Rabindranath Tagore
(1) Preface
(2) Life introduction
(3) Tagore's philosophy of education
(4) Establishment of Shantiniketan
(5) Epilogue
(1) Preface The name of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore is taken
with great respect among the builders of New-India. The life of Rabindranath
Tagore pervades the entire era of modern India. In his personal development,
the new awakening is found to be the main thing. The correct knowledge of his
social philosophy, thus inculcates in the Indian people a substantial knowledge
of the new history. The illiteracy of the vast Indian population shows great
differences with those of the West. Elimination of illiteracy through education
became a strong desire of his life. Rabindranath Tagore, rich in such a
personality, was an eminent poet, philosopher, politician, social reformer and
patriot. He gave a new direction to the education of the country by
establishing Shantiniketan.
(2) Biography Rabindranath Tagore was born on May 6, 1861 in
Calcutta. His father was Maharishi Devendranath Tagore. The Tagore family was
famous throughout Bengal for its prosperity, art, learning and music.
Rabindranath Tagore's father was a great social reformer, patriot and
philosopher. Tagore had inherited the qualities of scholarship, patriotism,
piety etc. from his father. His fame had spread not only in India but also
abroad.
Rabindranath Tagore's early education started with the
Oriental Seminar. Tagore did not like this school, so he was admitted to the
normal school but he was not satisfied even here. After this, he was educated
at home in Sanskrit, Bengali, English, painting, music etc.
In 1878, Tagore along with his elder brother Satyendranath
left for England for the purpose of getting education. Here he began his
studies at the Brighton School. He returned home after about two years. Thus
Tagore did not feel like in the formal education of the school. In 1881 AD, he
made up his mind to go to England to study law, but due to uncertainty and lack
of interest in education, he returned home again.
In 1901, Tagore established Shantiniketan near Bolpur for
the purpose of realizing his educational ideas. After this he devoted his life
to education and social service. At the time of the partition of Bengal in
1905, he entered politics and continued to work in this area till 1919.
While busy in these works, the poet heart of Rabindranath
was also engaged in the work of literature creation. Literary practice and
philosophy of life brought miraculous changes in his personality. 'Gitanjali'
is one such immortal work of Tagore, as a result of which he received the Nobel
Prize, the world's highest honor. It became a worldwide poem. All the songs in
it are reflections of supernatural experiences and symbols of internationalism.
After the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913, Rabindranath ji
was honored with the title of 'Knight' by the British Government, the
University of Calcutta conferred on him the degree of D.Litt. Mahatma Gandhi
honored Tagore with the title 'Gurudev'. From 1920 to 1930, he toured the
world, during which he presented his lectures. In 1940, Oxford University
conferred on him the title of D. Litu. This great son of India died on August
17, 1941.
(3) Tagore's philosophy of education was a complete
influence of his father's religious views on Tagore. Therefore, they believed
in the existence of God like Brahmo Samajis. He was a worshiper of humanity. He
was a prophet of love and cooperation. He taught man the lesson of unity and
harmony. He viewed the dividing principle with skepticism and considered the
entire human race to be one. They believed in God, so they also believed in
man. He believed that man is the form of God. God can be worshiped not only in
the temples of holy cities and churches in big cities, but also by plowing the
land and breaking stones.
Tagore's philosophy of personal life is reflected in his
philosophy of education. The credit for establishing Tagore as an educationist
goes to his own efforts. Whatever he learned or experienced throughout his
life, he tried to use it in education. Along with this, he has studied and
contemplated the prevailing educational philosophies. He gave artistic form to
his qualitative aspects with his aesthetic experiences. The contribution that
Tagore made in the field of education includes the works of Pestology and
Froebel and the deficiencies that were left in their works are filled. For
example, sports, dance and creative work have a special place in Froebel's kindergarten
method. Tagore told that this method can work successfully only when a
beautiful environment is created away from the harsh realities of life.
(4) Establishment of Shantiniketan- Shanti Niketan is located in the north-west, 165 km from Kolkata. In fact, Maharishi Devendranath ji had established an ashram here for his spiritual practice. Here he developed the natural environment with great diligence. Here he used to get spiritual bliss and get unparalleled peace. Hence he named it Shanti Niketan kept.
Rabindranath was fascinated by the natural beauty of this
ashram since childhood. Therefore, he chose this place to establish his
educational ideas in a tangible form. This school was started in 1901 with a
group of only five students. Later on this student number increased
tremendously, due to which financial difficulties started to arise. Fighting
with these problems, he did continuous education service.
On May 6, 1952, this educational institution was transformed
into an international school. It was named 'Vishva Bharati'. Visva-Bharati
Institute continued to progress. In 1953, this university came under the
protection of the Government of India.
(5) Epilogue: Tagore was the greatest prophet of the
educational revival of modern India. He constantly struggled to establish the
highest ideals of education in front of his country. He carried out educational
experiments in his educational institutions which made him a living symbol of
ideal. As a progressive school in EXIT AD, there were very few schools like
'Shanti Niketan' not only in India but all over the world.
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