Rabindranath Tagore: A Tale of a Humanist

Abstract

Rabindranath Tagore is beyond an artist or a poet, who through his creative thinking and writing has given a new meaning of human life and existence. His urge towards freedom is to go beyond the narrow boundaries of religious affiliations, caste, creed, etc. and to love the fellow humans. It is the love for each other which is reflected as the passion for God. On the one hand, he acknowledged and appreciated Western thoughts and ideas, whereas on the other hand he becomes strongly critical about the Western perspective on the fragmentalization of nation-state in reference to identity and social existence. The logic of hierarchization of society, technologization of human spirit is something that bothered him the most. He emphasized on free will and freedom of human beings through coexistence and mutual respect that would give the ideal space of a nation to grow. It cannot be something which is external, coercive or imposed; rather the feeling of Nationalism has to be within, which is only possible through realization of self and the appreciation of the others. In Spite of his love for Gandhi and his practices of life, he chose to differ from him in the ways of attaining freedom from the Britishers. He believed that boycotting western products could not liberate the Indians, as the Indians themselves could liberate themselves from servocracy and aristocracy.