Tagore 186 1 was born in Calcutta. Under the influence of his father and brother, he wrote long poems and ode poems at the age of 13, and wrote more than 50 poems such as "Chittaglia" and a large number of novels and plays in his life. When the national liberation movement entered * * *, he devoted himself to the movement and wrote a lot of patriotic poems. There are many differences between him and Gandhi's reform ideas, but they have forged a sincere and eternal friendship. Gandhi called him a "great defender." Tagore crossed the ocean 10 for many times, visited dozens of countries and regions, spread peace and friendship, and made great contributions to world cultural exchanges.
selected works
Father and son spent the first few days of their trip there. Sandniktan's space and the opportunity to stay with his father have the most constructive influence on children's spiritual and moral development. For the first time, he got the feeling of wandering freely in the open nature, and the magnificent scenery made him awe-inspiring and elated. Tagore's memory of it is worth mentioning:
"When we arrived in Balpur, it was already dusk. I got into the sedan chair and closed my eyes. I want to keep all the wonderful scenes intact and let them reappear in front of my sleepy eyes in the morning. I'm worried, don't lose its complete image in the darkness and weaken your freshness. In the morning, I got up and went outdoors, and my heart was about to jump out with joy ... there are no servant rules here. The only fence that binds me is the pale blue tree on the horizon, which was set by the forest goddess around this wilderness. When I was a child, my father never stopped me from walking. "
An incident that happened in Amer's trip to Tesal witnessed the self-esteem of the "Daxian" and the pride of the nobility, and also had a profound impact on the children's hearts. At a station on the way, the ticket inspector expressed doubts that Daxian's child was under 12 years old. He thinks it is wrong to buy half a ticket instead of a full one. He called the stationmaster. The stationmaster looked at the child from head to toe, but still insisted that the child buy a full ticket, because the child looked over twelve years old (by Indian standards, the Tagore family were all tall and strong). "Daxian" couldn't stand others' doubts about himself and suddenly flushed with anger. Without saying anything, he took out a stack of money and handed it to the stationmaster. When he got the extra money back, he threw it on the platform. The stationmaster suddenly felt extremely ashamed. He didn't know that the passenger was none other than the famous "Daxian". He paid off every copper coin owed by his father, although Daxian was not legally responsible for his father's debts.
Father and son traveled day and night to the Himalayas in the west. When we arrived at our destination, it was already spring and April. On the plains, summer has already begun; However, in mountainous areas, spring comes very late. Their ultimate goal is Del Helo, located at 7000 feet above sea level, where there is a small villa. To climb there, you must go through several campsites. They either walk, ride horses or let bearers carry them. On both sides of the mountain road, Gu Song towering, spring flowers. All this scenery is unheard of for Robin, unheard of. Snow glistened on the top of the mountain. The mountain road spirals from bottom to top, with endless ravines and layers of green forests. The trickle is silent, just like the playful laughter of a girl in a clean forest when she combs the fairy's feet in meditation. At this time, this scene makes the mind of an eleven-year-old child feel the feelings experienced by Kalidasa with great surprise and intoxication. "During the day, I just saw too many things and didn't have a rest. Always worry, don't miss the beautiful scenery ... My thirsty soul cries:' Why should we give up such a place, why can't we live here all our lives?' "
Finally, they arrived at their hut in Boca Lauda, which was built on the top of the mountain. Now, children have the right to walk freely and have full freedom to enjoy the beauty and pride of the Himalayas. Holding an iron-pointed stick in his hand, he wandered freely in the mountains, and his father did not set any obstacles for it.
