Niyogi Books Malini [Paperback] Rabindranath Tagore

by Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore is a Bengali Indian poet, writer and philosopher. He was born is 1861 and died in Calcutta (now Kolkata). He is famous for his poetic works, philosophical plays, novels and short stories. The poetic play, Malini, is a story of love and hatred. It also deals with the topics such as religion, faith, friendship, devotion, sacrifice, forgiveness, loyalty, betrayal, etc.

38 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2012

About the author

Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913 "because of his profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse, by which, with consummate skill, he has made his poetic thought, expressed in his own English words, a part of the literature of the West."

Tagore modernised Bengali art by spurning rigid classical forms and resisting linguistic strictures. His novels, stories, songs, dance-dramas, and essays spoke to topics political and personal. Gitanjali (Song Offerings), Gora (Fair-Faced), and Ghare-Baire (The Home and the World) are his best-known works, and his verse, short stories, and novels were acclaimed—or panned—for their lyricism, colloquialism, naturalism, and unnatural contemplation. His compositions were chosen by two nations as national anthems: India's Jana Gana Mana and Bangladesh's Amar Shonar Bangla.

The complete works of Rabindranath Tagore (রবীন্দ্র রচনাবলী) in the original Bengali are now available at these third-party websites:
http://www.tagoreweb.in/
http://www.rabindra-rachanabali.nltr....

Reviews

[Greg]

The play, “Malini” juxtaposes love and hatred. Malini is a Hindu princess educated by Buddhist monks. Kemankar is a fixed, unchanging Brahmin, who thinks that Malini and Buddhism both are antagonistic to Hinduism. Supriya, his friend, sides with him ostensibly, but then reveals Kemankar treasonous plot to the king. Malini begs his forgiveness. This is a rather complicated play. My favorite lines are spoken by the king to Supriya:

The King states to Supriya, “I must give you something which exceeds your hope,--yet not as a mere reward. You have won my heart, and my heart is ready to offer you its best treasure.—My child, where was this shyness in you before now? Your dawn had no tint of rose,--its light was white and dazzling. But to-day a tearful mist of tenderness sweetly tempers it for mortal eyes. Leave my feet, rise up and come to my heart. Happiness is pressing it like pain. Leave me now for a while. I want to be alone with my Malini.”

See my other reviews here!

[Ravi Prakash]

A good two-act play.

[Bhavya Rawal]

This two act play is a perfectly described with:
Religion is one in its essence, but different in its forms. The water is one, yet by its different banks it is bounded and preserved for different peoples. What if you have a well-spring of your own in your heart, spurn not your neighbours who must go for their draught of water to their ancestral pond with the green of its gradual slopes mellowed by ages and its ancient trees bearing eternal fruit.

[Moushmi Radhanpara]

“Yes, even as the night bears the dawn,- the dawn that is not of the night, but of all the world.”

Poetry and prose at its best. Tagore is definitely an exceptional writer and his writings does not lose touch even in its translations.

This short two act play, with its few characters speaks loudly and yet with limited words on love, faith, spirituality and religion.

[Sudeepta Pradhan (booksteaandmore)]

More like 3.5 stars. Review to follow soon