Rabindranath Tagore was born on 7 May 1861 as per the Gregorian calendar. Even though his birthday is observed as Rabindrayanti according to the Bengali calendar(25th Baisakh, 1268) on ponchishe boishaakh(25th of the Bengali month of Baisakh).
His grandfather Dwarkanath Tagore (1794-1846) had amassed great wealth through investment and speculation in coal mines, indigo, and sugar. He was one of the first Indian industrialists and entrepreneurs. Despite the fact that the family was an outcast Brahmin, known as piralee brahman, the dynasty he founded gave Bengal and all of India some of its most prominent painters, poets, musicians, and religious leaders.
He was the youngest of 13 surviving children of his parents, Maharishi Debendranath Tagore and Sarada Devi. He wrote his first poem at the tender age of 8. His first recitation — Rabindranath's first public recitation of his poetry came when he was 14 at a Bengali cultural and nationalistic festival organized by his brothers.
His spouse and children —Rabindranath Tagore was married to Mrinalini Devi, daughter of a clerk in Tagorean estates — Benimadhab Roychowdhury on 9 December 1883 at the age of 22 years. Her name before marriage was Bhabatarinee. They had five children — Madhurilata(Bela), Rathindranath, Renuka, Meera, and Shamindranath Tagore.
- His short stories, novels and poems —His acclaimed novels include Gora, Ghare Baire(Home and the world), Sesher Kobita (Farewell, my friend) and more; short stories include Postmaster, Kabuliwallah(The Man from Kabul) and others.
- Nobel Prize in Literature —
- On 10 December 1913, Tagore was the first Non-European to be awarded the covetous Nobel Prize in literature for translating some of his non-translatable verses in Bengalee, in his book Geetanjali, Song Offerings.
- William Butler Yeats has written the introduction to his Geetanjali.
- Establishment of the Vishwa Bharati University —With the Nobel Prize cash and worldwide contribution, he had established Vishwa Bharati University in 1921. It became a central university in 1951.
- National Anthem of 3 countries —Tagore is the only individual to be credited with the genius of composing national anthems of three different countries —Jana Gana Mana Adhinayaka of India (Thou art the ruler of all minds), Aamar Sonar Bangla for Bangladesh (My golden Bengal), Jaya Sri Lanka Mata for Sri Lanka, translated into Sinhalese from a Rabindrasangeet composed in 1938 and made the national anthem by a student of Vishwa Bharati University, Ananda Samarakoon.
- International Visits — Tagore had visited over 30 countries and 5 continents. He introduced Bengali culture abroad and tried to inculcate the positive aspects of internationalism in his motherland. In each visit, the foreign government pledged thousands of dollars to Vishwa Bharati University in honour of his visits. Tagore in Tsinghua University, China (1924).
- Tagore with students of Berkeley University, California.
- Tagore in Iran, at the request of the Shah of Iran, Reza Shah Pahlavi.[25]
- Tagore and Einstein:
- They had met four times between 1930–31. Their mutual curiosity for music and search for truth have been the subject of discussion in various books. Tagore also met George Bernard Shaw, He also met Robert Lee Frost, the poet. In 1930, he met Ananda K Coomaraswamy. He met the French novelist Romain Rolland in 1926.
- He met the German essayist Thomas Mann. And many other luminaries of the time.
Lastly, the death of his near and dear ones plundered his soul and the inner life of this World Poet was always overshadowed by gloom and melancholy.
The grief stricken poet writes —
“Even though slow and sluggish/ evening comes, / and stops as with a gesture/ your song;/ even though you are alone/ in the infinite sky, / and your body weary, / and in terror you utter/ a silent mantra/ to horizons hidden by the veil-/ bird, O my bird, / though it is darkening/ do not fold your wings.”
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