My father's grateful son testified, "My father never interfered with our freedom in his life. On several occasions, what I did went against his feelings and reason. He could have stopped it with a hint, but he didn't. He believes that it is best to wait before the power of inner taboo comes into being; It is unpleasant to passively accept an idea. He wants us to love the truth wholeheartedly. He knows very well that it is false to simply carry out orders without love. He knows that the road to truth is lost and can be retrieved, but forcing a person, or using external forces to make a person blindly accept the truth, will eventually hinder him from embarking on the road to truth. "
However, there is nothing to do but enjoy and play. Although the son praised Daxian's tolerance, Daxian was a rigorous and meticulous person after all. Before dawn, he always wakes up his son and recites Sanskrit eulogy with him, "Get up in the biting cold morning without a warm and comfortable blanket". Daxian got up early alone. My son remembers that sometimes when he was sleepy, he saw "Daxian" wrapped in a red shawl and holding an oil lamp, walking gently by the bed, sitting in the yard and thinking. It's hard to say when. After reading Sanskrit, father and son each drink a glass of milk. Then, "Daxian" sang the scripture of Upanishads again, and the children listened to his beautiful singing quietly. When the sun sprayed thousands of golden lights from the peaks in the east, they had already taken a walk outdoors. Back in the house, his father taught him to read English for an hour, and then "took a cold bath". Reading or afternoon. In the evening, they were sitting in the yard. The son sang his favorite hymn to his father, while "Daxian" told Robin about elementary astronomical knowledge. For children to learn astronomy, what classroom can be better than the classroom under a clear night sky! If astronomy is Robin Delanat's favorite course in his life, what's the fuss?
The results of discipline education he obtained from his father have been preserved for a long time. Although it was dark in the morning, he got up from the warm bed on time; No matter how shivering he is with cold, how loud his teeth are and how nervous he is, he still dives into the water to take a bath. Later, he always thanked his father for honing this healthy and simple life, which helped him all his life. For robins, it is no longer a courtesy, but a pleasure to meet the blooming sunrise and listen to the first chirp of birds. In his long life, he never gave up this happiness. Of course, being sick is another matter. In this way, the four months he spent with his father left the boring road of school and family, which became the happiest day of his childhood and the most valuable feeling and source of his initial education. Their direct influence was that when he returned to Calcutta, he was no longer a child.
He is very envious of his little sister. Even if little sister doesn't recite her lessons, the tutor won't punish her. When the boy was getting ready for school, she tossed her pigtails and walked leisurely into the boudoir.
Since a new wife stepped into the boudoir, the boudoir has attracted special attention. The daughter-in-law with a gold bracelet on her soft wrist is the wife of her brother Jody Leng Delanat, and her name is Gardenparley. She is a little older than Robin Delanat. Robin Delanat is eager to get along with her. "I have been walking around her at a safe distance, but I dare not go near her." This foreign women is deeply imprinted on his mind. Although strange, but intimate, and unexpectedly attracted him, he is eager to get along with her. However, whenever he approached her, her little sister immediately shouted angrily, "What are you wild boys doing here?" Go away. " This kind of abuse depressed him.
However, the situation has changed now. Once upon a time, that annoying naughty boy suddenly became an interesting guest that everyone liked. Everyone he met wanted to hear interesting stories about his trip. In order to make the story interesting, the heroic little hero inevitably polished it. "I can't guarantee that my brain is not dizzy." At dusk, on the balcony of the boudoir, all the people attending the women's party organized by his mother stared at him. He told his story, recited his poems and showed off the astronomical knowledge he bought from his father, which fascinated and amazed women. However, the longest feather on this little peacock's tail is the Ramayana written by the postscript in Sanskrit, while women only know the Bengali version of Ramayana so far, and the original Sanskrit is so mysterious that only Brahman scholars can understand it. The proud mother stubbornly said, "Little Robin, recite Ramayana, we are all ears!" Actually, there is no need to ask. Smart children can't wait to recite it to shock the four buildings. There is the youngest new wife in the audience, and Robin Delanat wants to win her applause most. He recited some ode poems he learned from his father and translated them into Bengali. He forgot the meaning of some difficult words, "... so, the meaning of my explanation is quite different from the original intention of the postscript." Sitting in the sky, Daxian has a charitable heart and will certainly forgive the willfulness of this child who is proud of his mother's request. However, people present at that time could not point out this difference. His mother praised him and said, "Tell Devijondra again!" Hearing this, the child's heart suddenly cooled. Don't expose this young fake scholar at once, junior. Devi Joan Della heard her mother's call and came over. Mom said, "Listen, Robin recited" Ramayana "by Bomi. How beautiful his back is! " Fortunately, Bo Xuege was busy with his own business-perhaps it affected his writing-and absently listened to a few ode poems, said "good" and left. He didn't stay to listen to his Bengali translation. Therefore, in the eyes of women, Robin's prestige has not been reduced, but has been further enhanced by his brother's profound and concise comments.
