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ShareBangalore: Rabindranath Tagore took the idea of nationalism to a broader plane and advocated "listening and learning" from other cultures which won him the admiration of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, historian Ramachandra Guha said.
Guha was delivering the Second Raj Bhavan Dr VKRV Memorial lecture on "The political significance of Rabindranath Tagore" to commemorate the poet's 149th birth anniversary this year.
The talk, attended by Governor Hans Raj Bharadwaj, and chairman of the Institution for
Social and Economic Change (ISEC) SL Rao, was held at the Banquet Hall on Wednesday.
Guha said he decided to talk about Tagore after one of his close associates asked him why he saw Gandhi, Nehru, Tagore and Ambedkar on the same footing.
"Tagore was much more than the poet, artist and mystic that he wasdiscreetly admired for by most people including Gandhi,"said Guha.
"In fact, most of the time, Tagore was ideologically at constant loggerheads with Gandhi on many issues," he said.
"Although much has been said and written on Tagore's literary significance, his political significance has not been discussed much," he said.
The elite Bengali community praised their knight of literature so much that the rest of the country hardly ever got to know him. But beyond all metaphors that tag him, Tagore was a universalist who loved his own country just as he did other countries.
"If we admire Gandhi and Nehru for their charming and pluralistic views, much largely comes from their adoration of the poet himself," Guha said.
He explained how Tagore had a profound influence on the US and Japan during World War I and how much he was disturbed by the conditions back home. The Swadesi movement won nothing but his total displeasure. At the same, he showed lot of interest in various religions and cultures that unified the country.
Guha said Tagore's political works provide solutions to many national and international issues.
