All language subtitles for Rabindranath Tagore By Satyajit Ray (1961)

On the 7th of August, 1941 .. .

in the city of Calcutta. .

a man died.

His mortal remains perished.

But he left behind him
a heritage. .

. . which no fire could consume.

It is a heritage of verse and
music and poetry. .

. . of ideas and ideals.

And it has the power
to move us, to inspire us,

today and then the days to come.

We, who owe him so much. .

. . salute his memory.

Founded in the year 1690. .

. . by an English man by named
Job Charnock. .

Calcutta, 100 years ago,
was an thriving metropolis.

Queen Victoria was proclaimed
Empress of India in 1877.

As the capital of India. .

Calcutta was the seat of the
Queen's Government.

In the northern part of the
sprawling city. .

. . in the area known as Jorasanko,
in Chitpur. .

. . was the family residence
of the Tagores

The Tagores had an
impressive lineage.

It dated back to the first group
of learned Brahmins. .

. . that came from Kannauj. .

. . and settled in Bengal
in the 8th century.

One thousand years later. .
Panchanan, a descendent. .

. . came to the new city of
Calcutta. .

... and found a lucrative position
with the British shipping company.

His grandson Nilmony added
to the family fortune. .

. . and built the house at
Jorasanko.

The peak was reached
with Lilmony's grandson.

One of the most brilliant and
colourful figures. .

. . of the 19th Century.

Dwarkanath Tagore combined
cultured sophistication. .

. . with a largeness of heart and
a rare degree of business acumen.

Gold, Sugar, Indigo, Exports,
Banking, Newspaper. .

There was no end to his
enterprises.

And he succeeded in all.

If his earnings were fabulous. .
so were his spendings.

Although a Hindu and a Vaishnav. .

Dwraknath defied the bane of
Brahmin orthodoxy. .

. . and twice went to England.

There, he had an audience with
Queen Victoria. .

. . discussions with Gladstone. .

. . and dinner with men like
Dickens, Thackeray and Max Muller.

Shortly before his death
in England. .

Dwarkanath had written to his
eldest son in Calcutta. .

. . reproving him from neglecting
the family's business affairs.

For some years past. .

. . young Debendranath had been
developing tendencies. .

. . which might well have
distressed his father.

It began in a burning Ghat.

The last rights were
being administered. .

. . to Rabindranth's grandmother

Not far away, on the river bank,
sat Debendranath.

Like many a rich man's son he had
been leading a wayward life.

But tonight he was overcome
by a strange feeling.

Worldly possessions seem to
lose their meaning for him.

This lead to a period of
profound disquiet.

Followed by ceaseless quest
for the meaning of existence. .

. . in the great source books
of the East and West.

He read the materialist
philosophers of modern Europe. .

Lock, Hume, Benson ??? and others. .

. . whose ideas were so much in vogue
among the students of the time.

Then learnt Sanskrit and
read the Mahabharat.

But peace of mind would not come,
until one day. .

he chanced upon a torn page
of a Sanskrit book.

There was a Shloka in it,
which said. .

"God is supreme and all pervading. "

"Enjoy by renunciation,
covet not another's wealth. "

This was the page of
Eshopanishad. .

. . edited by Raja Ram Mohan Roy.

Ram Mohan had been a close
friend of Dwarkanath.

As a boy, Debendranath had a
deep and silent admiration for the
man.

But the greatness of the
Raja's vision. .

. . and the magnitude and
the nobility of the tasks. .

he had set before himself, were
beyond the boy's comprehension.

Ram Mohan lived in times. .

. . when India's spiritual heritage. .

. . was being submerged in
ritual and superstition.

While in the West a whole new
concept of humanity was emerging.

Ram Mohan advocated Western
education for Indians.

Because he wanted the new ideas
of the West to spread in the country.

He also wanted that we should
respect what was old and true. .

. . in our own heritage.

In the Upanishads,
for instance. .