When Tagore, who was in his seventies, was asked what his greatest strength was, he replied, "It is contradictory." When asked what his greatest weakness is, he said, "It's still it." This is by no means nonsense, what he said just reflects his thoughts. Although everything he says and does is sincere, there is no way to know what he will say or do tomorrow. He may be a self-contradictory person, because he is honest, sticks to the truth, believes in his genius, and is willing to respond to the call of life and gods, abandon his previous achievements and beliefs, and take an unfamiliar road. 1On May 8th, 893, he wrote in a letter: "In my poems, I have never said a lie". However, it is in his poems that there are challenges and struggles between seemingly contradictory feelings and moods.
"Poets have a problem with telling lies." George W. Paglini once said this. Indeed, a truly honest person seems to become a liar on many occasions, just as a seemingly honest person will become a liar. Therefore, when Robin Delanat was writing, he didn't want to get more things in life except the charming sight observed from the river where he was boating, but he was always anxious about the existence of countless busy and crowded people. He was very afraid of the noise and disputes at the market pier, but it attracted him again and again, and he couldn't get rid of it for a long time. He condemned those ascetic monks who still abandoned their homes and went out to look for God, while he was looking for God everywhere.
If the influence of Daxian on the younger son is very healthy and inspiring on the whole, however, it does not help the poet's ideological liberation enough. He especially wants to train Robin Delanat to be a social conservative like him. It is worth noting that the first decade of the new century was the most fruitful period in Tagore's life in many ways. During this period, relatively speaking, Robin Delanat failed to provide enough evidence to prove that his life had been liberated from social abstinence and traditional prejudice. Can it be said that with the growth of spiritual and moral sensitivity, the self-righteous emotions of the hidden decadent class will gradually be exposed to the public? Perhaps the new patriotism aroused the yearning for the past. This is undoubtedly a hopeful view, which regards ancient India as a world mainly inhabited by kings who love justice, heroines and immortals who live alone in forests and think about eternal truth. No one can be completely divorced from his environment. Although Robin Delanat has extraordinary, unique and enterprising spirit, he is also influenced by the stale prejudice and dogma of his environment to some extent. Compared with other periods, this period was more affected.
Otherwise, we can't understand why a person who firmly believes in personality development and hates the cruelty of Hindu social system is so eager to marry his two daughters. His eldest daughter Matulileda (Bella) was only fourteen years old at that time, and his second daughter Lainujia (Lani) was less than twelve years old. 190 1 year, the wedding of two daughters was held in less than a month. Bella is charming, lively and intelligent, and Lani is an extraordinary girl with her own opinions. Robin Delanat likes them very much. Although Robin Delanne spends most of his time in social activities and writing, he is indeed a loyal husband and a loving father. In the past few years, he not only had a mental crisis, but also faced serious economic difficulties. Not long ago, he started a business in ancient Sidia, but he failed and was heavily in debt. At the same time, he is busy going to England to study botany for his friend Jay Bao Si (who later became a world famous figure) and prepare the necessary funds. Not only that, he also wants to raise money for his educational ideal plan in Sandniktan. However, what forced him to finish his daughter's marriage in such a hurry in so many important affairs? What's more, before that, he himself condemned child marriage in very clear language.
Indeed, at that time, in his class and society, it was considered unusual for a woman not to get married after puberty. But this is not a particularly rare phenomenon, because he described in his novel that some well-educated and outstanding girls in some families chose their lovers at that time. It is true that the Tagore family was insulted in Bilali, classified as a Brahmin caste and considered to be depraved. It is not easy for him to establish an unimpeded marriage relationship with other Brahmin families with traditional ideas. However, this is only a problem for those who maintain caste purity, and there is no such problem for those who laugh at all superstitions. However, a person is so extraordinary in other aspects, but what is the need to be an ordinary person in such a thing? This question is difficult to answer. It seems that he has guessed such a question. During this period (after reading Alfred Tennyson's biography), he wrote a poem. In his poem, he told readers: Don't look for poets among ordinary people. We should respect his wishes.
