my opinion her finest performance.
The celebrations continue both on Saturday and Sunday with a musical and cultural extravaganza. It's wonderful to learn so much more about a man, who contributed so much to literature, art, music and India's freedom struggle.
I end this post by quoting the great man.
"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 toward perfection.
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost it's way
into the dreary desert sand of dead habit.
Where the mind is led forward by thee
into ever widening thought and action.
In to that heaven of freedom, my father,
LET MY COUNTRY AWAKE! "
In a similar vein, Tagore said "Patriotism cannot be our final spiritual shelter; my refuge is humanity. I will not buy glass for the price of diamonds, and I will never allow patriotism to triumph over humanity as long as I live. "
Tagore taught us to embrace all the good things the rest of the world had to offer and while accepting his Nobel price, he told the audience that it was very much a part of Indianness to accept and embrace other cultures.
The event yesterday was unnecessarily delayed because his highness, the vice-chancellor of the University of Mumbai was 1-hour late!! It was ironic that he spoke about freedom of expression and some of the values that Tagore propogated when the VC himself banned Rohington Mistry's "Such a Long Journey" because the latest generation Shiv Sena brat demanded it on flimsy grounds. The VC said students should read less books and spend more time outdooors, so I guess he banned the book because he wanted the students to be outdoors!!
The organisers also screened a wonderful documentary on Tagore, made the great Satyajit Ray. The restored version will be re-released by the prime minister today. The evening was capped off with a screening of Uphaar, a movie based on one of Tagore's short stories. The film, which was primarily screened in Kerala, stared Jaya Bachchan and I have to say that it was in my opinion her finest performance.
The celebrations continue both on Saturday and Sunday with a musical and cultural extravaganza. It's wonderful to learn so much more about a man, who contributed so much to literature, art, music and India's freedom struggle.
I end this post by quoting the great man.
"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 toward perfection.
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost it's way
into the dreary desert sand of dead habit.
Where the mind is led forward by thee
into ever widening thought and action.
In to that heaven of freedom, my father,
LET MY COUNTRY AWAKE! "
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