The edition I have, which is published in India by Rupa Press, contains Tagore’s Nobel Prize acceptance speech as well. “And because I love this life, I know I shall love death as well.” -Poem XCV ‘I have brought my light,’ she said, ‘to join the carnival of lamps.’ I stood and watched her little lamp uselessly lost among lights.” -Poem LXIV

“In the moonless gloom of midnight I asked her, ‘Maiden, what is your quest, holding the lamp near your heart? My house is all dark and lonesome,– lend me your light.’ She stopped for a minute and thought and gazed at my face in the dark. “On the seashore of endless worlds children meet.” -Poem LX “On the day when the lotus bloomed, alas, my mind was straying, and I knew it not.” -Poem XX “O fool, to try to carry thyself on thy own shoulders! O Beggar, to come to beg at thy own door!” -Poem IX “The child, who is decked out with prince’s robes and who has jeweled chains round his neck loses all pleasure in his play …” -Poem VIII I’ll share a few of my favorite passages: This may be why the work is so beloved and stands the test of time. This collection of 103 poems (the original Bengali has 157)displays both beautiful language and thought-provoking sentiments. Thus, there is no need to wonder whether the translator got it right or injected too much of his own worldview into the process. Gitanjali translates to “Song Offerings” and while the English version is a translation, it was translated by Tagore himself. Tagore was the first non-European winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature (1913.) While Gitanjali is a work of poetry, Tagore didn’t restrict himself to this form, but also wrote stories, novels, plays, and music. His compositions have come to be known as Rabindra Sangeet.Gitanjali is the most well-known work of the Bengali polymath Rabindranath Tagore. Shanti-Niketan stands to this day as a living monument to the Gurudev.

He has the unique distinction of being the only poet to have two of his songs - Jana Gana Mana and Amar Sonar Bangla - adopted as the national anthem of two countries, India and Bangladesh respectively. Although a staunch nationalist, Tagore was a champion of internationalism, touring various countries and pleading for 'one world'. That is how we have Tagore the poet, Tagore the composer, Tagore the painter and so on. As the experiences and emotions differed, the media also varied. He wanted to understand himself and that he could only do by expressing himself. Perhaps no other contemporary Indian had such diverse interests as Tagore had. Shri Khanolkar, his biographer, describes his life as 'a long dream of colour and music, of beauty and heavenly genius, such as this world has never known before'. He was a poet, novelist, dramatist, musician, short-story writer, teacher, painter, educationist, philosopher and humanist. Tagore was a genius with a many-sided personality. The impact of his personality transcended his native Bengal and came to be felt not only in other parts of India but also abroad. His life and creative work provided the then Indian society with a purpose, direction and a programme. Rabindranath Tagore played a significant role in bringing about a new awakening in India in the latter half of the nineteenth century.

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