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The Mahatma and the Poet
This book is a collection of letters and debates exchanged by Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore between 1915 and 1941. They have been put together for the first time from old journals and various published and unpublished sources. The letters, of a private nature, preserved in the archives of Visva-Bharati, the university founded by Tagore, are of great historical interest. The debates are issues which continue to be relevant to this day and age. An 'Introduction' by the editor examines the historical context of the correspondence and provides an overview of the major questions discussed in these writings.
216 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 25, 2016
The past is really almost as much a work of the imagination as the future. Growing up in India, we have often been brainwashed with just one sided view about certain aspects of our Independence history - be it about Non-cooperation movement or the Poona pact. Our history almost always presents the narrative of the good humble Indians led by the Mahatma and his non-violent supporters against the ruthless British.
The book presents a fair view in presenting the other side of the story. Tagore leads the intellectual arguments from Indian side against these popular movements, always with showing utmost humbleness and respect for his Opposer. A lesson that needs to be reinstated amongst today's political class. More so, you also get to draw the similarities of the blind faith of masses towards their leaders, Congress' high endedness, violent curbing of opposition views by media to modern day scenarios.
If only history can be taught not by encouraging rote-learning one-sided facts but by providing both sides of arguments and making reader think and form views. Ah, wishful thinking!
The book presents a fair view in presenting the other side of the story. Tagore leads the intellectual arguments from Indian side against these popular movements, always with showing utmost humbleness and respect for his Opposer. A lesson that needs to be reinstated amongst today's political class. More so, you also get to draw the similarities of the blind faith of masses towards their leaders, Congress' high endedness, violent curbing of opposition views by media to modern day scenarios.
If only history can be taught not by encouraging rote-learning one-sided facts but by providing both sides of arguments and making reader think and form views. Ah, wishful thinking!
May 13, 2024
logging all of these cos i srsly nearly died for this gd degree
November 28, 2016
A breath of fresh air. Debates between two great philosophers whose views on certain issues were diametrically opposite each other.Reminds one how civilized the discourse was in those days, especially around contentious issues like religion and nationalism.
December 23, 2013
Insight into the world of Mahatma Gandhi and Gurudev Tagore. These dialogues, conducted almost a century back are still incredibly relevant for India. A very effective book for referencing.
April 5, 2022
This book is a compilation of letters and debates between MK Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore, which they carried out between 1914 till the death of the latter in 1941. Presenting us with the method through which any problem must be addressed, Tagore and Gandhi, being philosophically opposed to each other on a variety of issues had showcased exemplary civility and decency in addressing the moral conflicts.
If Gandhi had an ethical disagreement on the mechanization and modernization of work, Tagore had argued pragmatically about how modernization and technology can protect the self-respect and dignity of the workers and help them get rid of their poverty by regaining their intellectual capacity. In this regard, on the issue of charkha or spinning, Tagore notes:
“It was a great day for the man when he discovered the wheel. The facility of motion thus given to inert matter enabled it to bear much of man’s burden. Whether in the shape of the spinning wheel, the potter’s wheel, or the wheel of a vehicle, the wheel has rescued innumerable men from the shudra estate and lightened their burdens. No wealth is greater than this lightening of man’s burdens. Spinning may produce enormous quantity of yarn, but the blind suppression of intellect which guards our poverty will remain inviolate.”
When Gandhi had called for the boycott and public incineration of foreign clothes, Tagore invoking his economic rationality reasoned:
“Consider the burning of cloth, heaped up before the very eyes of our motherland shivering and ashamed in her nakedness. What is the nature of the call to do this? Is it not another instance of a magical formula? The question of using or refusing the cloth of particular manufacture belongs mainly to economic science. The discussion of the matter by our countrymen should have been in the language of economics. I feel that the clothes to be burnt are not mine but belong to those who most sorely need them. If those who are going naked should have given us the mandate to burn, it would, at least, have been a case of self-immolation and the crime of incendiarism would not lie at our door. But how can we expiate the sin of the forcible destruction of clothes which might have gone to women whose nakedness is keeping them prisoners unable to stir out of the privacy of their homes?”