. . which revealed to him the
monotheistic basis of Hinduism.

Ram Mohan's work was left
unfinished by his death in England.

But Debendranath, inspired by the
two lines of the Sanskrit text. .

. . went on to prove himself to be
Raja's true spiritual son and heir.

Debendranath suffered
social ostracism. .

. . for preaching
the monotheistic faith. .

. . that he called Brahmoism.

But to his followers,
and there were many. .

He was Maharshi. .
'The Great Sage. '

When Rabindranath was born,
the Maharshi was 45 years old.

His wife Sharadamoni was 33.

Rabindranath was the 14th child.

The eldest was Dijendranath. .

Poet, Philosopher, Mathematician.

Second son Satyendranath. .

. . translated the Geeta and
Meghdoot, in Bengal verse.

And became the first Indian member
of the Indian Civil Service.

The 5th son Jyotindranath was
a born musician. .

. . translated Mullier and Sanskrit
dramas in to Bengali. .

. . and wrote and staged. .

. . some of the most popular
Bengali plays of his time.

Amongst the daughters was
Shwarnakumari.

The first woman novelist and the first
woman to edit a journal in India.

Indeed, it was an household which
hummed with artistic activity.

[Hamlet] Oh earth! What else?
And shall I couple hell?

Oh fie! Hold, hold my heart!

And you, my sinews, grown not instant
old,
but bear me stiffly up. Remember thee?

For Rabi
the time hadn't yet come. .

. . to participate
in the activities of the elders.

Going out in the street
was forbidden too.

And this was indeed a pity.

For nothing seemed more
fascinating to the boy. .

. . than the world outside.

At the age of seven,
Rabi was sent to school.

Rabi went to four schools
and hated them all.

But to say that he lacked
education would be wrong.

For his third brother Hemendranath
saw to his studies at home.

And it was all done by the clock.

When Rabi was 12. .

Debendranath went on a trip to
North India and took boy with him.

The last stop on a long tour
was the rest house on Bakrutha.

The highest hill in the hill
station of Dalhousie in the Punjab.

Rabi was told by his father
to roam about on his own.

He was also taught to rise
before the sun.

And to handle money
and keep accounts.

The days often ended. .

. . with the boy singing
devotional songs to his father.

Rabi was 13 when his first book
of verse Kobikahini came out.

When Rabi was 16. .

Dwijendranath brought our literary
magazine called Bharati.

And Rabi found an admirable
platform. .

. . for his literary activities.

The essays included pieces
on the European poets. .

. . like Dante and Petrarch. .

. . whose acquaintance Rabi has
made in Ahmadabad. .

. . in the library of his elder
brother Satyendranath.

Satyendranath's wife
Jnanadanandini ..

. . who was staying in England
with her two children. .

. . was a remarkable woman. .

. . who had been persuaded
by her husband. .

. . to come out of orthodox
seclusion.

Rabi set out for England
in the summer of 1878.

And joined Jnanadanandini
in Brighton.

If the plan was to provide the boy
with a proper education. .

it came to naught.

For Rabi returned. .

. . without completing his course of
studies at the London University.

While in England. .

Rabindranath had become
acquainted with Western Music.

Some of the tunes he had learnt. .

. . found their way into his
enchanting play, 'Balmikipratibha. '

There were other tunes, however. .

. . which came from classical
Indian ragas. .

. . used for the first time
in an operatic context.

Balmikipratibha was staged
in the Tagore residence. .

. . with the Rabindranath in the
role of the bandit turned poet.

The rest of the cast too
was composed of. .

. . the member's of the
Tagore family.

All gifted with the varying degrees
of talent for acting and music.

Among those who saw and
praised this performance. .

. . was the greatest literary figure
of the time. .

Bankim Chandra Chatterjee.

A year later, when Rabindranath's
Shundar Sangeet was published. .

Bankim Chandra personally
congratulated the poet. .

. . and acknowledged his
preeminence. .

. . among the rising writers
of the day.

