His views on the nation reflected upon the political, social and metaphysical life of India. Hence, his idea of India has a lot to contribute to Viksit Bharat
We marked the birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore on May 7. The day gives us an opportunity to revisit what the idea of India constitutes. Tagore (1861-1941) received the noble prize for his literary work ‘Gitanjali’ in 1913. Later on, Knighthood was conferred on him in 1915 which he returned in a protest against the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre in 1919. He was known for some important works such as Manasi, Sonar Tari, Gitimalya, Gardener, Fuit Gathering, The Fugitive, Raja, Dakghar, Achalayatan, Muktadhara, Gora, Ghare-Bhaire and Yogayog that deserve academic attention in schools and colleges. Influenced by his political thoughts and literary works, the government of Goa had come up with the institutions of Ravindra Bhavans across the state. Tagore’s ‘Nationalism (1917)’ represents his political philosophy and idea of India. Recently, the applied courses in Political Science outnumber the core philosophical discourse on India which may depoliticise the youth in near future in the state. This article explores Tagore’s idea of Nation.
Tagore’s views on nation reflect upon political, social and metaphysical life of India. If we borrow the scheme of Tagore’s political thought and contextualise it, then, the recent terrorist attack in Pahalgam demands the political unity of the people in India. The caste census portrays the social differences among us and India @2047 represents metaphysical idea of India. Therefore, it becomes pertinent to revisit Tagore’s idea of India. For him, the history of regulation of caste differences failed to build political unity of people as organised power for defence against foreign aggression. The transition of social life towards spiritual attainment constitutes history. The rise and fall of kingdoms are not true as the records are forgotten and archives are despised. History of India is not of one race but about Dravidians, Aryans, Greeks, Persians, and Mohammedans of the West and Central Asia. India recognised the invaders by their social location of religion, language, likes, dislikes but failed to identify them as Nation. The European nation is a site of power that seeks cooperation for self-preservation and remains in competition to be a ruling force. Power is achieved through the dissolution of personal humanity. The success is a justification of machine whereas goodness is the purpose of life. The basis of western nationalism is not social cooperation but it is a perfect organisation of power. It acts like a dam to check free flow of its civilisation in the territory of No-Nation, a site for the exploitation. When India was not under the influence of Western nationalism, the people of power and spirit were at freer play of imagination.
Tagore resembles with Genevan philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s ‘idyllic blissfulness’ of nature when he says that the handloom products find the expression of worker’s fingers and its hum harmonises with the music of life. But the only brotherhood is possible in modern world is the brotherhood of hooliganism and a surer relationship of blood-shedding. Reality is harmony. Those who get mastery over breaking it get the aboriginals to fight with each other like atoms. During Tagore’s stint in Japan, his poetry was praised with ‘a leer that poetry of the defeated people’ as the idea of powerful European nation came to grip Japanese schools. Scientific intellect is not human nature but mere knowledge and training. The laws of material universe cannot change deeper humanity.
The Western civilisation has presented the conflicts between individual and state, labour and capital, man and woman, greed of material gain and spiritual life of a person, organised selfishness of nations and the higher ideals of humanity, the ugly complexities inseparable from giant organisations of commerce and state. Tagore fixes this responsibility with India and whole Asia to solve these conflicts. He admirably reminds of the ‘Maitri’ (natural friendship) where the whole of Eastern Asia, Burma to Japan united with India and appeals to counter the allegation of Europe that Eastern civilisation is all metaphysics. For him, true modernism is freedom of mind, not slavery of taste. He counters the Jeremy Bentham’s utilitarian principle ‘Survival of the fittest’. The normalisation of utilitarian slogans such as ‘business is business, politics is politics, war is war and it only produces evil.
Tagore firmly believed that India’s true gift to the world lies in its spirit of humanity, nurtured and upheld by the teachings of saints like Guru Nanak, Kabir, Chaitanya, and others.
If any parallelism exists, then, it’s between America and India of welding various races together. The nation where strength is not health; and liberty is not freedom falls short of forging political unity. This made Tagore differ with the extremist faction of the Congress who preferred the methods of European Nation against the British rule. Competing the evil with evil strategies will make the politics a prison house of immovable walls. Therefore, Tagore’s idea of India has a lot to contribute to Viksit Bharat.
(Dr Nawoo Varak is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Government College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Khandola, Marcela.)
