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Nationalism
Collection of essays, on Japan, the West, and India. an important comparison by India's Nobel Prize Winner.
116 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1917
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About the author
Rabindranath Tagore
2,524 books4,235 followersAwarded 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....
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....
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 326 reviews
August 29, 2018
As Nobel Laureates go, Rabindranath Tagore ranges among my absolute favourites. I have loved his fiction for many, many years, and his nonfiction turns out to be equally intriguing.
When I first read Tagore's essays on nationalism, I kept checking the publication date. It can't be, I thought, it really can't be that this was written in 1917, when other people practiced their polemic sarcasm and propaganda prose style, yelling out their conviction that nationalism, us against them, was what made a country successful, when a world war was prolonged despite immeasurable suffering for the individual citizens of all those nationalistic states.
Tagore saw it clearly:
"The political civilization which has sprung up from the soil of Europe and is overrunning the whole world, like some prolific weed, is based upon exclusiveness. It is always watchful to keep the aliens at bay or to exterminate them."
There is not that much change in attitude yet, around the world, despite humane voices like Tagore's, calling for people to embrace true progress:
"True modernism is freedom of mind, not slavery of taste."
Tagore points out that a life lived entirely in the worship of political and scientific mechanisms reduces humanity to sportsmen superficially pursuing a prize without any true value, as ethical aspects are overruled. What he describes is reminiscent of the ruthless scientist in The Island of Dr. Moreau or the political leaders in World War I shifting armies back and forth over European soil as a kind of deadly board game.
What scared me was his crystal clear view of our consumer society which is dominated by the goods we are supposed to buy to keep it going and prospering. I would not have imagined the strong impact it had already made a hundred years ago:
"But the tidal wave of falsehood has swept over your land from that part of the world where business is business, and honesty is followed merely as best policy. Have you never felt shame when you see the trade advertisements, not only plastering the whole town with lies and exaggerations, but invading the green fields, ..."
What would Tagore have made of our present life of advertisement on our phones, computers, trains, buses, etc...?
Tagore sees one of the main menaces to humanity in the idea of the nation, as a mechanical construction to put up borders between human beings and to build animosities, stimulated by the idea of belonging to a specific group rather than humanity as a whole, and measured in a competition on the scientific, political, social, economic and military stage.
So far, so sadly true. But what I really admired was his capacity to step out of the depressing situation (which is scarily familiar still), and see hope at the horizon.
He keeps his belief in the perfectibility of humanity despite all odds, as long as we can see that we are responsible towards ourselves and the rest of the world to make ethical choices based on respect for all, not pride in our tribe!
To sum it up:
Tagore delivers an immensely intelligent account of the problematic dichotomy between individual human beings and the nation-states they are part of. Scary to see that this knowledge was available long before World War II.
Very much recommended!
When I first read Tagore's essays on nationalism, I kept checking the publication date. It can't be, I thought, it really can't be that this was written in 1917, when other people practiced their polemic sarcasm and propaganda prose style, yelling out their conviction that nationalism, us against them, was what made a country successful, when a world war was prolonged despite immeasurable suffering for the individual citizens of all those nationalistic states.
Tagore saw it clearly:
"The political civilization which has sprung up from the soil of Europe and is overrunning the whole world, like some prolific weed, is based upon exclusiveness. It is always watchful to keep the aliens at bay or to exterminate them."
There is not that much change in attitude yet, around the world, despite humane voices like Tagore's, calling for people to embrace true progress:
"True modernism is freedom of mind, not slavery of taste."
Tagore points out that a life lived entirely in the worship of political and scientific mechanisms reduces humanity to sportsmen superficially pursuing a prize without any true value, as ethical aspects are overruled. What he describes is reminiscent of the ruthless scientist in The Island of Dr. Moreau or the political leaders in World War I shifting armies back and forth over European soil as a kind of deadly board game.
What scared me was his crystal clear view of our consumer society which is dominated by the goods we are supposed to buy to keep it going and prospering. I would not have imagined the strong impact it had already made a hundred years ago:
"But the tidal wave of falsehood has swept over your land from that part of the world where business is business, and honesty is followed merely as best policy. Have you never felt shame when you see the trade advertisements, not only plastering the whole town with lies and exaggerations, but invading the green fields, ..."
What would Tagore have made of our present life of advertisement on our phones, computers, trains, buses, etc...?
Tagore sees one of the main menaces to humanity in the idea of the nation, as a mechanical construction to put up borders between human beings and to build animosities, stimulated by the idea of belonging to a specific group rather than humanity as a whole, and measured in a competition on the scientific, political, social, economic and military stage.
So far, so sadly true. But what I really admired was his capacity to step out of the depressing situation (which is scarily familiar still), and see hope at the horizon.
He keeps his belief in the perfectibility of humanity despite all odds, as long as we can see that we are responsible towards ourselves and the rest of the world to make ethical choices based on respect for all, not pride in our tribe!
To sum it up:
Tagore delivers an immensely intelligent account of the problematic dichotomy between individual human beings and the nation-states they are part of. Scary to see that this knowledge was available long before World War II.
Very much recommended!
March 5, 2017
In these times of hyper-nationalism, I picked up this book with the expectations to find some good arguments to use against my neo-right friends in the coffee-table and whatsapp discussions. Having read Tagore's
Ghare Baire
(The home and the world) previously, I am well aware of his views on 'Nationalism' which resonate with that of mine. My aim was to find some pithy sayings and finer examples in these essays that would bolster my stand. Like a mystic poet philosopher, Tagore has spoken eruditely in these essays against the perils of nationalism and the importance of wholesome growth of humanity. However, the essays are little contextual to the time (pre-Independent India, pre-WWII Europe) and lack strong illustrative arguments that I wanted.
Tagore maintains, as a non-nationalist ( no….the opposer of nationalism is not anti-national), that "a nation, in the sense of the political and economic union of a people, is that aspect which a whole population assumes when organized for a mechanical purpose." and "when this organization of politics and commerce, whose other name is the nation, becomes all powerful at the cost of the harmony of the higher social life, then it is an evil day for humanity."
Holistic growth of humanity is only possible when everyone progresses in the direction of prosperity irrespective of colour, creed and nationalities. Tagore prophesies, "The moral law, which is the greatest discovery of man, is the discovery of this wonderful truth, that man becomes all the truer, the more he realizes himself in others. This truth has not only a subjective value, but is manifested in every department of our life. And nations, who sedulously cultivate moral blindness as the cult of patriotism, will end their existence in a sudden and violent death."
And the eternal spiritually hopeful Tagore believed, "…we of No-Nations of the world, whose heads have been bowed to the dust, will know that this dust is more sacred than the bricks which build the pride of power. For this dust is fertile of life, and of beauty and worship. We shall thank God that we were made to wait in silence through the night of despair, had to bear the insult of the proud and the strong man's burden, yet all through it, though our hearts quaked with doubt and fear, never could we blindly believe in the salvation which machinery offered to man, but we held fast to our trust in God and the truth of the human soul. And we can still cherish the hope that, when power becomes ashamed to occupy its throne and is ready to make way for love, when the morning comes for cleansing the blood-stained steps of the Nation along the highroad of humanity, we shall be called upon to bring our own vessel of sacred water — the water of worship — to sweeten the history of man into purity, and with its sprinkling make the trampled dust of the centuries blessed with fruitfulness."
Someday…..Someday.
Tagore maintains, as a non-nationalist ( no….the opposer of nationalism is not anti-national), that "a nation, in the sense of the political and economic union of a people, is that aspect which a whole population assumes when organized for a mechanical purpose." and "when this organization of politics and commerce, whose other name is the nation, becomes all powerful at the cost of the harmony of the higher social life, then it is an evil day for humanity."
Holistic growth of humanity is only possible when everyone progresses in the direction of prosperity irrespective of colour, creed and nationalities. Tagore prophesies, "The moral law, which is the greatest discovery of man, is the discovery of this wonderful truth, that man becomes all the truer, the more he realizes himself in others. This truth has not only a subjective value, but is manifested in every department of our life. And nations, who sedulously cultivate moral blindness as the cult of patriotism, will end their existence in a sudden and violent death."
And the eternal spiritually hopeful Tagore believed, "…we of No-Nations of the world, whose heads have been bowed to the dust, will know that this dust is more sacred than the bricks which build the pride of power. For this dust is fertile of life, and of beauty and worship. We shall thank God that we were made to wait in silence through the night of despair, had to bear the insult of the proud and the strong man's burden, yet all through it, though our hearts quaked with doubt and fear, never could we blindly believe in the salvation which machinery offered to man, but we held fast to our trust in God and the truth of the human soul. And we can still cherish the hope that, when power becomes ashamed to occupy its throne and is ready to make way for love, when the morning comes for cleansing the blood-stained steps of the Nation along the highroad of humanity, we shall be called upon to bring our own vessel of sacred water — the water of worship — to sweeten the history of man into purity, and with its sprinkling make the trampled dust of the centuries blessed with fruitfulness."
Someday…..Someday.
August 10, 2016
You have to heartily concede it to Tagore, he is still no less poetic writing this essay on nationalism than if he were writing a poem.