Of all the members of
Rabi's family. .

Two were closest to his mind and
heart.

They were Jyotinrindranath
and his wife.

Kadambari Devi was two years
older than Rabi.

She was his best friend and
severest critic.

Rabi lived with these two
for a time. .

. . in a house in Sudder Street
in South Calcutta.

One morning, a strange experience
befell the poet.

One day my life stood watching
at early dawn.

The sun sending out it's rays
from behind the trees.

I suddenly felt. .

. . as if some ancient mist had
in a moment lifted from my sight.

And the morning light
on the face of the world. .

. . revealed an inner radiance of joy.

The poem I wrote on the first
day of my surprise. .

. . was named,
'The awakening of the waterfall. '

At the age of 22, Rabindranath
married Bhabatarini Devi.

The old fashioned name was later
changed to Miralini.

Two months before the wedding. .

. . Rabindranth had received
a letter from his father. .

. . in which he was asked to
prepare himself. .

. . to look after the family estate.

After a period of initial training
in the estate's offices in Calcutta. .

Rabindranah found himself in the
very heart of rural Bengal.

In the region around the
river Padma.

With the worldly wisdom
unusual in a poet. .

. . but characteristic
of the Tagores

Rabindranath, in later life
set about in a practical way. .

. . to improve the lot of the poor
peasants of his estate.

And his varied work in this field
is on record.

But his own gain from this
intimate contact. .

. . with the fundamental aspects
of life and nature. .

. . and the influence of this
contact on his life and work. .

. . are beyond measure.

Living mostly in his boat and
watching life through the window. .

. . a whole new world of sights
and sounds and feelings. .

. . opened up before him.

It was a world in which
the moods of people. .

. . and the moods of nature. .

. . were inextricably interwoven.

The people found room in a
succession great short stories.

And nature?

In an outpouring of exquisite
songs and poems.

Dominant was the mood of the rains.

Exultant and terrible.

In 1901, Rabindranath was 40 years
old.

His already enormous output of
poems and plays. .

. . had been gathered in one
big volume.

It comprised 21 books.

And included Sonar Tari,
his first masterpiece.

The same year 1901 marked an event
of a somewhat different nature.

In Bolpur, in the district of
Birbhum in West Bengal. .

. . Debendranath had acquired
some property in 1862,

one year after Rabindranath
was born.

The property was made over
to a board of trustees.

And the deed specified. .

. . that the place was to be used
for meditation. .

. . on the supreme formless being.

According to the
Mahrashi's wishes. .

. . a seat of prayer and a temple
of worship had been built.

And close to the temple,
a residential house. .

. . which was called Shanti Niketan,
'The abode of peace'.

Rabindranth had been worrying
about the education of his children.

And he decided to start ...

an experimental educational
institution, in Shanti Niketan.

It was to be a school.

But not like the schools. .

. . that had been the nightmare
of his own childhood.

It was to be like the forest
hermitages of classical India.

But to bring it into being
was not a easy task.

For one thing, it cost money.

Rabindranath was obliged to sell. .

. . amongst other things,
the copyright of his books.

His wife added her bit by
selling her wedding ornaments.

Two months after the school
was opened, she was taken ill.

Three months later,
at the age of 29 ..

she died.

For Rabindranath. .

it was a beginning of series of
personal tragedies.

nine months after his wife's death. .

. . his second daughter Renuka
passed away.

The hardest blow of all
came four years later.

Youngest son Samindro took after
his father in many ways.

He was only 13 when he fell
a victim to cholera.

It was in the midst of these
bereavements. .

. . that Rabindranath participated

in one of the greatest political
upheavals in the history of India.

In December, 1903, was
published. .

. . the decision of India's
Governor General, Lord Curzon. .

. . to split up Bengal into
two provinces.

The idea was to create a separate
province with a Muslim majority

which would induce a rift between
the two main religious groups. .

. . and avert the possible growth of
a united front against the Government.

