I have recently been reminded about my visits over the years to Dartington Hall, near Totnes, Devon in South-West England. The connection between it and my family is, of course, through Rabindranath Tagore. My first visit there was with my parents as part of a small group accompanying the late Tagore singer Kanika Bannerjee, a long-standing friend…
Category: Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941): Nobel laureate, poet, philosopher, composer, dramatist, novelist, artist, dance creator, educational pioneer, … and all-round genius
Where the mind is without fear
It has been over a year since my last post here. Let me explain why. In January 2013, I wrote about Coconut oil: after the cataclysm. Almost two years later, I have just completed the film You must be nuts! which traces the journey I’ve been on since then. It’s my fourth feature film – the first three being film versions…
A special Tagore anniversary
A version of this post first appeared on the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust blog on 9 May 2013. 7 May 2013 was the 152nd anniversary of the birth of the Bengali creative genius and philosopher Rabindranath Tagore. This year is also the centenary of Tagore winning the Nobel Prize for Literature. We celebrated the occasion at Shakespeare’s…
Two Bards’ birthdays
On April 23, (with a little help from our friends AJ and Melissa Leon) people all over the world celebrated Shakespeare’s birthday. Those who used Twitter to wish Shakespeare a Happy Birthday included Stephen Fry, Arianna Huffington and Geri Halliwell. Shakespeare’s birthday is certainly one I cannot miss, since it happens to be my birthday too….
A tribute to a Tagorean spirit
Ranajit Roy was renowned and widely respected for his integrity. His father, Shibdas Roy, was one of the early students at the school Tagore founded in Santiniketan. Thanks to being a very good singer, Shibdas Roy became one of Tagore’s favourite students and, later, an honorary teacher at the China Bhavan, teaching English to Tibetan monks. The family used to live in their ancestral home in Moukhira, about 18km from Santiniketan.
Coconut oil: after the cataclysm?
Today we witness the perils which attend on the insolence of might; one day shall be borne out the full truth of what the sages have proclaimed: ‘By unrighteousness man prospers, gains what appears desirable, conquers enemies, but perishes at the root.’ From Civilisation’s crisis – the last speech of Rabindranath Tagore, 7 May 1941….
Happy Tagore Nobel centenary year!
So 2012 is over. Just to give you an overview, my blog had about 9,200 views during the year, of which just over 4,000 were in September. Looking ahead, 2013 is the centenary of Rabindranath Tagore winning the Nobel Prize for Literature.
How Tagore could inspire (Indian) women
Over the past two weeks, India’s news has been dominated by the brutal gang-rape of a 23-year-old physiotherapy student in Delhi. As India’s people, particularly the younger generation, seek a new dawn in attitudes towards women, they (and indeed people of other countries) may find that Tagore’s works could offer inspiration on changing society to empower and respect women.
The EU’s Nobel Peace Prize
Today has a special significance. Apart from being my father’s 79th birthday, the European Union (all 500 million of us) will receive the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize. The EU’s Nobel Peace Prize comes at a time when parts of Europe are descending into Nationalism. In 1916-17, during the First World War, not long after winning his Nobel Prize for Literature, Tagore gave a series of speeches criticising Nationalism.
Tagore dance – preparing for a global Q&A session
Last month, the makers of the film Sleepwalk with me proposed an evening where they were “encouraging everyone to host a pizza party and watch the movie with friends (pizza figures prominently in several scenes in the movie). And here’s the deal: Ira Glass and Mike Birbiglia will be video chatting with as many of these parties as possible.”…