“And yet I will persist in believing that there is such a thing as the harmony of completeness in humanity, where poverty does not take away his riches, where defeat may lead him to victory, death to immortality, and where in the compensation of Eternal Justice those who are the last may yet have their insult transmuted into a golden triumph. Let our life be simple in its outer aspect and rich in its inner gain. Let our civilization take its firm stand upon its basis of social co-operation and not upon that of economic exploitation and conflict.”(92)
And really this is what Nationalism is all about. It is maintaining the morality amidst the inevitable mechanical aspects of progress.
Nationalism is more of an essay than an academic work. This contains Tagore’s ruminations on nationalism from his extensive travels. It is divided into chapters on Nationalism in the West, Nationalism in Japan, Nationalism in India, and fittingly it is ended by a poem originally written in Bengali.
The chapter on Nationalism in the West provides us the framework with which Tagore undertook writing on nationalism. Nationalism is, as he claims, created by the concept of the ‘Nation’, “in the sense of the political and economic union of a people, is that aspect which a whole population assumes when organized for a mechanical purpose.”(12) This working definition does not stray from traditional definitions arrived at in the social sciences. Tagore however points out that the ‘Nation’ has a mechanized and amoral aspect that drains man of spirit and morality. “this strenuous effort after strength and efficiency drains man's energy from his higher nature where he is self-sacrificing and creative. For thereby man's power of sacrifice is diverted from his ultimate object, which is moral, to the maintenance of this organization, which is mechanical. Yet in this he feels all the satisfaction of moral exaltation and therefore becomes supremely dangerous to humanity.”(78) A caveat on Tagore’s term on the use of the West, the West refers exclusively to Europe and does not include the Americas (probably both by reason of his sentiments of freedom and the fact that America has just gotten a foothold on the pedestal of world superpowers at that point).
The chapter on Nationalism in Japan reveals Tagore’s admiration for the Japanese Nation and calls it the nation that the Asian region should emulate (this was published in 1942, written earlier and I would almost give anything to satiate my curiosity on Tagore’s reaction on Japan’s participation in the Second World War).
The chapter on Nationalism in India is more of an examination and admonition. Though what is curious to me is that Tagore initially justifies the establishment of the caste system as a legitimate response to the diversity present in Indian society and bolsters this stand by juxtaposing the Indian response to that of the American response which is of futile deferral and discriminatory avoidance. Though Tagore later on calls for an action that rises above the caste system and stays true to the morality he is espousing in this work.
What is so amazing in reading this is Tagore wrote a postcolonial approach in a time when such methods of intellectual discourse are yet to be conceive decades hence, in a time when future notified scholars like Said and his Orientalism and Spivak and his Subaltern are but suckling babes in conceiving their respective postcolonial theories. This point is clear when Tagore wrote that, “You (addressing Japan) must apply your Eastern mind, your spiritual strength, your love of simplicity, your recognition of social obligation, in order to cut out a new path for this great unwieldy car of progress, shrieking out its loud discords as it runs. You must minimize the immense sacrifice of man's life and freedom that it claims in its every movement.”(43) This statement further resonates with the scholar and the Filipino in me when, “And yet someone must show the East to the West, and convince the West that the East has her contribution to make to the history of civilization.”(75)
Tagore’s writing is also defined by his unwavering idealism and incomparable desire to pursue morality. This leads to his loving belief that men, are innately good. “Man in his fullness is not powerful, but perfect. Therefore, to turn him into mere power, you have to curtail his soul as much as possible. When we are fully human, we cannot fly at one another's throats; our instincts of social life, our traditions of moral ideals stand in the way.”(30)
Tagore’s aim was noble in writing this, but as I said, this is not an academic treatise on Nationalism. Tagore presents us the danger inherent in modernization, the alienation and mechanization of the human spirit, he provides recourse for the invasion of the imperial capitalistic designs of the West, but does not actually provide for a concrete solution to the inevitable force of modernization.
I fittingly end this review by quoting the last stanza of his beautiful poem.
Other works by Rabindranath Tagore:
The Gardener (4 Stars)
Gitanjali (4 Stars)
This book forms part of my remarkably extensive reading list on Nobel Prize for Literature Awardees
Other reviews along with this review have been cross-posted at imbookedindefinitely
“And yet I will persist in believing that there is such a thing as the harmony of completeness in humanity, where poverty does not take away his riches, where defeat may lead him to victory, death to immortality, and where in the compensation of Eternal Justice those who are the last may yet have their insult transmuted into a golden triumph. Let our life be simple in its outer aspect and rich in its inner gain. Let our civilization take its firm stand upon its basis of social co-operation and not upon that of economic exploitation and conflict.”(92)
And really this is what Nationalism is all about. It is maintaining the morality amidst the inevitable mechanical aspects of progress.
Nationalism is more of an essay than an academic work. This contains Tagore’s ruminations on nationalism from his extensive travels. It is divided into chapters on Nationalism in the West, Nationalism in Japan, Nationalism in India, and fittingly it is ended by a poem originally written in Bengali.
The chapter on Nationalism in the West provides us the framework with which Tagore undertook writing on nationalism. Nationalism is, as he claims, created by the concept of the ‘Nation’, “in the sense of the political and economic union of a people, is that aspect which a whole population assumes when organized for a mechanical purpose.”(12) This working definition does not stray from traditional definitions arrived at in the social sciences. Tagore however points out that the ‘Nation’ has a mechanized and amoral aspect that drains man of spirit and morality. “this strenuous effort after strength and efficiency drains man's energy from his higher nature where he is self-sacrificing and creative. For thereby man's power of sacrifice is diverted from his ultimate object, which is moral, to the maintenance of this organization, which is mechanical. Yet in this he feels all the satisfaction of moral exaltation and therefore becomes supremely dangerous to humanity.”(78) A caveat on Tagore’s term on the use of the West, the West refers exclusively to Europe and does not include the Americas (probably both by reason of his sentiments of freedom and the fact that America has just gotten a foothold on the pedestal of world superpowers at that point).
The chapter on Nationalism in Japan reveals Tagore’s admiration for the Japanese Nation and calls it the nation that the Asian region should emulate (this was published in 1942, written earlier and I would almost give anything to satiate my curiosity on Tagore’s reaction on Japan’s participation in the Second World War).
The chapter on Nationalism in India is more of an examination and admonition. Though what is curious to me is that Tagore initially justifies the establishment of the caste system as a legitimate response to the diversity present in Indian society and bolsters this stand by juxtaposing the Indian response to that of the American response which is of futile deferral and discriminatory avoidance. Though Tagore later on calls for an action that rises above the caste system and stays true to the morality he is espousing in this work.
What is so amazing in reading this is Tagore wrote a postcolonial approach in a time when such methods of intellectual discourse are yet to be conceive decades hence, in a time when future notified scholars like Said and his Orientalism and Spivak and his Subaltern are but suckling babes in conceiving their respective postcolonial theories. This point is clear when Tagore wrote that, “You (addressing Japan) must apply your Eastern mind, your spiritual strength, your love of simplicity, your recognition of social obligation, in order to cut out a new path for this great unwieldy car of progress, shrieking out its loud discords as it runs. You must minimize the immense sacrifice of man's life and freedom that it claims in its every movement.”(43) This statement further resonates with the scholar and the Filipino in me when, “And yet someone must show the East to the West, and convince the West that the East has her contribution to make to the history of civilization.”(75)
Tagore’s writing is also defined by his unwavering idealism and incomparable desire to pursue morality. This leads to his loving belief that men, are innately good. “Man in his fullness is not powerful, but perfect. Therefore, to turn him into mere power, you have to curtail his soul as much as possible. When we are fully human, we cannot fly at one another's throats; our instincts of social life, our traditions of moral ideals stand in the way.”(30)
Tagore’s aim was noble in writing this, but as I said, this is not an academic treatise on Nationalism. Tagore presents us the danger inherent in modernization, the alienation and mechanization of the human spirit, he provides recourse for the invasion of the imperial capitalistic designs of the West, but does not actually provide for a concrete solution to the inevitable force of modernization.
I fittingly end this review by quoting the last stanza of his beautiful poem.
“Be not ashamed, my brothers,
to stand before the proud and the powerful
With your white robe of simpleness.”
“Let your crown be of humility,
your freedom the freedom of the soul.
Build God's throne daily
upon the ample bareness of your poverty
And know that what is huge is not great
and pride is not everlasting.”(97)
Other works by Rabindranath Tagore:
The Gardener (4 Stars)
Gitanjali (4 Stars)
This book forms part of my remarkably extensive reading list on Nobel Prize for Literature Awardees
Other reviews along with this review have been cross-posted at imbookedindefinitely
September 6, 2021
The writing is really good and he sounds angry.
"The degradation which we cast upon others in our pride or self-interest degrades our own humanity - and this is the punishment which is most terrible, because we do not detect it till it is too late."
Really thought provoking and still relevant, this book on the concepts and views on nationalism that was prevalent during those times looks into the theme with much introspection and detailed thoughts presents Tagore's point of view on the same.
Roughly divided into three main sections as Nationalism in Japan, Nationalism in the West and Nationalism in India, this book shows how well-researched, well read and outspoken the author was during his time.
Even though I couldn't grasp few of the comparisons and ideas mentioned, the contents provided much food for thought. And I do think that it's an important book that must be read by the youngsters as well as the adults to gain a better perspective on how we should have a strong background and proper knowledge regarding such topics.
Some lines are really hard-hitting and gave me that punch I needed to understand some things. I see the dilemma with much clarity when it comes to our differences and the social barriers that still exist.
The author presented well his views on the differences on how we see our society as compared to that of the West and how Japan became this powerful today.
A good book indeed.
"The degradation which we cast upon others in our pride or self-interest degrades our own humanity - and this is the punishment which is most terrible, because we do not detect it till it is too late."
Really thought provoking and still relevant, this book on the concepts and views on nationalism that was prevalent during those times looks into the theme with much introspection and detailed thoughts presents Tagore's point of view on the same.
Roughly divided into three main sections as Nationalism in Japan, Nationalism in the West and Nationalism in India, this book shows how well-researched, well read and outspoken the author was during his time.
Even though I couldn't grasp few of the comparisons and ideas mentioned, the contents provided much food for thought. And I do think that it's an important book that must be read by the youngsters as well as the adults to gain a better perspective on how we should have a strong background and proper knowledge regarding such topics.
Some lines are really hard-hitting and gave me that punch I needed to understand some things. I see the dilemma with much clarity when it comes to our differences and the social barriers that still exist.
The author presented well his views on the differences on how we see our society as compared to that of the West and how Japan became this powerful today.
A good book indeed.
June 22, 2014
This is a set of essays by Tagore on the phenomenon of nationalism as he saw it at at the dawn of the 20th century. His critique of the West's modern technocratic society - that "machine" whose inputs are men and nature and which allows for only "neatly compressed bales of humanity" are incredibly eloquent and impassioned. The warnings he gave to Europe of its own coming demise due to its nationalist fervor ended up being eerily prescient, its clear that he foresaw the devastation of the World Wars well in advance not to mention Japan's own nuclear annihilation after it too took part in these ideals.
Tagore expresses the types of things many of us feel about the modern world but few can articulate anymore, as complete as the victory of this form of impersonal society has been by this point. You are free but unfree, compelled to pursue pure self-interest in denial of the higher sentiments we all intrinsically feel and which he posits as the basis of the Eastern view of the world. Untruth is lionized as a means to economic attainment; the crude instinct of acquiring money and power suddenly exalted as man's highest calling. It is a worthy reminder that many foresaw our present spiritual malaise. Ironically the only broad mass of politically organized people still articulating these critiques are Radical Islamists, and needless to say their proposed solutions are worse than the ailment.
Tagore is one of the greatest writers of the English language undoubtedly, a true visionary and a genius. These essays should be read closely and carefully, for their beautiful prose and for the still deeply urgent critiques and warnings he brings about our heedless, machine-like modern world.
Tagore expresses the types of things many of us feel about the modern world but few can articulate anymore, as complete as the victory of this form of impersonal society has been by this point. You are free but unfree, compelled to pursue pure self-interest in denial of the higher sentiments we all intrinsically feel and which he posits as the basis of the Eastern view of the world. Untruth is lionized as a means to economic attainment; the crude instinct of acquiring money and power suddenly exalted as man's highest calling. It is a worthy reminder that many foresaw our present spiritual malaise. Ironically the only broad mass of politically organized people still articulating these critiques are Radical Islamists, and needless to say their proposed solutions are worse than the ailment.
Tagore is one of the greatest writers of the English language undoubtedly, a true visionary and a genius. These essays should be read closely and carefully, for their beautiful prose and for the still deeply urgent critiques and warnings he brings about our heedless, machine-like modern world.
May 3, 2020
"India has never had a real sense of nationalism. Even though from childhood I had been taught that idolatry of the Nation is almost better than reverence for God and humanity, I believe I have outgrown that teaching, and it is my conviction that my countrymen will truly gain their India by fighting against the education which teaches them that a country is greater than the ideals of humanity."
- one random fellow who wrote national anthems for India and Bangladesh
- one random fellow who wrote national anthems for India and Bangladesh
November 13, 2020
Interesting but tough read.
It was not difficult to read per se but it felt biased. The wording, the articulation and phrases were well put but very subjective. Maybe I felt like this because this was a work relevant for its time. It was first published in 1917, so in the historical context, it was very interesting but it didn't age well.
It was not difficult to read per se but it felt biased. The wording, the articulation and phrases were well put but very subjective. Maybe I felt like this because this was a work relevant for its time. It was first published in 1917, so in the historical context, it was very interesting but it didn't age well.
September 19, 2020
It's difficult to label this book as anything other than what it is: a biased rant against colonial power in Asia and specifically in India. And while Rabindranath Tagore puts forth many observations concerning the character of the colonial powers, he does so by generalities. The nations of the West, with a capital "W," are the great evil who’s peoples, regardless of the nation to which they belong, have all sacrificed their moral souls in order to press Asia in slavery. And because the invading colonial powers are individual nations, those nations must be wholly immersed in nationalism.
I tend to treat such generalities with skepticism, because such generalities fail to dissect the "great evil" into specific issues and problems. Completely absent from such rants is an acknowledgement of the benefits that came with colonization or the identification of problems that can be constructively solved. Granted, there was indeed much evil associated with colonialism and I agreed with many of Tagore’s assertions, but I agreed in concept subject to details while Tagore asserted absolute truths.
Another shortcoming in this book is Tagore’s reflections on the path that lead to his generalized form of nationalism. The people of the west have abandoned their societies that were originally founded on a moral and spiritual construct, where the moral consciousness of man dictates the actions of the nation. At one point, he suggests that this type of society existed during medieval times in Europe. My observations of this period of European history do not support this assertion. Additionally, I doubt that such a society has ever existed given that pure moral truths never exist as uncurruptable beacons of guidance. Tagore fails to realize that nations cannot go back to a state of existence that never existed.
Lastly, Tagore attempts to place India’s internal suppression of its own people, its caste system, into a positive perspective. At one point he states:
It was at this point that my skepticism turned into a conviction that Tagore was perpetrating the same defects attributed to the colonial powers. He manufactured half-truths and untruths, persistently misrepresenting others, and continually brewing evil menace towards neighbors and nations other than [his] own. This is when I recognized this book for what it is.
Rants such as this never solve anything because they only intend to destroy something without question.
I tend to treat such generalities with skepticism, because such generalities fail to dissect the "great evil" into specific issues and problems. Completely absent from such rants is an acknowledgement of the benefits that came with colonization or the identification of problems that can be constructively solved. Granted, there was indeed much evil associated with colonialism and I agreed with many of Tagore’s assertions, but I agreed in concept subject to details while Tagore asserted absolute truths.
Another shortcoming in this book is Tagore’s reflections on the path that lead to his generalized form of nationalism. The people of the west have abandoned their societies that were originally founded on a moral and spiritual construct, where the moral consciousness of man dictates the actions of the nation. At one point, he suggests that this type of society existed during medieval times in Europe. My observations of this period of European history do not support this assertion. Additionally, I doubt that such a society has ever existed given that pure moral truths never exist as uncurruptable beacons of guidance. Tagore fails to realize that nations cannot go back to a state of existence that never existed.
Lastly, Tagore attempts to place India’s internal suppression of its own people, its caste system, into a positive perspective. At one point he states:
“...what Western observers fail to discern is that in her caste system India in all seriousness accepted her responsibility to solve the race problem in such a manner as to avoid all friction, and yet to afford each race freedom within its boundaries.”
It was at this point that my skepticism turned into a conviction that Tagore was perpetrating the same defects attributed to the colonial powers. He manufactured half-truths and untruths, persistently misrepresenting others, and continually brewing evil menace towards neighbors and nations other than [his] own. This is when I recognized this book for what it is.
Rants such as this never solve anything because they only intend to destroy something without question.
July 29, 2016
What a bore! Rabindranath Thakur might have been a great poet and philosopher, but he seems to have known little about the art of conveying the ideas succinctly so that they can reach their target audience.
Nationalism is another sick form of vile separatism that keeps the humans away from one another. While writing about such a critical concept shouldn't he consider the vast majority of laymen that might benefit by reading and contemplating on such topics?!
Agreed, these were lectures delivered by him for an elite audience at the West and the East, but I doubt that even those 'elite audience' would have kept rapt attention on his words. Once you cross some 20 lines you lose track of what you're reading about. I couldn't read it more than two pages at a time. Too wordy and tiresome.
Wish Thakur had known that no idea, however great it might be, would be driven home clearly, when presented using words that are too poetic and too abstract for attention!
Nationalism is another sick form of vile separatism that keeps the humans away from one another. While writing about such a critical concept shouldn't he consider the vast majority of laymen that might benefit by reading and contemplating on such topics?!
Agreed, these were lectures delivered by him for an elite audience at the West and the East, but I doubt that even those 'elite audience' would have kept rapt attention on his words. Once you cross some 20 lines you lose track of what you're reading about. I couldn't read it more than two pages at a time. Too wordy and tiresome.
Wish Thakur had known that no idea, however great it might be, would be driven home clearly, when presented using words that are too poetic and too abstract for attention!
September 4, 2016
Severly underrated essayist.
A incisive take on nationalism: which he terms as a terrible absurdity.
Nationalism according to him is a giant unfeeling machine. The machine is built to achieve power,greed and unbridled materialism
The human being is but a minor cog in the wheel. The individual is indoctrinated to hate,distrust, murder, conquer,plunder other nations shamelessly. The writer considers it as a impediment to the world of love,care,cooperation and awareness.
In case of India, he like ambedkar stood for social equality ,which is the caste problem before get political freedom.
In these times,where hearts are getting closed along with borders, youth are arrested on grounds of sedition, this work will actually make us aware what are the problems with being parochially nationalist.
A incisive take on nationalism: which he terms as a terrible absurdity.
Nationalism according to him is a giant unfeeling machine. The machine is built to achieve power,greed and unbridled materialism
The human being is but a minor cog in the wheel. The individual is indoctrinated to hate,distrust, murder, conquer,plunder other nations shamelessly. The writer considers it as a impediment to the world of love,care,cooperation and awareness.
In case of India, he like ambedkar stood for social equality ,which is the caste problem before get political freedom.
In these times,where hearts are getting closed along with borders, youth are arrested on grounds of sedition, this work will actually make us aware what are the problems with being parochially nationalist.
April 23, 2019
One of the best things a person can do to expand their horizons and challenge their assumptions, entrenched ways of thinking, the "grooves", as Tagore calls them, of their mind, is to read (or listen to, if they can) thinkers of a different part of the world - people who grew up in a different culture and inherited a different outlook to the world, people, the laws of society, the meaning of life. It's amazing how much of what we take for granted is just a cultural convention that has, once you do some earnest digging, a far flimsier foundation than we thought. One such idea which crystallised for mw in the course of reading this little book of three lectures is the idea of selfishness, greed, and competition being just human nature, and therefore inevitable; which in turn forms the basically universal western worldview that a society based on these is inevitable. Yes, these are a part of human nature. But so are compassion, cooperation, the instinct to help fellow humans. So the question for me really is, which of these does our system encourage and reward? And if this is the true cause-and-effect direction (the system perpetuates itself by reinforcing the qualities and resultant behaviours necessary for its perpetuation, rather than people creates a system that reflects our dominant inherent qualities), then the question we must ask ourselves is, is this sick world we live in really inevitable? Is this who we really are? Can we not do better?
The lectures offer another flipped perspective that is very well worth considering. I read this on the heels of reading The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin, and even though this is by an Indian writer and philosopher in the 1910s and that was by an African American writer and activist in the 1960s, I found the same foundation to their anti-imperialist/anti-racist ideology: why do we assume the West/white people are the norm we should all be striving to be "equal" to? Why should we (especially those of us who are not Western or white, or either, and have been fed an idea of our identity based on contempt and pity all our lives) believe that? How has the West/white people demonstrated a superiority that is worth aspiring to? And neither author is shy in declaring they haven't. It's all a matter of priorities. Do we embrace constant economic growth and personal wealth as humanity's highest principles, in which case the model of the West is the most progressive one? Or do we define progress by another objective, something Tagore, in his characteristic poetic style, calls "the higher nature of man" (and I understand as the spirit of cooperation, spiritual growth, fostering our imaginative and creative opportunities, and taking care of each other)?
It's worth mentioning, too, that I found two remarkably similar sentiments in Baldwin and Tagore, different as they are in terms of their origin, era, outlook, temperament, interests, etc.:
I admire Tagore for refusing to accept foreign definitions and evaluations of his own country. He refuses to accept the scales and measures of an aggressor who has done nothing but lay waste to his homeland (he even mentions a favourite point of imperialism apologists, the railways: "The optimism of [the West's] logic goes on basing the calculations of its good fortune upon the indefinite prolongation of its railway lines toward eternity.") because he has no reason to believe they are correct or justified by any standard he holds true and worthy, and because they run counter to the values of his land, to the bases of its identity. And when you think about it, why do we blindly accept that Western definitions, standards and ideas of good and bad, progress and backwardness, worthiness and unworthiness are objective? They're not. It's just Eurocentrism that makes us believe they are.
That said, while Tagore mentions in passing some issues India is grappling with, he is, I think, rather generous and mild on its social sins, including the caste system, which he denounces but allows for its historical usefulness. He is severe on a Hindu tradition that requires a widow fast a day every week, but doesn't mention any other ways Indian traditions harm various types of people. Possibly because that's beside the point of his lectures, but still, while criticising the Western idea of progress and organisation of society, and its insistence on imposing it on all other peoples (while insulting their native organisations), it does create a sort of a binary situation and in this context the reader may be left with the impression that India has no issues with human dignity comparable to those of the West, which isn't really the case.
He is very Indian in his approach to British rule, demonstrating again how different non-Western cultures can be from Western ones - far from demanding the British leave India alone, he accepts the Raj as a natural part of India's history and destiny: "we neither have the right nor the power to exclude this people from the building of the destiny of India."
I think it can be said what Tagore is arguing against is ultimately capitalism, even though he calls it "the national machinery of commerce and politics", "the organized self-interest of a whole people", etc. He expresses a decidedly negative attitude to competition, draws an opposition personal/professional* and directly references the "war [...] between capital and labour". He warns of the troubles of globalisation to come, he describes an organisation of society that allows apathy, and from it, evil, to be normalised, to go unnoticed and unpunished - a view akin to Hannah Arendt's concept of the banality of evil. He insightfully points out that degradation and contempt hurled repeatedly and with authority at a class of people or a nation are the roots of its future rabid nationalism, developed in defiance, in compensation for this unbearable image foisted upon it by more powerful agents:
The lectures, poetic and profoundly insightful as I found them, are imbued with optimism which history failed to justify. Tagore seemed to believe that "America is destined to justify western civilization to the East", that in the Great War "the death-throes of the Nation have commenced". Sadly, his happy prediction of humanity taking charge over technocracy were not realised, as we can see by looking at the world today.
I'll finish this overly long review with a phrase from the book which I find describes nationalism very astutely:
*This one I've had the opportunity to witness myself in India, by the way, more than once. The most memorable case was when my friend was not only not taken off the train after boarding with no ticket and no money, but given a snack and sympathy, because the guard saw himself as a person helping out another person in need, and not as an employee enforcing the rules of his employer against a bad customer; moreover, he believed her - he was obviously not accustomed to being suspicious of people - all things that deserve serious consideration in my opinion, from the vantage point of how used we are to mistrust each other and assume the worst of each other, to the point of assuming this is immutable human nature.
The lectures offer another flipped perspective that is very well worth considering. I read this on the heels of reading The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin, and even though this is by an Indian writer and philosopher in the 1910s and that was by an African American writer and activist in the 1960s, I found the same foundation to their anti-imperialist/anti-racist ideology: why do we assume the West/white people are the norm we should all be striving to be "equal" to? Why should we (especially those of us who are not Western or white, or either, and have been fed an idea of our identity based on contempt and pity all our lives) believe that? How has the West/white people demonstrated a superiority that is worth aspiring to? And neither author is shy in declaring they haven't. It's all a matter of priorities. Do we embrace constant economic growth and personal wealth as humanity's highest principles, in which case the model of the West is the most progressive one? Or do we define progress by another objective, something Tagore, in his characteristic poetic style, calls "the higher nature of man" (and I understand as the spirit of cooperation, spiritual growth, fostering our imaginative and creative opportunities, and taking care of each other)?
It's worth mentioning, too, that I found two remarkably similar sentiments in Baldwin and Tagore, different as they are in terms of their origin, era, outlook, temperament, interests, etc.:
The degradation which we cast upon others in our pride of self-interest degrades our own humanity(Tagore)
Whoever debases others is debasing himself.(Baldwin)
I admire Tagore for refusing to accept foreign definitions and evaluations of his own country. He refuses to accept the scales and measures of an aggressor who has done nothing but lay waste to his homeland (he even mentions a favourite point of imperialism apologists, the railways: "The optimism of [the West's] logic goes on basing the calculations of its good fortune upon the indefinite prolongation of its railway lines toward eternity.") because he has no reason to believe they are correct or justified by any standard he holds true and worthy, and because they run counter to the values of his land, to the bases of its identity. And when you think about it, why do we blindly accept that Western definitions, standards and ideas of good and bad, progress and backwardness, worthiness and unworthiness are objective? They're not. It's just Eurocentrism that makes us believe they are.
That said, while Tagore mentions in passing some issues India is grappling with, he is, I think, rather generous and mild on its social sins, including the caste system, which he denounces but allows for its historical usefulness. He is severe on a Hindu tradition that requires a widow fast a day every week, but doesn't mention any other ways Indian traditions harm various types of people. Possibly because that's beside the point of his lectures, but still, while criticising the Western idea of progress and organisation of society, and its insistence on imposing it on all other peoples (while insulting their native organisations), it does create a sort of a binary situation and in this context the reader may be left with the impression that India has no issues with human dignity comparable to those of the West, which isn't really the case.
He is very Indian in his approach to British rule, demonstrating again how different non-Western cultures can be from Western ones - far from demanding the British leave India alone, he accepts the Raj as a natural part of India's history and destiny: "we neither have the right nor the power to exclude this people from the building of the destiny of India."
I think it can be said what Tagore is arguing against is ultimately capitalism, even though he calls it "the national machinery of commerce and politics", "the organized self-interest of a whole people", etc. He expresses a decidedly negative attitude to competition, draws an opposition personal/professional* and directly references the "war [...] between capital and labour". He warns of the troubles of globalisation to come, he describes an organisation of society that allows apathy, and from it, evil, to be normalised, to go unnoticed and unpunished - a view akin to Hannah Arendt's concept of the banality of evil. He insightfully points out that degradation and contempt hurled repeatedly and with authority at a class of people or a nation are the roots of its future rabid nationalism, developed in defiance, in compensation for this unbearable image foisted upon it by more powerful agents:
In India, I know, a large section of our educated community, grown tired of feeling the humiliation of this charge against us, is trying with all its resources of self-deception to turn it into a matter of boasting. But boasting is only a masked shame
The lectures, poetic and profoundly insightful as I found them, are imbued with optimism which history failed to justify. Tagore seemed to believe that "America is destined to justify western civilization to the East", that in the Great War "the death-throes of the Nation have commenced". Sadly, his happy prediction of humanity taking charge over technocracy were not realised, as we can see by looking at the world today.
I'll finish this overly long review with a phrase from the book which I find describes nationalism very astutely:
organizing the instincts of self-aggrandizement of whole peoples into perfection and calling it good.
*This one I've had the opportunity to witness myself in India, by the way, more than once. The most memorable case was when my friend was not only not taken off the train after boarding with no ticket and no money, but given a snack and sympathy, because the guard saw himself as a person helping out another person in need, and not as an employee enforcing the rules of his employer against a bad customer; moreover, he believed her - he was obviously not accustomed to being suspicious of people - all things that deserve serious consideration in my opinion, from the vantage point of how used we are to mistrust each other and assume the worst of each other, to the point of assuming this is immutable human nature.
August 20, 2016
thankfully, tagore didn't see WWII, the holocaust, the cold war, berlin wall, vietnam war or many political unrest. he died after two years when WWII started, yes, but he'd been disappointed, disheartened, shocked, hurt and pained if he knew about the holocaust. he would've changed his beliefs on human beings and humanity, maybe, where one human loves to torture another human, mercilessly. while reading this book, i freshly reminded one of my most favourite quotes from dostoyevsky's "the idiot" (one of the greatest books ever written): "human beings are created in order to torment one another". but, tagore was a believer of human beings and mostly, humanity. being someone who doesn't have faith in humans and humanity anymore, i quite liked this book because tagore's thoughts, now however impossible, were in a different range and very very peaceful yet hugely thought-provoking!
the ideas of nationalism that tagore thought belongs to the plane of eastern thinking and philosophy where the aggression is very much limited through its understandings of metaphysics. and he believed that nationalism in the west became evil because it left its philosophical thoughts and chose political ones where hegemony over one nation brings wars and socio-political unrest. in this perspective, tagore's thoughts are much important to even re-think the idea of nationalism in these black days of political unrest. this book is still relevant though his thoughts are dangerously misinterpreted, misappropriated and misrepresented, even in our country - india. it's time where we should re-think what he actually wanted to tell and think about this deep and problematic issue.
the ideas of nationalism that tagore thought belongs to the plane of eastern thinking and philosophy where the aggression is very much limited through its understandings of metaphysics. and he believed that nationalism in the west became evil because it left its philosophical thoughts and chose political ones where hegemony over one nation brings wars and socio-political unrest. in this perspective, tagore's thoughts are much important to even re-think the idea of nationalism in these black days of political unrest. this book is still relevant though his thoughts are dangerously misinterpreted, misappropriated and misrepresented, even in our country - india. it's time where we should re-think what he actually wanted to tell and think about this deep and problematic issue.
January 25, 2022
"“I am not against one nation in particular, but against the general idea of all nations. What is the Nation? It is the aspect of a whole people as an organised power. This organisation incessantly keeps up the insistence of the population on becoming strong and efficient. But this strenuous effort after strength and efficiency drains man’s energy from his higher nature where he is self-sacrificing and creative. For thereby man’s power of sacrifice is diverted from his ultimate object, which is moral, to the maintenance of this organisation, which is mechanical."
This is a collection of three lectures the famous Rabindranath Tagore gave, on the topic of nationalism, in the early twentieth-century. His analysis of nationalism in Japan, in the West, and in India, is thought-provoking and remarkably eloquent. He was clearly a skilled writer, and his prose can be very beautiful (even if I, personally, found it was a bit much at times).
Tagore's critique of the inhumane and suffocating machinery of modern nation-states is prescient, and very well done. He articulates the spiritual desolation that modern industrial society brings in its wake, and his warnings about what might follow if the colonised peoples of the world attempt to follow the doctrines of nationalism were far-sighted.
The nation-state, capitalism, and the mechanical nature of the world that began to take shape in the previous century had a distorting effect on people:
"[Man] feels relieved of the urging of his conscience when he can transfer his responsibility to this machine which is the creation of his intellect and not of his complete personality. By this device the people which loves freedom perpetuates slavery in a large portion of the world with the comfortable feeling of having done its duty; men who are naturally just can be cruelly unjust both in their act and their thought, accompanied by a feeling that they are helping the world to receive its deserts; men who are honest can blindly go on robbing others of their human rights for self-aggrandisement, all the while abusing the deprived for not deserving better treatment. We have seen in our everyday life even small organisations of business and profession produce callousness of feeling in men who are not naturally bad, and we can well imagine what a moral havoc it is causing in a world where whole peoples are furiously organising themselves for gaining wealth and power.”
However, I must admit that I found it hard to agree with all of Tagore's arguments, and his viewpoint felt quite alien to me, at times. No doubt much of that has to do with temporal distance, and the fact that his vision of man as spiritual animal, driven to a higher moral purpose now seems, in some ways, to have been defeated. However, I also found some of his reading of history highly suspect, and I struggled throughout to get on board with his abiding belief in 'ultimate truths' and on God's role in the world. I also found that he seemed to be proving Partha Chatterjee's argument from his excellent, Nationalist Thought and the Colonial World. Chatterjee felt that the Orientalist division of the world into East and West, each endowed with essential characteristics, was one that even many nationalist intellectuals were unable to break. They may have rejected arguments about European superiority, but they did not entirely reject ideas of "Asian genius" or "Eastern character". Tagore is especially guilty of this, as he makes multiple references to the West and East as, respectively, political and spiritual civilizations. For example: "Each nation must be conscious of its mission, and we in India must realise that we cut a poor figure when we try to be political, simply because we have not yet been finally able to accomplish what was set before us by our providence."
I would, however, be interested to see how Tagore's views may have evolved later in life- just a few years after this book was first published in 1917, the nationalist movement in India took on a mass character and- I believe- Tagore also wrote a book on his impressions of the Soviet Union after a visit there.
Furthermore, while many of Tagore’s critiques of nationalism, and by extension the nation-state, are quite apt- its greed, rapaciousness, inhumanity, militarism, etc- I think the reality is likely more nuanced. As Benedict Anderson wrote in Imagined Communities, nationalism- despite its horrors- has also inspired great self-sacrifice, spawned beautiful works of art, and more. The nation has, indeed, sometimes spurned mankind to dedicate themselves to what Tagore would likely recognise some of the ‘higher’ purposes of life (sacrifice, selflessness, the transcendence of personal interest).
In all, I did enjoy reading this even if I struggled with it at times. I've become much more sympathetic to critiques of modernity, and the spiritual void that seems to come with it, recently. However, I think I still have trouble breaking away from 'materialist' readings of history. Tagore's work here was definitely a valuable read and, while I agree with many of his critiques about our world, I'm not sure we're entirely on the same page about the value of what was lost, and how we can go about mending our wounds.
“At the least pressing of its button the monster organization becomes all eyes, whose ugly stare of inquisitiveness cannot be avoided by a single person amongst the immense multitude of the ruled. At the least turn of its screw, by the fraction of an inch, the grip is tightened to the point of suffocation around every man, woman and child of a vast population, for whom no escape is imaginable in their own country or even in any country outside their own.
It is the continual and stupendous dead pressure of the inhuman upon the living human under which the modern world is groaning. Not merely the subject races, but you who live under the delusion that you are free, are every day sacrificing your freedom and humanity to this fetish of nationalism, living in the dense poisonous atmosphere of world-wide suspicion and greed and panic.”
This is a collection of three lectures the famous Rabindranath Tagore gave, on the topic of nationalism, in the early twentieth-century. His analysis of nationalism in Japan, in the West, and in India, is thought-provoking and remarkably eloquent. He was clearly a skilled writer, and his prose can be very beautiful (even if I, personally, found it was a bit much at times).
Tagore's critique of the inhumane and suffocating machinery of modern nation-states is prescient, and very well done. He articulates the spiritual desolation that modern industrial society brings in its wake, and his warnings about what might follow if the colonised peoples of the world attempt to follow the doctrines of nationalism were far-sighted.
The nation-state, capitalism, and the mechanical nature of the world that began to take shape in the previous century had a distorting effect on people:
"[Man] feels relieved of the urging of his conscience when he can transfer his responsibility to this machine which is the creation of his intellect and not of his complete personality. By this device the people which loves freedom perpetuates slavery in a large portion of the world with the comfortable feeling of having done its duty; men who are naturally just can be cruelly unjust both in their act and their thought, accompanied by a feeling that they are helping the world to receive its deserts; men who are honest can blindly go on robbing others of their human rights for self-aggrandisement, all the while abusing the deprived for not deserving better treatment. We have seen in our everyday life even small organisations of business and profession produce callousness of feeling in men who are not naturally bad, and we can well imagine what a moral havoc it is causing in a world where whole peoples are furiously organising themselves for gaining wealth and power.”
However, I must admit that I found it hard to agree with all of Tagore's arguments, and his viewpoint felt quite alien to me, at times. No doubt much of that has to do with temporal distance, and the fact that his vision of man as spiritual animal, driven to a higher moral purpose now seems, in some ways, to have been defeated. However, I also found some of his reading of history highly suspect, and I struggled throughout to get on board with his abiding belief in 'ultimate truths' and on God's role in the world. I also found that he seemed to be proving Partha Chatterjee's argument from his excellent, Nationalist Thought and the Colonial World. Chatterjee felt that the Orientalist division of the world into East and West, each endowed with essential characteristics, was one that even many nationalist intellectuals were unable to break. They may have rejected arguments about European superiority, but they did not entirely reject ideas of "Asian genius" or "Eastern character". Tagore is especially guilty of this, as he makes multiple references to the West and East as, respectively, political and spiritual civilizations. For example: "Each nation must be conscious of its mission, and we in India must realise that we cut a poor figure when we try to be political, simply because we have not yet been finally able to accomplish what was set before us by our providence."
I would, however, be interested to see how Tagore's views may have evolved later in life- just a few years after this book was first published in 1917, the nationalist movement in India took on a mass character and- I believe- Tagore also wrote a book on his impressions of the Soviet Union after a visit there.
Furthermore, while many of Tagore’s critiques of nationalism, and by extension the nation-state, are quite apt- its greed, rapaciousness, inhumanity, militarism, etc- I think the reality is likely more nuanced. As Benedict Anderson wrote in Imagined Communities, nationalism- despite its horrors- has also inspired great self-sacrifice, spawned beautiful works of art, and more. The nation has, indeed, sometimes spurned mankind to dedicate themselves to what Tagore would likely recognise some of the ‘higher’ purposes of life (sacrifice, selflessness, the transcendence of personal interest).
In all, I did enjoy reading this even if I struggled with it at times. I've become much more sympathetic to critiques of modernity, and the spiritual void that seems to come with it, recently. However, I think I still have trouble breaking away from 'materialist' readings of history. Tagore's work here was definitely a valuable read and, while I agree with many of his critiques about our world, I'm not sure we're entirely on the same page about the value of what was lost, and how we can go about mending our wounds.
“At the least pressing of its button the monster organization becomes all eyes, whose ugly stare of inquisitiveness cannot be avoided by a single person amongst the immense multitude of the ruled. At the least turn of its screw, by the fraction of an inch, the grip is tightened to the point of suffocation around every man, woman and child of a vast population, for whom no escape is imaginable in their own country or even in any country outside their own.
It is the continual and stupendous dead pressure of the inhuman upon the living human under which the modern world is groaning. Not merely the subject races, but you who live under the delusion that you are free, are every day sacrificing your freedom and humanity to this fetish of nationalism, living in the dense poisonous atmosphere of world-wide suspicion and greed and panic.”
March 24, 2020
"Nationalism is a great menace". For Tagore, the truth was "that the spirit of conflict and conquest is at the origin and in the center of Western nationalism; its basis is not social co-operation". This is the essence of three essays/speeches of Gurudev on "Nationalism". In fact these essays/speeches, made long before Indian independence, should be a lesson to all those in India who are pushing for their own brand of nationalism that is driving deep wedge between various segments of Indian society. Tagore believed in a world "that is not broken into segments by narrow domestic walls". He is firmly of the view that "there is only one history- the history of man. All national histories are merely chapters in the larger one." He understood his limitations pretty well and admitted, "I know my voice is too feeble to raise itself above the uproar of this bustling time, and it is easy for any street urchin to fling against me the epithet of 'unpractical'". Yet, he preferred to speak for he believed in what he said. He was convinced that "the real power is not in the weapons themselves, but in the man who wields the weapons".
July 23, 2020
Nationalism is an essay that was delivered as speech between 1913- 1916, is divided into 3 parts
1.Nationalism in Japan
2. Nationalism in West
3. Nationalism in India.
This book gives insight about, what can a nationalism do when it lacks the essence of unity based on tolerance. The unison when derived from the inhibitions of neighbour and competition then the feeling of nationalism becomes a machine that feeds on the fear and whose sole purpose is confined to perpetuate itself.
On the other hand the essay enlightened the reader by showing the path of inner strength that can come only from the recognition and acceptance of the stagnant infirmity of the society we live in.
A must read for all who believes there is a hope for humanity.
1.Nationalism in Japan
2. Nationalism in West
3. Nationalism in India.
This book gives insight about, what can a nationalism do when it lacks the essence of unity based on tolerance. The unison when derived from the inhibitions of neighbour and competition then the feeling of nationalism becomes a machine that feeds on the fear and whose sole purpose is confined to perpetuate itself.
On the other hand the essay enlightened the reader by showing the path of inner strength that can come only from the recognition and acceptance of the stagnant infirmity of the society we live in.
A must read for all who believes there is a hope for humanity.
June 3, 2013
Prescient book, predicts the second world war and the destructive nature of nationalist sentiment, even in the context of the indian independence movement.
August 18, 2016
I picked up this book thinking I want to learn about what Tagore – one of the foremost freedom fighters of our country – thought of the word ‘Nationalism’ - this word that is being so misconstrued and used and abused by so many in our nation today.
Unfortunately, I think I have failed. I don’t think I really caught onto much of what his thoughts on ‘nationalism’ really are. They seemed a little scattered to be honest. But I did learn a lot more. One, I know that the man does do poetic albeit dramatic writing pretty well. Two, he has some very interesting thoughts on what was going on in the world – politically, academically and spiritually i.e. on how you should lead a life.
Here we go!
The world thinks that the East lives in the past – that it won’t prosper because it always has its back turned to the future and put its head in the past. To a great extent, that is true. The East became comfortable in its own skin – so much that it is compared to a seed that doesn’t wish to break out of its shell and grow.
Tagore uses the example of Japan (pre Pearl Harbor, etc. of course). Japan was one country that seemed to be breaking out of its shell slowly but steadily. It had the grace, spirituality and rootedness of the past but also the grit and mechanical workings of the new.
Tagore implores us to understand what ‘Modernism’ really is. It is not about imitating the dress style, architecture or processes of the West but about the freedom of mind, possibilities of choices and variations of taste. It’s about improving on what is already there, about starting afresh but not forgetting the soul of the country.
The colonizer according to Tagore is akin to a machine – a machine that has no emotions and is apathetic to human emotions. He says that the people who work for ‘the machine’ slowly also get integrated into the machine and by this he attempts to tell us of the indifference and detachment that the colonizers have for the Indians. Orders are given and carried out by ‘the machine’, however Tagore implores you to understand that on the other end are actual human beings with their lives, livelihoods and futures hanging in the balance.
Tagore recognizes the differences between the colonizers from the West and the West in totality. He admits that while the people of the West are trying and understand the inhumanity that the East is going through, the ‘Nation of The West’ still has all the wrong sort of control over the East. Though the fact is that there are many people who crave power and money and hence submit themselves to work for ‘The Nation’ aka a machine and thus once ‘free spirited’ people are now parts in a machine – never to be free.
I told you, Tagore can be dramatic.
One part that I did find interesting in this part of the book was how he called out The West’s hypocrisy. The West for decades, nay centuries have been boasting and tooting their trumpets about their superiority but as soon as another country tries to do so, they talk about how that is so improper and is ‘an evil that needs to be vanquished for the common good of man’. I see that happening even today with so many governments around the world. What Tagore said about this is true again – “These monsters grow into huge shape but never into harmony.” That is that these countries may grow and ‘vanquish’ but one day their urgent need and greed will be their downfall as we have seen with so many people, organizations and governments around the world.
What about nationalism in India, you wonder. He’s ‘spoken’ of it with respect to Japan and the West, but what about our home ground?
Well, let me start with reminding you of the present state of ‘The West’ – in particular the United States of America. This is the country where we have presidential candidates slavering under the temptation of wealth, greed and a promise of ‘exclusivity’ to help ‘Make America Great Again’. However what Tagore wants is to make India (and the world) humane again. He wants to go back to the ‘perfect’ utopian world where machine made things are not sought after but perfectly made handicrafts are. Instead of political freedom, he asks for people to fight for a ‘moral and spiritual’ freedom.
“My countrymen will truly gain their India by fighting against the education which teaches them that a country is greater than the ideals of humanity.”
All things mentioned above are things I agree with Tagore to a great extent but I am also puzzled as to why he tries to undermine new age technology or the ‘western thinking’ by calling it ‘soulless’ or ‘too refined’. I do realize that he is trying to say that you need to imbibe the good qualities of both to make your country work but there were so many times that the text seemed adamant on tearing the West down, or at least the ‘Western thoughts on modernism’.
I wonder, what is his problem with machines? As he said, ‘Burn a tree into a log and it will burn for you but it will never bear fruits or flowers.’ I guess that is true, but sometimes we need that fuel. If only we knew how to strike the right balance.
And with that I am at the end of this book. There are many things I take back from this book – on the human spirit, on segregations of society, on nationalism but one that stuck with me the most is his words on progress.