Though Tagore gave utmost priority to reasoning and freedom, Bertrand Russel was sharper in his denunciation, dismissing him of being averse to reason:
“His talks about the infinite are vague nonsense. The sort of language admired by many Indians, unfortunately, does not, in fact, mean anything at all.”
From reading Tagore’s disagreements with Gandhi, there seems to be a sure mystery on why Tagore, a philosopher so focused on reason, appeared to be just opposite to some of the towering intellectuals of the West? This may be partly due to the reason that the westerners perceived Tagore as a sage with a message of goodwill and peace from the East, by overlooking the many-sided creative artist and a critical reasoner that the people of India found in him.
As a person who watched all these arguments up close in Santiniketan, Amartya Sen had written a beautiful chapter in his autobiography explaining how these debates had molded his views in his early childhood:
“Fear of conformism is one reason why I was so pleased when Gandhiji said a few things against the official thinking of Santiniketan.”
Similarly, by reading this correspondence between two great Asians, one can understand how they openly embraced candid and constructive criticism and preserved mutual respect and affection, irrespective of their diametric opposition towards vital issues concerning ethics, economics and rationality.
If Gandhi had an ethical disagreement on the mechanization and modernization of work, Tagore had argued pragmatically about how modernization and technology can protect the self-respect and dignity of the workers and help them get rid of their poverty by regaining their intellectual capacity. In this regard, on the issue of charkha or spinning, Tagore notes:
“It was a great day for the man when he discovered the wheel. The facility of motion thus given to inert matter enabled it to bear much of man’s burden. Whether in the shape of the spinning wheel, the potter’s wheel, or the wheel of a vehicle, the wheel has rescued innumerable men from the shudra estate and lightened their burdens. No wealth is greater than this lightening of man’s burdens. Spinning may produce enormous quantity of yarn, but the blind suppression of intellect which guards our poverty will remain inviolate.”
When Gandhi had called for the boycott and public incineration of foreign clothes, Tagore invoking his economic rationality reasoned:
“Consider the burning of cloth, heaped up before the very eyes of our motherland shivering and ashamed in her nakedness. What is the nature of the call to do this? Is it not another instance of a magical formula? The question of using or refusing the cloth of particular manufacture belongs mainly to economic science. The discussion of the matter by our countrymen should have been in the language of economics. I feel that the clothes to be burnt are not mine but belong to those who most sorely need them. If those who are going naked should have given us the mandate to burn, it would, at least, have been a case of self-immolation and the crime of incendiarism would not lie at our door. But how can we expiate the sin of the forcible destruction of clothes which might have gone to women whose nakedness is keeping them prisoners unable to stir out of the privacy of their homes?”
Though Tagore gave utmost priority to reasoning and freedom, Bertrand Russel was sharper in his denunciation, dismissing him of being averse to reason:
“His talks about the infinite are vague nonsense. The sort of language admired by many Indians, unfortunately, does not, in fact, mean anything at all.”
From reading Tagore’s disagreements with Gandhi, there seems to be a sure mystery on why Tagore, a philosopher so focused on reason, appeared to be just opposite to some of the towering intellectuals of the West? This may be partly due to the reason that the westerners perceived Tagore as a sage with a message of goodwill and peace from the East, by overlooking the many-sided creative artist and a critical reasoner that the people of India found in him.
As a person who watched all these arguments up close in Santiniketan, Amartya Sen had written a beautiful chapter in his autobiography explaining how these debates had molded his views in his early childhood:
“Fear of conformism is one reason why I was so pleased when Gandhiji said a few things against the official thinking of Santiniketan.”
Similarly, by reading this correspondence between two great Asians, one can understand how they openly embraced candid and constructive criticism and preserved mutual respect and affection, irrespective of their diametric opposition towards vital issues concerning ethics, economics and rationality.
January 29, 2022
Fascinating correspondence between two unique minds. Naturally I was more drawn to Tagore as Rabindranath Tagore is one of my favorite poets-philosophers but I also felt I got a valuable insight into Gandhi's philosophy
June 4, 2020
One completes the other.
August 12, 2020
Two of the most important Asian men talk. Their exchange and the historical context help to understand the British Raj and the Indian struggle for freedom.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews