Suvadip Bhattacharjee Writes

The Poet, the genius The name of Tagore reminds one of a grandfatherly figure ─ a wise old gentleman endowed with a white long beard and the sparkling eyes that look introspectively to the viewer. We are told that this great man composed the National Anthem of India. We get a hint that the bearded man was a music composer or a lyricist. But is that information enough to define Tagore? Not at all. Music composition or song writing was one of the qualities he was gifted with. His personality was a combination of a great many talents that one can hardly have. It was like a magical pot of creations where a multitude of ideas were born and they flowed into reality. Born in 1861, more than 150 years back in Kolkata, Tagore began his creative journey as a poet, when he was just a teenager. He did not like the system of schooling at his time. He found it monotonous and pressurizing where teacher was not a friend but a ruler. Hence, he left formal schooling after a few months or a year. He was