But in proposing the partition. .

. . Curzon merely fanned
the flame of patriotism. .

. . that had been smoldering in the
minds of certain visionaries. .

. . all through the period of
the renaissance in Bengal.

These men now came to the fore. .

. . and led the millions
to rise in protest.

The series of stirring
patriotic songs. .

. . which Rabindranath composed
for the occasion. .

. . were sung in procession in the
streets of Calcutta

with the poet himself in the lead.

On October 16th, 1905. .

the partition became an
accomplished fact.

In a form a protest that only a
poet could conceive. .

Rabindranath turned the black day. .

. . into a mass festival of
Rakhi Bandhan.

The tying of the band
of friendship.

But the Swadeshi movement. .

. . was fated to grow and
assume a character. .

. . which was not possible to
foresee in its early stages.

While admitting the bravery
and patriotism of those. .

. . who killed or were killed in
a reckless bid for freedom. .

Rabindranath could not
condone terrorism.

He stated his credo
in clear terms.

The path of violence
was not for India.

Good could come only out of
constructive work. .

. . carried out in a spirit
of tolerance.

He had himself followed up his
retirement from the political scene

by devoting himself to the work
of frugal welfare in his estate.

And there were other
activities too.

He was teaching at school.

Editing journals and
engaging himself. .

. . in every conceivable form of
literary activity.

That his own countrymen now
regarded him. .

. . as their leading man of letters. .

. . was proved by his 50th birthday
celebrations in Calcutta.

Sponsored by the Bengal
Academy of Letters. .

. . and attended by thousands. .

. . it was a unique occasion and
the first time. .

. . that such an ovation had been
given a literary man in India.

But, to the outside world. .

Rabindranath was still
an unknown name.

The objects of Rabindranath's visit
to England in 1912. .

. . was to study the educational
methods of the West.

And also to acquaint the West with
his own work at Shanti Niketan.

He happened to carry with him
on this occasion. .

. . a notebook containing his own
English translations. .

. . of some of his songs.

Mainly from Gitanjali.

He showed these translations. .

. . to the English painter
William Rothenstein. .

. . who had met him on an
earlier visit to India.

Rothenstein was so impressed. .

. . that he sent a copy of the
translation. .

. . to the well know Irish poet,
Yeats.

In introducing the poems to a
gathering of. .

. . English writers and
Intellectuals. .

Yeats said. .

" I know of no man in my time. .

. . who has done anything in
English language. .

. . to equal these lyrics. "

"Even as I read them in this
literal prose translation. .

. . they are exquisite in
style and thought. "

Gitanjali was published in
England in the same year.

There has rarely been another
instance of a poet. .

. . gaining world fame
in like manner.

The Nobel Prize came in 1913.

And the Knighthood in 1915,

while war was raging in Europe.

Touring the United States and
Japan in 1916. .

Rabindranath made eloquent
appeals for peace.

He felt that world peace could
only be achieved . .

. . through intellectual
co-operation between nations.

He said. .

"The call has come to every
individual in the present age. .

. . to prepare himself and his
surroundings. .

. . for the dawn of a new era. "

"When man shall discover his soul. .

. . in the spiritual unity of all
human being. "

Pursuing this noble idea of
international co-operation. .

Rabindranath gave the school
at Shanti Niketan. .

. . a new status and a new name.

'Yatra Vishvam Bhavti Ek Nidam. '

Where the world becomes
a single nest.

This was the motto of the
Vishwa Bharati.

It was inaugurated on the
24th of December, 1918

with the aged philosopher,
Brijendra Nath Sheel, presiding.

Rabindranath made over the
entire Nobel Prize money. .

. . towards the building of this
University.

While peace had been
restored in Europe. .

In India, there was unrest.

The Rowlatt Bill. .

. . designed to suppress all
political movements. .

. . dashed India's hopes of gaining
the self-government. .

. . that the British rulers had kept
promising through the war years.

Dominating the Indian political
scene at this time. .

... was Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

who as barrister in
South Africa. .

. . had fought for the rights of
the Indians living in that country.

As a protest again the
Rowlatt Act. .

Gandhi launched a movement
of Passive Resistance.

But the masses misinterpreted
the movement. .

. . and following a rumour of
Gandhi's arrest. .

. . violence broke out in many
parts of the country.

As a result of this. .

. . the Government started taking
repressive measures. .

. . out of all proportion to the
magnitude of the violence.

In the Punjab,
Martial Law was declared.

In charge of the troops
at Amritsar. .

. . was Brigadier General Dyer.

On the first day of the month
of Vaishakh. .

. . the crowd gathered in
Jalianwala Baug. .

. . as it had done very other year.

It was a peaceful crowd.

But Dyer was taking no chances.

News of the Amritsar incident
was suppressed by the Government.

But details filtered through
to other parts of the country

and even to the abode of peace.

Rabindranath rushed to Calcutta.

But the Defense of India Act
was still in force.

And no leaders would support him
in a plea for a meeting of protest.

At 4 o'clock in the morning of
May 30th. .

Rabindranath finished writing
a letter.

It was addressed to the
Viceroy.

Condemning the Government for the
killing in Punjab.

Rabindranath ended by saying. .

"And I for my part. .

. . wish to stand shorn of all
special distinctions. .

. . by the side of my countrymen "

"who, for their so-called
insignificance. .

. . are liable to suffer degradation
not fit for human beings. "

"And these are the reasons which
have painfully compelled me. .

. . to ask Your Excellency to relieve
me of my title of Knighthood.

The next ten years of
Rabindranath's life. .

. . were filled with ceaseless
activity.

The urge to travel and the
necessity to collect funds. .

. . for his University, took him to
all parts of the world.

And the West as much as the East
welcomed him with open arms.

Wherever he went, he spread
the message of peace

and stressed the importance of
intellectual co-operation between
nations.

He said. .

"We aught to know that isolation
of life and culture. .

. . is not a thing of which any
nation can be proud. "

"In human world,
giving is exchanging. "

" It is not one-sided. "

He also said. .

"I do not put my faith in
any new institutions "

" but in the individuals all
over the world. .

. . who think clearly, feel nobly
and act rightly. "

"They are the channels of
moral truth. "

His great humanist ideas found an
echo in the best minds of Europe.

And some of them became
his close friends.

In the meanwhile. .

the institution of Shanti Niketan. .

. . had come a long way from
it's modest beginnings.

Its scope for studies had
greatly increased.

There was Kala Bhavan for the
study of painting. .

. . under Masters like
Nandulal Bose.

Who was himself a pupil of
Abanindranath, the poet's nephew.

The Sangeet Bhavan. .

. . which neglected
no branch of Indian Music. .

. . had also grown under
Dinendranath. .

. . another nephew of the poet.

Special provisions were made
for conducting oriental studies.

And scholars came from
all over the world. .

stayed to lecture, for research,
to exchange ideas.

Such men were, Levvy, Winternitz
Lezny, Stan Kanov. ???

And there were some Europeans
who did even more than that.

Charles Freer Andrews. .

. . a missionary who was present at
Yeat's reading of Gitanjali.

And William Winston Lee Pearson,
who also met poet in England. .

. . came to the Ashram
in its early days. .

. . and stayed on until their death,

working with the selfless devotion
to the poet and his cause. .

. . that few Indians could equal.

Leonard Elmhirst was another
Englishman. .

. . whom Tagore had met
in America.

He was drawn by the poet's
personality,

came over to Shanti Niketan. .

. . and took charge of the
School of Rural Handicrafts.

Another of Rabindranath's
experiments. .

. . at Shurul, 2 miles from
Shanti Niketan.

His last European tour began with
a visit to Oxford

where he delivered the
series of Hibbert lectures. .