1905, in the last year of his term of office, the stubborn Indian Governor Sir John Corson announced the partition of Bangladesh, which caused inevitable anger and challenges. In this way, the division between the two major religious groups in the country began, which eventually led to the division of the country after 1942, leading to unprecedented massacres and terrorist activities in Indian history. Robin Delanat warned his compatriots to be alert to this danger earlier. Now, he has devoted himself to the battlefield, delivered enthusiastic speeches, composed songs about China and led large-scale demonstrations against separatism. Some students were expelled from the college simply because of trumped-up charges of singing patriotic songs. In order to organize their research, Robin Delanat and other educators made a national education plan and set up a special committee. Its first chairman was the famous philosopher yogi Orubindu Kaosh. Tagore made a series of speeches on literary theory for this Committee, which was later published as Literature. He hopes that after inspiring the people to rise up against foreign colonial rule, he will successfully organize this newly awakened enthusiasm into the creative cause of national rejuvenation in order to strive for national independence. He put forward the plan and program of this activity in a series of excellent speeches and articles. In his article, he almost showed the theoretical principles that became the basis of the national mass movement of non-violence and non-cooperation under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi.
However, Tagore is not Gandhi after all. He does not have Gandhi's infinite patience, calm exploration, unshakable willpower, strategic talent and unique leadership genius. He braved the wind and waves for a period of time and rose step by step; And once the storm made a bloody roar, he fled the scene. This experience not only increased his disappointment, but also increased his understanding. He inspired the struggle with his own songs, but his action of giving up the struggle was severely criticized. But it is commendable that public cursing never let Robin Delanat escape his responsibility, which is also a heroic act. In fact, he did the right thing, because he was no match for politicians who tried to use him to participate in the struggle for personal interests. Robin Delanat was lucky to learn about the fighting in his country from those politicians. He fought openly in later novels. His patriotic songs have always inspired the national struggle. These songs have no impulse to incite * * *, no empty rhetoric, and those lyrics express his sincere patriotic enthusiasm.
Some aspects of the uncooperative movement caused Tagore's anxiety. He was deeply dissatisfied with the crazy scene of people burning foreign clothes around the fire. He felt sorry for the students when they left school, gave up their studies and became pawns at the mercy of politicians. He refused to admit that hand spinning is a good medicine to cure India's economic diseases, although he has always supported the revival of handicraft industry, including hand spinning. On one occasion, he joked that compared with spinning, he could spit out the threads of words effortlessly. He believes that the propaganda of the Congress Party on spinning is a long-term political line. Andrews, who deeply loved Gandhi and was extremely pious to Tagore, summed up Tagore's objection in this way: "Rabindranath Tagore felt that people replaced their profound moral beliefs with this fanatical and impulsive attitude, as he rightly said: This is not singing, but noisy. This is not the restraint of self-strength, but the suppression of emotional outbursts, which stifles commitment and career. ..... Another reason for the break is that the poet can't take part in the hand-woven coarse cloth movement, because it appears in the form of a good medicine for treating poverty in India, and the poet just wants to use it as a secondary way to get help. "
Tagore did not directly mention Mahatma Gandhi and the movement he led at a public meeting in Kolkata, but he strongly expressed his belief in the necessity of moral and rational cooperation between the West and India. A report entitled "Convergence of Civilizations" was given on August 15. Tagore was so isolated that Bangladeshi people, including the popular Bangladeshi novelist Sarat Candil chatterjee, disagreed with him. In response to Tagore's speech, chatterjee wrote the article "The Struggle of Civilizations". However, Tagore was not depressed by this. He firmly expressed his views in another public speech, The Call of Truth. This speech is a shining example of his belief. To this end, Gandhi personally wrote a famous rebuttal article entitled "The Great Defender", which was published in his political weekly "Youth India".
