Open the pages of this extraordinary collection and immerse yourself in the brilliance of Rabindranath Tagore’s artistry and genius. From heart-wrenching tragedies to heart-warming tales of hope and resilience, Tagore’s stories capture the human experience in all its richness and complexity. Whether you’re a lifelong fan of Tagore’s work or new to his writings, this collection is a treasure trove of literary gems that will leave you spellbound and longing for more.
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.
Reading Tagore’s short tales, one gets the feeling of being whisked away on an ethereal cloud above Bengal, floating above all life and peering down into the depths of human consciousness in all its mysterious, romantic irrationality. While his moralities sometimes seem questionable, his wisdom and poetry permeates the experience. His endings are often ironic, ambiguous and/or bittersweet in ways that leave one truly pondering what one just read; digesting… If he can manage that every 3- to 12-page story in a medium print pocket book, I’d say he’s truly worth a read for just about anyone, particularly people curious about late 19th-/early 20th century Bengal and its greatest poet.