. . which were later published as
'The Religion of Man. '

It was also on this last trip

that Rabindranath went to
Soviet Russia for the first time.

On the eve of his departure
from Moscow, he told his hosts. .

"You have recognized the truth. .

. . that in extirpating all social
evils one has to go the root. "

"And the only way to it
is through education. "

In Russian as well as
in other countries. .

. . that he visited on this tour. .

Rabindranath held exhibitions
of his paintings.

At the age of 70, Rabindranath had
found
a new outlet for his creative urge.

It was astonishing, the way
it started.

In 1931

. . the leading citizens of Calcutta
united in an appeal. .

. . to observe the poet's
70th birthday.

It was celebrated in a manner. .

. . that was truly worthy
of the occasion.

The golden book of Tagore. .

. . was a testimony to the love
and reverence. .

. . that the intellectuals of the
world bore for Rabindranath.

Its sponsors consisted of
three Europeans and two Indians.

There was Romain Rolland
from France. .

Albert Einstein from Germany. .

The poet Kostis Palamas
from Greece

The Indians consisted of the
scientists Jagdish Chandra Bose. .

. . who had been the poet's
closest friend 40 years.

The other Indian was
Mahatma Gandhi.

In physical appearance,
in personal habits. .

. . and in general outlook. .

. . the two differed considerably.

At several moments of crisis
in India's political history. .

. . the two had disagreed over
the course of action.

But these were on the surface.

The deeper affinity, transcended
all occasional barriers.

The last years of the poet's life. .

. . was spent largely in his
beloved Shanti Niketan.

He had a choice of a small
houses built for him.

For he never liked to stay
in the same house. .

. . or even in the same room
for long

It was, in a way, symbolic of the
refusal to get into a rut. .

. . which marked his whole life.

In his writings. .

he was now producing some of
his most striking. .

. . original and mature works.

And these included. .

. . text books and nonsense
rhymes for children.

Not an unusual occupation
for someone. .

. . who had loved and understood
children so well. .

. . and done so much to mold them
for a better future.

His health was failing.

But calls of duty, which he was
ever ready to answer. .

. . gave him little rest.

On 7th of May 1941,
Rabindranath was 80 years old.

Three months later. .

He was to leave Shanti Niketan,
never to return.

He would be taken to his
ancestral house in Calcutta,

fatally ill.

In this house,
once upon a time. .

A boy roamed the corridors.

What is the fun of all this
writing and writing?

When I take a father's
pen or pencil. .

and write upon his book,
just as he does...

A B C D E F G H I. .

Why do you get cross with
me then, mother?

You never say a word
when father writes.

When my father wastes such
heaps of papers. .

. . Mother, you don't seem to
mind at all.

But if I take only one sheet
to make a boat with,

you say, "Child, how troublesome
you are!"

What do you think of father's
spoiling. .

. . sheets and sheets of paper with
black marks all over on both sides?

Rabindranath attended the 80th
birthday celebrations. .

. . in Shanti Niketan
in spite of his failing health.

That day for the occasion,
he had compose a message,

his last message to the world.

It was called the
'Crisis In Civilization. '

It concerned itself. .

. . with the state of the so called
modern civilization.

A civilization that was being
shaken to its very roots. .

. . by barbaric wars of aggression.

At the course of this message

Rabindranath said:

"I had at one time believed

that the springs of civilization
would issue out of the heart of
Europe.

But today,

when I'm about to leave the world,

that fate has deserted me.

I look around and see the crumbling
ruins
of a proud civilization

strewn like a vast heap
of futility.

And yet

I shall not commit the grievous sin

of losing faith in men.

I shall look forward to a new dawn,

to a new chapter in history

when the holocaust will end

and the air will be rendered clean

with a spirit of service and
sacrifice.

Perhaps the dawn will come from this
horizon,

from the East

where the sun rises.

On that day will unvanquished man
retrace his path of conquest,

surmounting all barriers,

to win back his lost human heritage."

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Jai Rabindranath Devguriji!