Soon after, Gandhi visited Kolkata, 192 1 June, and they had a long and separate discussion. The meeting was held in the residence of the poet jola Sango. There was only one person present, and that was Andrews. What the two great men discussed is no longer described. But it can be considered that Gandhi asked Tagore to actively support his political movement. But it can also be considered that when two people are separated, they still admit the difference of views like friends. In the meantime, people gathered outside the house. Crazy people expressed sympathy and support for Gandhi's purpose. In order to teach world poets, they got bundles of foreign cloth from nearby shops and burned them in the open-air yard near Tagore's house. Leonard Elhurst wrote that a few days later, Tagore personally briefed him about his conversation with Gandhi on that unforgettable day. It seems that when Gandhi emphasized that his whole movement was based on the principle of non-violence, Tagore said, "Mr. Gandhi, please come and see the scene under my balcony." What are your non-violent followers doing? They put the cloth stolen from the store on Gitpur Road in my yard and burned it. Like a slut, dancing around the fire. Is this nonviolence? "
Elhurst went on to write that Gandhi said, "Twenty years ago, sir, you yourself were the leader and defender of the Indian independence movement. You always wanted India to stand up on its own and not be a follower of the British. My autonomy movement is the illegitimate child of your independence movement. Please join me in giving it strength. " Tagore replied: "Mr Gandhi, today the whole world suffers from selfishness and narrow national spirit. India should always be friendly with all countries. I also believe that we Indians should learn more from the West and its science now. Through education, we should learn to cooperate with each other. " Finally, when Gandhi insisted that the poet engage in hand spinning, so that other countries could learn from his example. The poet smiled and said, "I can only compose poems and songs, but Mr. Gandhi, if I start spinning by hand, I don't know how to keep your precious cotton from being damaged!" " "
Tagore has always regarded Gandhi as a saint, and I have heard Tagore talk about Gandhi with pious feelings many times. When referring to Mahatma, I put forward Tolstoy's name, which can keep pace with him. Tagore pointed out to me-now I understand this sentence because I have a good understanding of Gandhi-that compared with Tolstoy, Gandhi's life was decorated with countless lights. For Gandhi, everything is natural, modest, sincere and pure, and his whole struggle exudes religious harmony. For Tolstoy, everything is a proud rebellion against desire, everything of Tolstoy is violence, and so is his principle of non-violence.
Although the gap between them is inevitably widening-Tagore was not only a "poet" at that time, but also a spiritual messenger from Asia to Europe. In Europe, he asked Europeans to help build an authoritative university in Sandniktan. Fate is such a trick on people. It was at that time that Gandhi carried out uncooperative propaganda on the one hand; On the other hand, Tagore is preaching the spirit of East-West cooperation.
However, Tagore was not afraid of Mahatma's xenophobia at all-he knew Gandhi could surpass it-and he was afraid of Gandhi's followers, who did not hesitate to incite any impulse and prejudice in order to ignite the fire of national sentiment. He told the students in Sandniktan about his worries. Some students' feet were broken because they took part in Gandhi's uncooperative petition. "What is the result of changes in schools and colleges? -not for a complete education, but for an uneducated one. " He has always opposed pushing students into political mire. 10 years ago, when he was the leader of the independence movement in Bangladesh, a group of young students came to him and said that they were prepared to give up their studies for the country if Tagore wanted to. Robin Delanat refuted them, so they doubted Tagore's patriotism and left angrily.
(translated by Ni Peigeng)
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Some people say that India is a "land of poetry". Tagore, born in this country of poetry, is regarded as a mysterious poet by many people because of his outstanding achievement in poetry: weaving beautiful garlands for gods with poetry. But India is also a country suffering a lot. Tagore, born in this land, is not a hermit. He always interrupts his quiet life again and again and supports all just causes with a strong voice. Tagore intervened in reality with the poet's ideal spirit, judged right and wrong with the poet's feelings, and maintained the courage to face reality with the poet's temperament. This is my first impression of Tagore.
Biographer Kerry Barani is Tagore's granddaughter. She lived with Tagore for eight years and mastered a lot of first-hand detailed materials. Moreover, the objective and fair writing attitude of the biographer strongly guarantees the authenticity of this biography. Kribarani's careful combination of Tagore's life and works not only adds elegance and lyricism to the biography, but also makes it a rare masterpiece to interpret Tagore's works. Kribarani wandered between Tagore's real life, inner world and his literary works, or evaluated, or narrated, or quoted, which comprehensively showed Tagore's glory and happiness as a "saint", and also comprehensively analyzed Tagore's ups and downs as a "mortal", giving a convincing answer to his Excellence and defects.
