The other side of Rabindranath Tagore: Part Three

Inspiring Internationalist

A widely traveled man of his day, Tagore was a curious and keen observer of socio-political life in the
numerous countries he had travelled from 1916. He (Tagore) has been Indias internationalist par
excellence, believing and working for international co-operation, taking Indias message to other countries
and bringing their message to his own people, lauded Jawaharlal Nehru in his book The Discovery of
India. Tagores international experiences over a period of years opened his eyes to comprehend the
significance of accentuating an intellectual union of world cultures and challenging all sorts of obstacles to
cultural integration. His encounters with personalities like Romain Rolland, H. G. Wells, and Albert
Einstein had enlarged his vision to take on a more holistic attitude towards understanding the dynamic
spirit of his time. Expressing his thoughts of universalism, Tagore wrote in one of his letters, I love India,
but my India is an idea and not a geographical expression. Therefore, I am not a patriot, and then pointed
out that, I shall ever seek my compatriots all over the world.

In the later years of his life, Tagore was increasingly getting anxious and agitated viewing the immense
misery faced by the people from a cruel and ruthless lust of arrogant imperialist powers. He began
protesting against every war and violence that occurred in place to place and tried to warn the world over
and over again about the aggressive spirit of nationalism and imperialism which he considered to be a
menace to the whole world. While touring America and Japan during the First World War, Tagore has
delivered his famous lectures against Nationalism where he strongly voiced his criticism against Western
nationalism for its spirit of conflict and conquest. The political ideas of Tagore had deeply impressed the
French novelist and pacifist Romain Rolland. Rolland translated and republished parts of the lectures and
introduced Tagore to the French progressive circles.

Rolland was a well-known figure in the pacifist movement during the First World War. On 26 June 1919,
two days ahead of the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, Rolland published his persuasive manifesto The
Declaration of Independence of the Mind in the French Socialist newspaper L'Humanit. Stressing for the
intellectuals right and compulsion to think, research, write, publish, and communicate honestly,
Rollands manifesto had appealed to the Workers of the Mind, comrades scattered throughout the world
to stand up and unite against all sorts of censorship, nationalism, or political loyalty. It is for humanity that
we work, but for humanity as a whole. We know nothing of peoples. We know the People, unique and
universal; the People which suffers, which struggles, which falls and rises to its feet once more, and which
continues to advance along the rough road drenched with its sweat and its blood, acknowledged
Rollands Declaration. When Tagore received a copy, he responded passionately, I gladly hasten to accept
your invitation to join the ranks of those free souls.

Romain Rolland is also credited for making Tagore aware about the repressive and destructive aspect of
Italian fascism, after he was systematically misled by an insinuating Mussolini and his team of swindlers
who had craftily devised Tagores two visits to Italy in 1925 and 1926. Tagore had later admitted that he was
struck by a masterful personality of Mussolini and was deceived by individuals who were almost
unanimous in assuring me that Mussolini had saved Italy from anarchy and utter ruin. Though Tagore had
never praised Mussolinis fascist ideology at any point of time during his Italian tour, the fascist press
distorted Tagore's speeches to make them sound like an ardent admirer of fascism. When Mussolini
invaded Abyssinia (Ethiopia) in 1935, a dejected and disturbed Tagore wrote to Andrews, I keenly feel the
absurdity of raising my voice against any act of virulence of unscrupulous imperialism when it is pitifully
feeble against all cases that vitally concern us. In 1937 he responded against the invasion with his
remarkable anti-colonial poem Africa:

They came with iron handcuffs
Those whose claws are sharper than your wolves:
Man-trappers came,
Blinder in their arrogance than your sunless forests.
The savage greed of the civilized
Laid bare its shameless inhumanity.
In your forest paths vaporous with wordless weeping,
The dust was muddlied with your blood and tears.
Ugly lumps of clay
Trampled under the robbers hobnailed boots
Left indelible marks in your history of insult.

(Translated by Supriya Chaudhuri)

In 1927, Rolland along with the eminent French writer Henri Barbusse issued an appeal To the Free
Minds, Against Fascism to denounce the persecutions and terror in Benito Mussolinis Italy. The first
French antifascist meeting was held in Paris on 23 February 1927 with Rolland, Barbusse and Albert
Einstein as the three honorary presidents. In the same year Barbusse sent a personal appeal to Tagore
asking him to stand up to oppose and fight the invading barbarity of Fascism. In reply Tagore wrote, It is
needless to say that your appeal has my sympathy, and I feel certain that it represents the voices of
numerous others who are dismayed at the sudden outbursts of violence from the depth of civilization. In
the same letter Tagore also explicitly denounced fascism with his eloquent words, It is natural to expect in
primitive peoples their faith in ceremonies of power-worship dripping with human blood..But when a
similar phenomenon makes its appearance among cultured peoples it proves the second infancy of senility
that has lost its control over animal passion..Its infection is noxious because while it exhales from its core
an unwholesome odour of decay and death, its outer skin swells and glows with an exultant flush of
rottenness.

For a long time Tagore was craving to witness and experience Russias socialist pattern of society. Though
he did not have any definite idea about the character of the Russian revolution, his inquisitiveness about
Russia can be found from what he wrote in a 1918 issue of Modern Review, We know very little of the
history of the present revolution in Russia, and with the scanty materials in our hands we cannot be certain
if she, in her tribulations, is giving expression to mans indomitable soul against prosperity build upon
moral nihilism. His long held desire was finally achieved when he was privileged to witness the country
in 1930. Tagores excitement about the visit, which he had described as a pilgrimage, is evident in the
letters he wrote from Russia, collected in Russiar Chithi (Letters from Russia). In the letters he had
expressed how he was totally surprised to observe the Russian achievements, and at the same time
overwhelmed to find what they have achieved during these thirteen years after their revolution. Tagore
wrote excitedly, The Russians have been able to set up a completely different social order very unlike the
other nations of the world. For a very long time, a class of people has always been exploited in the society.
They are deprived of all facilities of decent living. Very often I thought of them, but I could not find out any
solution. I thought there was probably no way out. No social system can be based on mercy.. But Russia
has taken up the programme of doing away with inequality. Russias phenomenal progress had greatly
impressed Tagore. He had observed that the key reason why Russia was able to shake off the heavy
traditional burden and erect a socialist setup in such a short span of time was by spreading education
among the ignorant masses. The education is not only quantitative, but qualitative in nature. This
education is filtered among men with the idea that no one would remain idle or unemployed in future,
Tagore noted with appreciation. He was further delighted to discover, What we wanted to do in Sriniketan
is being done in Russia on a large scale. However, Tagores admiration about the Soviet system was not
without a word of warning. In an interview to the newspaper Izestia, Tagore did not hesitate to utter the
following words: If you have a mission which includes all humanity, acknowledge the existence of
difference of opinion. Opinions are constantly changed and rechanged only through the free circulation of
intellectual forces and moral persuasion. Violence begets violence and blind stupidity. Freedom of mind is
needed for the reception of truth; terror hopelessly kills it. Therefore, for the sake of humanity I hope that
you may never create a force of violence which will go on weaving an interminable chain of violence and
cruelty.

On 3 March 1937 during the Spanish Civil War, The Statesman published Tagores appeal To the
Conscience of Humanity. In this strong worded appeal Tagore had bitterly noted the devastating tide of
International Fascism and its inhuman recrudescence of obscurantism, of racial prejudice, of rapine and
glorification of war in Spain. Perceiving fascism as a potent threat he thus pleaded in his appeal to Help
the peoples front in Spain, help the Government of the people, cry in million voices Halt, come in your
millions to the aid of democracy, to the victory of civilization and culture, and also urged that, Civilization
must be saved from its being swamped by barbarism. When his old friend, the Japanese poet Yone
Noguchi appealed to him to endorse Japans invasion of China and ask China to disarm, Tagore wrote in
reply, how can you expect me to appeal to Chiang Kai-Shek to give up resisting until the aggressors have
first given up their aggression?

A few days before his death, an octogenarian Tagore delivered his last public lectureSabhyatar
Sankat (Crisis in Civilization) on 14th April 1941, the Bengali New Years Day. Sabhyatar Sankat is Tagores
critique of modern civilization at the time when the entire world was shuddering under the Second World
War catastrophe. Here, Tagore again spoke about his admiration for Russia, about the unsparing energy
with which Russia has tried to fight diseases and illiteracy, about the successes the country has achieved in
steadily liquidating ignorance and poverty, and also about how Russia is trying to build a society which is
free from all invidious distinction between one class and another, between one sect and another.
Observing the darkening despair of war and destruction that has gather over the world, in this extremely
moving and momentous speech he spoke about his deep belief in the arrival of a new dawn: I had at one
time believed that the springs of civilization could issue out of the heart of Europe. But today, when I am
about to leave the world, that faith has deserted me. I look around and see the crumbling ruins of a proud
civilization strewn like a vast heap of futility. And yet, I shall not commit the previous sin of losing faith in
man.

Tagores legacy

Rabindranath Tagore had an unremittingly tragic personal life. His mother Sarada Devi died when he was
quite young. When he was twenty-two, his elder brother Jyotirindranaths wife Kadambari committed
suicide, with whom young Rabi possibly had a romantic communion. Between 1902 and 1907, he lost his
wife Mrinalini, his father Debendranath, his daughter Renuka and his youngest son, Shamindranath. Then
in 1918 his elder daughter Madhurilata breathed her last. I am entirely convinced that any other ordinary
person could never lead a normal and healthy life if subjected to such unrelenting heartbreaks and
tragedies, remarked the author and Tagore disciple Syed Mujtaba Ali recalling Tagores tragic destiny. Yet
the sequence of personal losses and its excruciating experiences, surprisingly, did not shatter Tagore
personally who went on to lead an eventful, dynamic and creative life. The sheer tragedies could neither
deter him from his artistic credo nor has prevented him from being an active messenger of peace and
harmony.

Ashis Nandy, in his essay Rabindranath Tagore and the Politics of Self has rightly described Tagore as a
political dissenter, who was articulating unspoken concerns of Indian consciousness at that time.
Through his tirade against the conventional political, social, cultural and religious superstitions, Tagore had
peeved many of his detractors. His intrepid attitude has persuaded them to criticize and condemn him for
being an apostate and perceive his alternative ideas as nothing but a moral utopia. In his autobiography
Nirad C. Chaudhuri had remarked that Tagore was, virtually rejected by a majority of fellow-Bengalis in his
life time, because what he wrote was far above their head, and not fully understood even by the small
number of admirers who made an idol of him. Tagores legacy today, according to Chaudhuri is nothing
more than the holy mascot of Bengali provincial vanity. He thus assumes that Tagore is likely to remain,
only a hagiographical legend in Bengal. In a similar tone, celebrity historian Ramachandra Guha has
blamed the intellectuals of Bengal in particular for turning a thinker of universal reach and significance
into a local hero, and also finds that Tagore has been reduced to a figure of merely parochial significance.
(Source) Both the remarks perfectly illustrate a bitter reality.

How much does the Bengalis who pride on their imaginary cultural superiority really know of Tagore?
Instead of making a real effort to honor the poet by sincerely exploring the essence of his life and works, the
Bengalis has found it easier to convert him into a cult figure. The conservative, reactionary and narrow-
minded commissars of Vishva-Bharati, the university founded by Tagore in 1921, also played a prominent
part in this regard by deliberately preventing Tagore scholarship to flourish universally. The educated
Bengali conscience is satisfied by celebrating the annual Tagore birth anniversary just as a ritualistic
practice. Not many of them have actually read his works, and fewer have understood them. Though
knowing too little does not prevent the immodest Bengalis from talking too much of empty and artificial
rubbish about the great man. Perhaps Tagore is fashionable to them because in some way he signifies
classiness and cultural awareness.

Why is then the rest of India so ignorant and apathetic towards Tagore today? Are the Bengali intellectuals
and the so called custodians of the Tagore flame so powerful that they can shut Tagore off from the wider
world as Ramachandra Guha has remarked? It is not necessarily so. The initiative of some Gujarati,
Kashmiri or Marathi intellectuals cannot be an indispensable requisite to spread the greatness and
relevance of Gandhi, Nehru and Ambedkar. Indias ignorance about Tagore, therefore, cannot be justified
by putting the entire blame on the Bengali intellectuals alone. Do the non-Bengali historians, literary critics
and custodians of Indian heritage and culture truly care to claim the legacy of Tagore? Vishva-Bharatis iron
rule days have long been over after it failed to extend the copyright of Tagores works. What is preventing
the non-Bengali intellectuals now from extending Tagore scholarship among the people of India? Is it sheer
lack of concern, mediocrity, an ideological division within the elite intellectuals or the fallout of their
intellectual and moral bankruptcy owing to a distorted interpretation of multiculturalism? Thats really not
a tough call to make.

Rabindranath Tagores alternative vision has become more appropriate and relevant than ever in todays
violent world of intolerance, vengeance and fanaticism.

References:

1. Rabindranath Tagore - Selected Poems: Edited by Sukanta Chaudhuri
2. Selected letters of Rabindranath Tagore: Edited by Krishna Dutta, Andrew Robinson
3. The English Writings of Rabindranath Tagore, Vol. 3 - A miscellany: Edited by Sisir Kumar Das
4. Glimpses of Bengal: Rabindranath Tagore
5. Nationalism: Rabindranath Tagore
6. Letters from Russia: Rabindranath Tagore, translated from Bengali by Sasadhar Sinha
7. Crisis in Civilisation: Rabindranath Tagore
8. The Argumentative Indian: Amartya Sen
9. Social thought of Rabindranath Tagore - A Historical Analysis: Tapati Dasgupta
10. Romain Rolland and the Politics of Intellectual Engagement: David James Fisher
11. The Forerunners: Romain Rolland
12. Autobiography of an Unknown Indian, Part II: Nirad C. Chaudhuri
13. Rabindranath, Koekti Rajnoitic Prosongo: Nepal Majumdar
14. Rabindranath Tagore and His Contemporary Relevance: Uma Das Gupta, Anandarup Ray
15. The Village and the World - a Political Reading of Rabindranath Tagores Prose Fiction: Christine Marsh
16. Empire and Nation - Political Ideas in Rabindranath Tagores Travel Writings: Mohammad A. Quayum

(Concluded)