IP_ Tagore Issue - Final.indd - high commission of india mauritius

United Kingdom recommendedRabindranath Tagore’s name forthe Nobel Prize for literatureto the Swedish Academy whileninety seven other membersof the Society collectivelyrecommended the name ofnovelist Thomas Hardy forthe award. Initially Tagore’snomination was stronglyopposed by the Chairman ofthe Academy Harald Hijarne.Vocal members of the Academylike Per Hallstorm, Esais HenrikVilhelm Tenger (who knewBengali) and Carl Gustaf Vernervon Heidenstam, familiarwith Tagore’s literary genius,wholeheartedly supported hisnomination. Tagore’s namewas finalized for the awardfrom a total of twenty eightnominations “because of hisprofoundly sensitive, freshand beautiful verse, by which,with consummate skill, hehas made his poetic thought,expressed in his own Englishwords, a part of the literatureof the West.”A cablegram from the NobelCommittee arrived in Kolkataon 14 November 1913 andthe news was communicatedto Tagore at Santiniketanthrough a series of telegrams.Memoirs reveal that the wholeof Santiniketan rejoiced at thisachievement of the Poet.held that the ‘Novel’ prizecame to Santiniketan onlyfor the deserving novels thatTagore had written. Amidstthis unprecedented storm ofexcitement, a grand felicitationwas organized on the 23 rd ofNovember in 1913 at Santiniketnin honour of the Poet, presidedover by his scientist friendJagadish Chandra Bose (1858-1937). A special train reachedBolpur from Kolkata with fivehundred enthusiasts. Tagorewas led to the venue where henoticed some of his critics whohad criticized him personally onvarious occasions in the past.These individuals were nowgathered to felicitate him as thePoet had received recognitionoverseas. Tagore’s speech,which echoed his immediateill-feelings at the sight of hisdetractors, disappointed manyof his genuine admirers whenhe expressed, “I can only raisethis cup of your honour to mylips, I cannot drink it with allmy heart.” Overnight, Tagorewas inundated with attentionand praise which made himwrite to Rothenstein in 1913,“It is almost as bad as tying atin can to a dog’s tail makingit impossible for him to move,without creating noise andcrowds all along.”Tagore could not be present inSweden to receive the NobelPrize as the first Asian recipientof the award and a telegramfrom him was read out at thetraditional Nobel Banquetwhich stated “I beg to conveyto the Swedish Academy mygrateful appreciation of thebreadth of understanding whichhas brought the distant nearand has made the stranger abrother.” The Nobel medallionand the diploma were sent toLord Carmichael (1859-1926),Governor of Bengal, whoA portrait of Tagore by William Rothenstein,his painter-friend (right) and Tagore withRothenstein and son, Rathindranath.handed them over to the Poetat a ceremony on 29 January,1914 at the Governor’s House inKolkata.Gitanjali and the Nobel Prizeset Tagore on the world stageraising him to the glorifiedstatus of Visva Kabi, the WorldPoet, who could celebrate lifebeyond any boundaries:“I have had my invitation to thisworld’s festival, and thus my lifehas been blessed. My eyes haveseen and my ears have heard.”(Gitanjali, 16)◆The author is a poet and a painter who iscurrently designing several museums on thelife and times of Rabindranath Tagore forVisva Bharati.While some students debatedthat Tagore had securedthe ‘Nobel Prize’ for hisprofound nobility, othersFacsimile of a page from The Statesman(daily) of Nov 15, 1913 announcingRabindranath getting the covetedNobel Prize.INDIA PERSPECTIVES VOL 24 NO. 2/2010 24 INDIA PERSPECTIVES VOL 24 NO. 2/2010 25