2011

On the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, we present here some vignettes from his writings providing an insight to his wandering spirit. These vignettes appeared in Mainstream (May 4, 1963).
I was one day summoned upstairs to my father. How would I like to go with him to the Himalayas, I was asked. Away from the Bengal Academy and off to the Himalayas?
Our first halt was to be for a few days at Bolpur. Satya had been there a short time before with his parents. No (…)

RABINDRANATH TAGORE
Your breathern you have treated with disrespect,
You have denied them their simple human rights.
You have made them stand and wait before you,
And not given them a place in your affection.
You must share with them all, their ignominy.
II
You have made of your neighbour an untouchable,
You have offended that of God in every man.
If famine visits your land like the wrath of God,
You shall have to break your crumbs with the poorest.
You must share with (…)

This contribution from the distinguished scientist who was closely associated with Tagore for over two decades throws interesting light on the approach and attitude of the two greatest sons of India. It is being reproduced from Mainstream (Republic Day Special 1965) for the benefit of our readers.
by P. C. Mahalanobis
I have read with much interest in Mainstream (June 20, 1964) the article about Jawaharlal Nehru’s talks with Rabindranath Tagore. I had the good fortune to be present on (…)

Global Leadership And Global Systemic Issues
Boutros Boutros-Ghali And Branislav Gosovic
The following is the third and concluding part of a lengthy article being published here in three parts. The first and second parts appeared in the Mainstream issues of April 23, 2011 and April 30, 2011 respectively.
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[(TRIBUTE
Prof V.P. Dutt, 86, one of the most renowned Indian scholars on China—he was the doyen of Chinese Studies in this country—and noted foreign policy expert (whose speeches on international issues were heard with rapt attention in the Rajya Sabha when he was a nominated member of the Upper House of Parliament in the seventies), passed away in New Delhi on April 26—he had fallen ill in late March. His wife, Dr Gargi Dutt, also a distinguished China scholar, predeceased him some (…)

FROM N.C.’S WRITINGS
Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore’s 150th birth anniversary falls on Monday (May 9, 2011). On this occasion we are reproducing two pieces by N.C. on Tagore written 70 years ago, in 1941. Both were published in The Calcutta Municipal Gazette—Tagore Memorial Special Supplement, September 13, 1941 (that appeared after the Poet’s death on August 7, 1941). The first piece was carried under the pseudonym Vanguard. Though written during World War II when the global scenario was (…)

The Tebhaga Movement of 1946-47 marked a turning point in the peasant movement of Bengal. It was the struggle of sharecroppers for two-thirds share of the produce. In other words, it was the struggle for reduction of land rent from 50 per cent of the produce to one-third. The movement attained its ‘greatest sweep’ in North Bengal. In the history of Communist Party-led peasant movements in Bengal, the name ‘Tebhaga’ was recalled time and again as a glorious reference point. Memorials were (…)

The US efforts to bridle and tame the Arab revolutionary wave in the Middle East seems to be bearing fruit. After Washington’s failure to defend and rescue its staunchest ally in the region, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, who acted as the most effective US satellite in West Asia, it has manged to contain the open revolt in Bahrain and prevent potential uprisings springing from simmering discontent in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Oman. By late February the Obama Administration was able to put in place (…)

STATEMENT
Former President of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties Rajindar Sachar has issued the following statement.
It would seem that international law is non-existent. That alone can explain the barbaric bombing of civilian targets in Libya. I hold no brief for what many correctly describe Gaddafi as a tyrannical ruler. I have full sympathy for the opposition and admiration for their struggle to get rid of Gaddafi.
But I protest strongly at the unilateral action of the NATO air (…)

by Rabindranath Tagore
(This letter by Rabindranath Tagore to his grand-daughter, Nandini, was written in 1930 when the Poet was spending a few days in a country-house outside Moscow during his trip to the Soviet Union. Addressed to a girl of nine, it describes in his intimately picturesque style the daybreak on the Russian horizon. Pupumoni was the affectionate name by which the Poet used to call his grand-daughter, and Dadamoshai is the Bengali equivalent of grandfather. The English (…)