Kabuliwala by Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore was a Bengali poet, novelist, playwright, and short story writer. He is considered one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. Tagore won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913, becoming the first non-European to receive the award. He is best known for his poems, but he also wrote extensively in other genres. Kabuliwala is one of Tagore's most popular short stories. It has been translated into many languages and adapted into several films.

Kabuliwala is a short story by Rabindranath Tagore, first published in 1892. It is about the unlikely friendship that forms between a Pashtun dry fruit seller, Abdur Rahman, and a five-year-old girl, Mini, from a middle-class aristocratic family in Calcutta. Rahman comes to Calcutta each year to sell his goods, and Mini is fascinated by him. She loves to hear his stories about his homeland, and she develops a special bond with him. Rahman, for his part, is reminded of his own daughter back in Kabul, and he comes to love Mini like a granddaughter.

One day, Rahman is arrested by the police on suspicion of theft. Mini's father, the narrator of the story, is outraged and he goes to the police station to secure Rahman's release. The police chief tells him that Rahman has been accused of stealing a necklace from a young woman. Mini's father knows that Rahman is innocent, but he is also aware of the prejudice that exists against Muslims in Calcutta. He is afraid that Rahman will be found guilty and sentenced to prison.

Mini's father begs the police chief to release Rahman, and he eventually agrees. Rahman is released, but he is deeply shaken by the experience. He tells Mini's father that he will never return to Calcutta. He says that he is afraid of being falsely accused again, and he does not want to put Mini in danger.

Mini is heartbroken when Rahman leaves. She cries for days, and she refuses to eat or play. Her father is also sad, but he knows that Rahman has made the right decision. He tells Mini that Rahman will always be her friend, even though he is far away.

Kabuliwala is a story about the power of love and friendship. It shows how two people from different cultures can come together and form a deep bond. The story also explores the themes of prejudice and discrimination. It shows how these forces can tear people apart, but it also shows how love can overcome them.

GITANJALI--SILENT STEPS

 -Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore is a man of versatile genius and achievement. He is a poet par excellence. He was awarded the prestigious Nobel Prize for his English Gitanjali in 1913. Gitanjali is an immortal work of art. It is a prayer to God. It consists of poems which are 'offerings of the finite to the infinite'. It's central theme is the soul's voyage to eternity.

Silent Steps in Gitanjali reveals the immanence of God. God is imminent. We may not feel his all pervasive influence but he is present at all places and at all times. All changes that take place in nature are His manifestation. God lives with his people all the time: 

Every moment and every age, every day and every night,

He comes, comes ever comes,"

God is ageless and deathless. He is all powerful. The poet has sung many songs in all kinds of mood. He has proclaimed the truth that God has been coming since time immemorial.

God comes through the dangerous forest path in the form of sweet fragrance in the sunny month of April. He comes in the form of thunder in the dark nights of July. He comes along with his people in danger and darkness.

The poet felt the presence of God in sorrow and happiness. God did not allow him to endure pain and sufferings alone. Instead, He lives and dwells with him

 "In sorrow after sorrow, it is His steps that press upon my heart and

  it is the golden touch of His face that makes my joy to shine".

Thus, the poem tells the truth that God is omnipresent. All things in nature reveal His presence. We can also feel his divine touch silently in our everyday life. 

RABINDRANATH TAGORE

Rabindranath Tagore (1861- 1941) is to India what Shakespeare is to English. He composed the national anthem of our country. He founded the Visva –Bharati University in 1921. His best known works are Gitanjali (Song Offerings),Gora (Fair-Faced), and Ghare- Baire (The Home and the World). His “elegant prose and magical poetry” remain largely unknown outside Bengal. His mastery as a mystic poet can be seen here in this poem.

THE HEAVEN OF FREEDOM  

 (Where The Mind Is Without Fear)

        Heaven of Freedom is taken from Gitanjali (Song Offerings), a collection of 103 English poems. This poem is more like a prayer. It was written towards the early part of the 20th century when the struggle for political Independence was going on in India.

   This poem is like an offering to God, a prayer where the poet prays for a country which is a heaven of freedom. He prays for an atmosphere of fearlessness, a place where people can walk without the fear of being arrested.

                     “Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
                      Where knowledge is free”

   In India people had lost their freedom in all spheres under the British rule. They had no self respect. They were divided on the basis of religion so that the British colonisers could rule over Indians for a longer period of time. The poet is referring to a nation where the people can hold their head high and will have dignity and self respect.

   According to him knowledge should be free to all. There should be no division among the people on the basis of caste or creed and no monopoly in providing education.

  Tagore wants the people to work with their hearts which is possible only if their minds are free. Further he goes on to pray for a world which is not fragmented or broken in the name of religious, cultural, economic or political issues. He longs for an undivided world where there is tolerance among the people, a world where people have the courage to speak truth and hold truth at any cost

            ” Where the mind is led forward by thee
               Into ever-widening thought and action
               Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake”.

  Tagore addresses God as the Father of the Universe and humbly requests him to awaken our country to such a heaven of freedom where thought is not limited by the age old customs and superstitious beliefs.

Gitanjali: Rabindranath Tagore

The emergence of Rabindranath Tagore into the world of English literature coincides with the publication of the English version of Gitanjali for the foist time in November 1912. At that time it was profoundly praised by the best literary minds of England including Yeats, Bradley. In November 1913, he was awarded the noble prize by Swedish academy and this gave him a place among the greatest men of letters in the modern world. He won universal recognition through the monumental literary achievement Gitanjali. An appreciation of Rabindranath poetic genius in the west for a long time been based upon the............
(Click here to read more)