Gitanjali, A Divine Offerings

November 10 marks the remembrance of Rabindranath Tagore's Nobel Prize. He brought this rare honor for his Gitanjali poetry. This writing is to look back at that golden moment of history. More than hundred years ago, in 1913, the Swedish Academy awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature to Rabindranath Tagore. The award was given for the English translation, "The Song Offerings "of the poet's Gitanjali. Based on what we know in the context of this English translation, it is amazing that it was done at all! It was said that Rabindranath would go to foreign in 1912, in March. But before he left, he fell ill. The need is to rest. He went to Shilaidaha to rest. During his illness and rest, he began to engage in light work, translating some of his poems into English. Gitanjali chose. However, he was not confined to this poem alone. In addition to the 53 poems taken from Gitanjali, he took 16 poems from Gitimalya, 15 from Naibedya, 11 from Kheya, 3 from Shishu, and one each from Kalpana, Smaran, Chaitali, Utsarga and Achalayatan (drama). Thus, Only 53 of the 104 poems of the Nobel laureate Gitanjali are taken from Gitanjali. However, Rabindranath himself did not say anything about acceptance and rejection. How much he knew at that time about who would read the translations in the end, or how to take them after reading! After resting for a few months, when he boarded the ship and arrived in Billet on June 2, his translation work was still going on. There was no stability in the bill. Rodenstein met Rabindranath in Calcutta the year before. Sir William Rodenstein was a well-known figure in the British artist-literary community. There is no doubt that Rabithakur's contact with him played a major role in his Nobel Prize. Arriving in London, Rabindranath informed him. He handed over the newly written translations he had brought with him.

Rodenstein did not make the slightest mistake in realizing the importance of this translation. He arranged a meeting with the poet with some of the top personalities of the literary world at that time. The presence of the Irish poet Yates at that meeting was very significant. Because, when the translations fell into the hands of Yates, he was so overwhelmed that he could not find any reason to reform or correct the Bengali poetic English translation. But the translations were given to him for correction. Yates did not feel the need to do anything else in the poet's translation except for a few linguistic corrections. The relevance of the word is that since Rabindranath received the Nobel Prize, there has been a lot of talk about how much his translation is actually his and how much others have a hand in it. Rabindranath, of course, wanted someone to look at his translation, whose mother tongue was English. Rabindranath did not have much idea about his knowledge of English. But it turned out that a poet like Yeats ruled out in a hushed voice that he had not seen such a work in English in the last 10 years. Wherever he went after Yates, he had Rabindranath's translation book with him. He himself spoke of the excitement of his mind after reading the translations. It is like the joy and excitement of discovering a new continent. He is always on the lookout for anyone who sees him and understands the excitement of the mind; While traveling by train and bus, he hid his notebook from the curious eyes of others.

 The India Society in London then published a limited number of translated poems. And a few days later the translations were published in book form from Macmillan. That was in 1913. At the end of the year, the book was printed 13 times. At the end of this year, Rabindranath also received the Nobel Prize for his own prose Gitanjali. Of particular importance was the work that Rodenstein did in honor of Rabindranath, led by Yates at a dinner held at Trocadero Restaurant in London in July 1912, to which at least 60 leading figures in the world of literature and culture were invited. Yates presided over the dinner. It is said that this dinner was the most significant event for Rabindranath to win the Nobel Prize. The purpose was to introduce Rabindranath to the ellite society of Britain. That purpose was completely successful. This was followed by a discussion on his nomination for the Nobel Prize. Rodenstein and Yates also did that work efficiently.

 Earlier, a few more dinners and poetry readings of Rabindranath were organized. Rodenstein or Yates did not have to look back after the dinner in the presence of 70 people. Rabindranath's participation in London was not so much to present his poetic identity as it was to present his country and his philosophy to the Western world. Rabindranath wanted to put an end to the ignorance and neglect of the West about India. After receiving the award, he has repeatedly said and written with the same purpose in mind as long as he has lived and every time he has gone abroad. One of the goals of his life was to disprove the notion that the East is the East, the West is the West, and there is a wide gap between the two. To this end, he established Visva-Bharati at Santiniketan, inviting dignitaries from the Western world. If the West looks at India with enough respect today, it cannot be said how much Rabindranath's contribution is behind it. I remember the words of a Western scholar. He told the poet, You are the region India should be free — India's independence is desirable for you. Rabindranath's greatness and India's slavery — this reality is not acceptable.

 Whatever the political reality, Rabindranath had great respect for Britain. He came in contact with the noble soul and the English and considered himself lucky. He has seen many small Englishmen in the country, and big Englishmen in the bill he has paid the price for their devotion and love. The major initiator of the award given to the poet from Calcutta University after the Nobel Prize was the then big lat. The poet was not pleased with the honour of the countrymen. He knew it wasn't all authentic. However, after winning the Nobel, he hoped that the West would help in building Visva-Bharati. This hope of Rabindranath was not fully fulfilled. He had a death concern about Visva-Bharati. He put an end to the misgivings of his highly admired Jawaharlal Nehru. The Central Government of India came forward to take charge of Visva-Bharati. But for this, Visva-Bharati has to pay a high price — Visva-Bharati of Rabindranath's imagination and Visva-Bharati, a central university in India, are not one. Yet there is Visva-Bharati — the ‘creation of Rabindranath’ with this identity. Today, whoever comes to this country from outside India, arrival in India would not be complete if Rabindranath's creation did not come to Santiniketan. It has been 100 years since the publication of the Nobel Prize-winning Rabindranath Tagore's English Gitanjali. The centenary of his Nobel victory is also being celebrated. We consider it a memorable event for the entire Bengali society.