‘But he says, “You do not make any progress, there is no movement in you.” I ask him, “How do you know it? You have to judge progress according to its aim. A railway train makes its progress towards the terminus station, - it is movement. But a full-grown tree has no definite movement of that kind; its progress is the inward progress of life. It lives, with its aspiration toward light tingling in its leave and creeping in its silent sap.”
Profound.
Unfortunately, I think I have failed. I don’t think I really caught onto much of what his thoughts on ‘nationalism’ really are. They seemed a little scattered to be honest. But I did learn a lot more. One, I know that the man does do poetic albeit dramatic writing pretty well. Two, he has some very interesting thoughts on what was going on in the world – politically, academically and spiritually i.e. on how you should lead a life.
Here we go!
The world thinks that the East lives in the past – that it won’t prosper because it always has its back turned to the future and put its head in the past. To a great extent, that is true. The East became comfortable in its own skin – so much that it is compared to a seed that doesn’t wish to break out of its shell and grow.
Tagore uses the example of Japan (pre Pearl Harbor, etc. of course). Japan was one country that seemed to be breaking out of its shell slowly but steadily. It had the grace, spirituality and rootedness of the past but also the grit and mechanical workings of the new.
Tagore implores us to understand what ‘Modernism’ really is. It is not about imitating the dress style, architecture or processes of the West but about the freedom of mind, possibilities of choices and variations of taste. It’s about improving on what is already there, about starting afresh but not forgetting the soul of the country.
The colonizer according to Tagore is akin to a machine – a machine that has no emotions and is apathetic to human emotions. He says that the people who work for ‘the machine’ slowly also get integrated into the machine and by this he attempts to tell us of the indifference and detachment that the colonizers have for the Indians. Orders are given and carried out by ‘the machine’, however Tagore implores you to understand that on the other end are actual human beings with their lives, livelihoods and futures hanging in the balance.
Tagore recognizes the differences between the colonizers from the West and the West in totality. He admits that while the people of the West are trying and understand the inhumanity that the East is going through, the ‘Nation of The West’ still has all the wrong sort of control over the East. Though the fact is that there are many people who crave power and money and hence submit themselves to work for ‘The Nation’ aka a machine and thus once ‘free spirited’ people are now parts in a machine – never to be free.
I told you, Tagore can be dramatic.
One part that I did find interesting in this part of the book was how he called out The West’s hypocrisy. The West for decades, nay centuries have been boasting and tooting their trumpets about their superiority but as soon as another country tries to do so, they talk about how that is so improper and is ‘an evil that needs to be vanquished for the common good of man’. I see that happening even today with so many governments around the world. What Tagore said about this is true again – “These monsters grow into huge shape but never into harmony.” That is that these countries may grow and ‘vanquish’ but one day their urgent need and greed will be their downfall as we have seen with so many people, organizations and governments around the world.
What about nationalism in India, you wonder. He’s ‘spoken’ of it with respect to Japan and the West, but what about our home ground?
Well, let me start with reminding you of the present state of ‘The West’ – in particular the United States of America. This is the country where we have presidential candidates slavering under the temptation of wealth, greed and a promise of ‘exclusivity’ to help ‘Make America Great Again’. However what Tagore wants is to make India (and the world) humane again. He wants to go back to the ‘perfect’ utopian world where machine made things are not sought after but perfectly made handicrafts are. Instead of political freedom, he asks for people to fight for a ‘moral and spiritual’ freedom.
“My countrymen will truly gain their India by fighting against the education which teaches them that a country is greater than the ideals of humanity.”
All things mentioned above are things I agree with Tagore to a great extent but I am also puzzled as to why he tries to undermine new age technology or the ‘western thinking’ by calling it ‘soulless’ or ‘too refined’. I do realize that he is trying to say that you need to imbibe the good qualities of both to make your country work but there were so many times that the text seemed adamant on tearing the West down, or at least the ‘Western thoughts on modernism’.
I wonder, what is his problem with machines? As he said, ‘Burn a tree into a log and it will burn for you but it will never bear fruits or flowers.’ I guess that is true, but sometimes we need that fuel. If only we knew how to strike the right balance.
And with that I am at the end of this book. There are many things I take back from this book – on the human spirit, on segregations of society, on nationalism but one that stuck with me the most is his words on progress.
‘But he says, “You do not make any progress, there is no movement in you.” I ask him, “How do you know it? You have to judge progress according to its aim. A railway train makes its progress towards the terminus station, - it is movement. But a full-grown tree has no definite movement of that kind; its progress is the inward progress of life. It lives, with its aspiration toward light tingling in its leave and creeping in its silent sap.”
Profound.
February 15, 2025
Reflexions molt interessants sobre el nacionalisme occidental vist des del punt de vista oriental. S'hi reflecteix moltes petites veritats que no estaria de més tenir en compte per no perdre'ns entre tota l'artificialitat en la que estem immersos.
June 28, 2020
During these times when pseudo nationalism is on the rise in India, this makes an essential read. To truly appreciate this book, you need to share the same temperament and moral high ground as Rabindranath Tagore otherwise this body of work as Tagore himself said might feel as the poetic glorification of the weak. Rabindranath was naturalist, he believed the essence of life lies in spiritual fulfillment while co-existing with mother nature. He is extremely critical of the idea of nations, he says nationalism is the baseness of modernity, the organized political and economic structures have stripped nations of the moral element of humanity. The power structures of nations make an abstract machine upon which an ordinary man has no control. Nations will preach equality and then grossly violate the same ideals while plundering other nations. He says that the west will ultimately crumble from its own weight of greed and materialism. Although he is critical of the west, he is careful enough not to indulge in the adulation of the east. He points out how the caste system was initially established to create order and peace but it forgot to take into account the mutability of human nature, that in order to create a well functioning system it created a system of unbreakable walls that stifled the opportunity of growth and possibilities. He says for India to achieve true freedom, it needs to self introspect the social evils it has savored for centuries.
The book is divided into three parts; in the first part he talks about nationalism in the west; the second part talks about nationalism in Japan, he considers Japan as the beacon of hope from the east, and appreciates how Japan tried to make the best out of the western philosophy without completing forgetting its own; in the third part, he talks about nationalism in India, especially what India lacks and often overlooks due to ignorance.
It's a small book but it should be read slowly. Like your favorite dessert, every page needs to be savored and thought about to truly appreciate Tagore's literary brilliance. The book ends with the lines
Be not ashamed, my brothers, to stand before the proud and powerful with your white robe of simpleness
Let your crown be of humility, your freedom the freedom of the soul
And know that what is huge is not great and pride is not everlasting
The book is divided into three parts; in the first part he talks about nationalism in the west; the second part talks about nationalism in Japan, he considers Japan as the beacon of hope from the east, and appreciates how Japan tried to make the best out of the western philosophy without completing forgetting its own; in the third part, he talks about nationalism in India, especially what India lacks and often overlooks due to ignorance.
It's a small book but it should be read slowly. Like your favorite dessert, every page needs to be savored and thought about to truly appreciate Tagore's literary brilliance. The book ends with the lines
Be not ashamed, my brothers, to stand before the proud and powerful with your white robe of simpleness
Let your crown be of humility, your freedom the freedom of the soul
And know that what is huge is not great and pride is not everlasting
July 23, 2025
I read Tagore and Nationalism in 2006, during my first year as an IAS instructor at Chanakya’s in Delhi. I was helping students prepare essays on nationhood, civilizational values, and India’s intellectual heritage—so naturally, I turned to Tagore. What I found was not the balm of easy patriotism, but the scalpel of a questioning mind.
Tagore's essays in this collection, especially “Nationalism in the West” and “Nationalism in India,” confront the idea of the modern nation-state with a rare mix of spiritual insight and civilizational critique. At a time when “nation” was a rallying cry for anti-colonial struggle, Tagore warned against blind worship of nationalism—calling it “the greed of organized power.” That felt subversive, even dangerous, and yet utterly prescient. Teaching civics and polity by day, I wrestled by night with Tagore’s assertion that true freedom lay not in territorial sovereignty but in the emancipation of the human spirit.
His skepticism about the aggressive nationalism of Europe, and his hope for a spiritual-humanist India, made me reframe how I understood the idea of nation-building. This wasn’t a political treatise. It was a soul-deep lament for a world losing its moral compass.
In the political coaching corridors of Delhi, Tagore's nationalism wasn’t the loudest voice—but it was the most enduring whisper. It stayed with me—like a quiet, luminous truth resisting the drumbeats of easy answers.
Tagore's essays in this collection, especially “Nationalism in the West” and “Nationalism in India,” confront the idea of the modern nation-state with a rare mix of spiritual insight and civilizational critique. At a time when “nation” was a rallying cry for anti-colonial struggle, Tagore warned against blind worship of nationalism—calling it “the greed of organized power.” That felt subversive, even dangerous, and yet utterly prescient. Teaching civics and polity by day, I wrestled by night with Tagore’s assertion that true freedom lay not in territorial sovereignty but in the emancipation of the human spirit.
His skepticism about the aggressive nationalism of Europe, and his hope for a spiritual-humanist India, made me reframe how I understood the idea of nation-building. This wasn’t a political treatise. It was a soul-deep lament for a world losing its moral compass.
In the political coaching corridors of Delhi, Tagore's nationalism wasn’t the loudest voice—but it was the most enduring whisper. It stayed with me—like a quiet, luminous truth resisting the drumbeats of easy answers.
March 7, 2021
In this book, Rabindranath Tagore shares his opinion on western society and Japan ( Eastern society) and compares it to the Indian way. Through the tinge of spirituality, Tagore advises for the future of India and compares the functioning and progress of societal structure to an individual's progress and experience. Book published in 1917, views and opinion presented are still relevant and needed today.
Favorite Quotes:
" India that this diversity was not her own creation; she has had to accept it as a fact from the beginning of her history. In America and Australia, Europe has simplified her problem by almost exterminating the original population."
" We must remember whatever weakness we cherish in our society will become the source of danger in politics"
" Boasting is only a masked shame, it does not truly believe in itself"
"Our nerves are more delicate than our muscles."
Favorite Quotes:
" India that this diversity was not her own creation; she has had to accept it as a fact from the beginning of her history. In America and Australia, Europe has simplified her problem by almost exterminating the original population."
" We must remember whatever weakness we cherish in our society will become the source of danger in politics"
" Boasting is only a masked shame, it does not truly believe in itself"
"Our nerves are more delicate than our muscles."
September 25, 2021
The poet who knew much before than anyone else that nationalism would lead any country to doom. This book is more relevant to today's politics than any other day. This book was written in 1917 but is very much relevant even a century later.
Tagore has so much to say in this book but a few quotes that struck a chord with me are
"When this organization of politics and commerce, whose other name is Nation, becomes all-powerful at the cost of the harmony of the higher social life, then it is an evil day for humanity."
"... nations who sedulously cultivate moral blindness as the cult of patriotism will end their existence in a sudden and violent death."
One thing that is sure to be said is Tagore's worst fears have come true.
Tagore has so much to say in this book but a few quotes that struck a chord with me are
"When this organization of politics and commerce, whose other name is Nation, becomes all-powerful at the cost of the harmony of the higher social life, then it is an evil day for humanity."
"... nations who sedulously cultivate moral blindness as the cult of patriotism will end their existence in a sudden and violent death."
One thing that is sure to be said is Tagore's worst fears have come true.
August 16, 2021
“Neither the colourless vagueness of cosmopolitanism, nor the fierce self-idolatry of nation-worship, is the goal of human history.” - Rabindranath Tagore
Scientific discoveries and technological improvements prospered in the early 20th Century. They largely increased in Europe, but they were mainly used in wars and conflicts. Meanwhile in India, Rabindranath Tagore was deeply depressed by these advancements. Also, the British were ruling India at that time, so Tagore thought that the British were spoiling India through these progressions. Hence he wrote this book expressing how he felt, exposing his thoughts regarding these modern technologies and Nationalism.
This book talks about the destruction caused by the bad qualities of humanity. Along with it, the author also wrote about nationalism in other countries. It has four chapters - Nationalism in the West, Nationalism in Japan, and Nationalism in India, and some poems in the end. All these chapters give information about nationalism and advancements in the respective countries. Tagore says how these advancements have troubled the working of humans in Europe. He tells us how Japan, even though they had machines, remained loyal as humans and used them wisely. Finally, he states the sense of nationalism in India, and how the British are not looking at our country seriously. According to him, true nationality can only be achieved when science is used properly and a sense of nationalism is attained by all.
I loved this book. It made me realize about the current modernised society. Even though I don’t believe everything in the book, it did make me understand one thing - Nationalism isn’t just loving our country, it is understanding the way we are destroying it. Only then can we stop that destruction to attain peace.
Scientific discoveries and technological improvements prospered in the early 20th Century. They largely increased in Europe, but they were mainly used in wars and conflicts. Meanwhile in India, Rabindranath Tagore was deeply depressed by these advancements. Also, the British were ruling India at that time, so Tagore thought that the British were spoiling India through these progressions. Hence he wrote this book expressing how he felt, exposing his thoughts regarding these modern technologies and Nationalism.
This book talks about the destruction caused by the bad qualities of humanity. Along with it, the author also wrote about nationalism in other countries. It has four chapters - Nationalism in the West, Nationalism in Japan, and Nationalism in India, and some poems in the end. All these chapters give information about nationalism and advancements in the respective countries. Tagore says how these advancements have troubled the working of humans in Europe. He tells us how Japan, even though they had machines, remained loyal as humans and used them wisely. Finally, he states the sense of nationalism in India, and how the British are not looking at our country seriously. According to him, true nationality can only be achieved when science is used properly and a sense of nationalism is attained by all.
I loved this book. It made me realize about the current modernised society. Even though I don’t believe everything in the book, it did make me understand one thing - Nationalism isn’t just loving our country, it is understanding the way we are destroying it. Only then can we stop that destruction to attain peace.
October 30, 2025
this was written in 1916 during ww1.
so you must read it in this context.
man single handedly showed a mirror to the west, future to japan, and reality to india in this phenomenal work.
his arguments are very good and I'll highly recommend everyone to read this despite any background or alignment.
so you must read it in this context.
man single handedly showed a mirror to the west, future to japan, and reality to india in this phenomenal work.
his arguments are very good and I'll highly recommend everyone to read this despite any background or alignment.
September 22, 2019
Written in an era of great instability and strife but remains relevant even today. Tagore speaks for all of humanity and not just as an Indian. I did, however, find his writing to be too dreamy and imprecise.
August 8, 2020
One of the most beautifully written books I have read lately. This has been my first reading of Tagore's work and has been a pure delight. He is a great master of metaphor, poetic prose and a profound thinker who moves his readers.
Tagore's Nationalism is a unique approach to the concept of 'Nation', he identifies them as political organizations motivated by greed and power and obsessed by efficiency in their operations. He makes a case that such a pursuit of greed and power bereft one from their own morals and their own humanity. By inducing a moral blindness cultivated by a 'cult of patriotism', 'Nations' sedulously turn man against man.
He does not dismiss the approach of 'Nations' altogether but asks politely that whether the path to greatness is a single one and directs 'East' to find a better way than merely imitating 'West'. He urges 'East' to look for a direction in its long history, an inward journey of cultivating values and morals. He prays for the 'East' to have a civilization of social cooperation, not economic exploitation and conflict. After acknowledging all science, politics, power, patriotism he persistently believes in humanity as a greater force and a higher value and prods us to see it.
Tagore's Nationalism is a unique approach to the concept of 'Nation', he identifies them as political organizations motivated by greed and power and obsessed by efficiency in their operations. He makes a case that such a pursuit of greed and power bereft one from their own morals and their own humanity. By inducing a moral blindness cultivated by a 'cult of patriotism', 'Nations' sedulously turn man against man.
He does not dismiss the approach of 'Nations' altogether but asks politely that whether the path to greatness is a single one and directs 'East' to find a better way than merely imitating 'West'. He urges 'East' to look for a direction in its long history, an inward journey of cultivating values and morals. He prays for the 'East' to have a civilization of social cooperation, not economic exploitation and conflict. After acknowledging all science, politics, power, patriotism he persistently believes in humanity as a greater force and a higher value and prods us to see it.
June 14, 2021
Tagore presents a point of view that is almost alien to me, given my upbringing. However, Tagore states that real progress does not focus on efficiency and convenience but inner richness and peace. This book might seem overly poetic today, but Tagore tries to convince that adopting Western methods will be doom for Asia.
He reports Japan has taken the lead and shown perceived progress that will be short-lived unless Japan keeps its culture preserved, which has happened. For India, he suggests that we be careful and not adopt Western ways, which, I would unsuprisingly report to Tagore, has happened.
In the end, he does clarify his account is not from an economic perspective but a philosophical one. It's written well, but you see an almost stubbornness in his view if you read it in the 21st century. One thing I truly appreciated was his underlying message, which was to build humanity, not nations.
Alas! We can build both efficiency and humanity together. And, I am hopeful we will figure it out.
He reports Japan has taken the lead and shown perceived progress that will be short-lived unless Japan keeps its culture preserved, which has happened. For India, he suggests that we be careful and not adopt Western ways, which, I would unsuprisingly report to Tagore, has happened.
In the end, he does clarify his account is not from an economic perspective but a philosophical one. It's written well, but you see an almost stubbornness in his view if you read it in the 21st century. One thing I truly appreciated was his underlying message, which was to build humanity, not nations.
Alas! We can build both efficiency and humanity together. And, I am hopeful we will figure it out.
March 23, 2021
I hate to say this but I didn't like this book. I have read Gitanjali and I wanted to read the thoughts on the nationalism of the one person who wrote our national anthem. I had high hopes before starting this one but after reading Rabindranath Tagore's thoughts I came to terms with him too being human and having flaws in his thought process. I disliked a few thoughts of him and liked a few quotes that are worth remembering for a lifetime.
The book is a collection of essays on nationalism. I will add more details later.
The book is a collection of essays on nationalism. I will add more details later.
July 29, 2025
Published a century ago. It is so eerily prophetic given what unfolded in the decades that followed, especially given that Tagore speaks directly to Europe and Japan. And still relevant today, of course. I bought this the weekend after the referendum result and it is still eerie and prophetic, but full of hope.
September 26, 2013
Gurudev Tagore is the greatest Indian author of the English language. The vision shown in this text is mind-boggling. Helped reaffirm certain views of India, and introduced new ones.
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