As we are celebrating the 158 birth anniversary of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, I thought to pen down to touch upon some of his thoughts which are so very applicable today. He is undoubtedly amongst one of our greatest philosophers and we can look up to him as someone who is very relevant even these days and shall continue to inspire in times to come. We must look up to Gurudev for intellectual, philosophical and spiritual nourishment, and just by reading him, we can fulfill ourselves and find a way forward in life. We all are aware of his immense literary contribution and achievements but somehow I feel we tend to ignore his thoughts on Nation building. He had shown us the path to maintain the social fabric in a diverse country like India, but unfortunately, it appears that we have forgotten that and became more distrustful than ever because may be of general state of politics, the corruption, and they way politicians misuse institutions of governance and of course great inequality in society. It may not affect us as much as it affects the poorer section of our society as they have a very little choice in life unlike us. However, it should worry all of us that how we have become immune to all this kind of new culture which has been imposed on us under the context of Nationalism, Religion and Culture and it seems generation next is the victim as this is exactly Gurudev had anticipated and therefore he was very critical of all this. Rather he was a stern critic of those who misused politics for narrow ends of religious and cultural identity.
Let me quote what he had written:-
“I HAVE NOTHING TO DO DIRECTLY WITH POLITICS. I AM NOT A NATIONALIST, MODERATE OR IMMODERATE IN MY POLITICAL ASPIRATIONS. BUT POLITICS IS NOT A MERE ABSTRACTION. IT HAS ITS PERSONALITY AND IT DOES INTRUDE INTO MY LIFE WHEN I AM HUMAN. IT KILLS AND MAIMS INDIVIDUALS, IT TELLS LIES, IT USES ITS SACRED SWORD OF JUSTICE FOR THE PURPOSE OF MASSACRE, IT SPREADS MISERY BROADCAST OVER CENTURIES OF EXPLOITATION AND I CANNOT SAY TO MYSELF, ‘POET, YOU HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THESE FACTS FOR THEY BELONG TO POLITICS’. THIS POLITICS ASSUMES ITS FULLEST DIABOLICAL ASPECT WHEN I FIND ALL ITS HIDEOUS ACTS OF INJUSTICE FIND MORAL SUPPORT FROM A WHOLE NATION ONLY BECAUSE IT WANTS TO ENJOY IN COMFORT AND SAFETY THE GOLDEN FRUITS REAPED FROM ABJECT DEGRADATION OF HUMAN RACES”.
Gurudev was always in search of unity and going back to his writings should help us to understand the diversity of nature and our cultures to be it food, dress, language, religion as a personification of knowledge and we must imbibe it to transfer to the younger ones to make our country as strong as ever. It is our duty and responsibility that our children, their children, and grand children can inherit a future of peace and inter-communal living, a future of co-existence with nature and other human beings, a future of rich cultural diversity.
Let’s revisit his noble thoughts and teaching and hope we can contribute a little in shaping up the generation next.