First of all, Kribarani introduced the era and social background of the poet's specific life with a concise and beautiful prose style-his large family of talented people, the poet's innocence and naughtiness when he was young, his tiny emotional fluctuations, his fantasy and curiosity about nature, and his friendship with his sister-in-law. These trivial matters of life have been ignored by many biographers, but Kribarani has handled them very delicately and vividly, seemingly unintentionally. In fact, it is in these details that Tagore's future tendency began to appear. In particular, Tagore's childhood experience of going to the Himalayas with his father, the joy and pride of the young Tagore, the reverence and yearning for his father, the intoxication and surprise brought by the snowy peaks and starry sky laid the foundation for Tagore's life.
That night, when Tagore was asked what his greatest strengths and weaknesses were, Tagore replied, "This is a contradiction." Kribarani firmly grasped this point, showed us Tagore's complex and contradictory inner feelings in an all-round way, and tried to explore and explain this contradiction in depth. Tagore strongly hates and opposes the social customs of child marriage in India, and has repeatedly called for the abolition of child marriage in his speeches; However, in reality, he couldn't wait for his two daughters to get married early. Tagore was full of piety to God, and even lived in seclusion for a while. At this time, his poems are also shrouded in strong religious mysticism. In that era of rapid change, he paid attention to reality, participated in anti-British political activities, praised national heroes, preached patriotism, advocated great national unity in India and actively participated in the national liberation struggle. His works are full of justice. Especially in the anti-secession activities of 1942, Tagore's self-contradiction reached its climax. He first enthusiastically devoted himself to the battlefield, "driving the storm at a certain time and making great strides;" And once the storm gave a bloody roar, he ran away. "Kribarani did not shy away from being a saint or a respectable person, but explained the complicated personality reasons and historical reasons behind these behaviors with a serious and fair attitude. He introduced Tagore's enlightenment thought in detail and constantly reminded us that he was also influenced by traditional culture. Influenced by his father, and disappointed after reading Tennyson's biography and his poems, Tagore makes readers feel that these are the most authentic and natural "Tagore-style" choices, whether they are enterprising or compromising. His good-natured eyes, bright wind, angry eyes and stormy weather are all vivid in Kribarani's works.
The biography also tells a lot about the opposition and friendship between Tagore and Gandhi. Kribarani creatively explores the similarities and differences between them, and highlights Tagore's great character through comparison. Tagore was the first person who understood the significance of Mahatma Gandhi's nonviolence and supported it. Before Gandhi was widely known, he sent a congratulatory message to pay tribute to his anti-racism struggle in South Africa. Later, Gandhi dominated Indian politics, and Tagore and Gandhi disagreed on several issues. As the author said, Tagore's ideal spirit is ahead of time. He opposed colonial aggression, but refused to resist western civilization. He supports the revolution, he loves his country and tradition, but he opposes nationalist prejudice and impulse. The poet's ideal always makes him want to be impartial in both the old and the new. But at that time, his perfect ideal could not be understood by the people, and the great conflict between ideal and reality made him unable to be understood by the people for a long time, and he was insulted and hit. But Tagore and Gandhi are essentially the same. Although their actions are different, their goal of seeking truth and finding a way out for the nation is the same. Kribarani believes that this is the basis for two great men with different political views to maintain a long-term friendship. "One of them is a saint, trying to turn politics into something sacred; The other is a poet, trying to turn the sacred into the beautiful. Gandhi's practice is always ahead of his thoughts, while Tagore spreads his ideal wings and soars in the air. " In particular, Tagore's attitude of fraternity, tolerance and calmly facing all kinds of contradictions and setbacks made him better understand the significance of Gandhi and the difficulties of Gandhi's career. Kribarani fully embodies Tagore's own greatness by describing Tagore's admiration and trust in another great man.
(Zheng Xin)