Poet, painter, social reformer and institution builder, Rabindranath Tagore stands as one of the most iconic Indians in the global scenario. Revered in Bengal, he has created a whole industry around himself that thrives even after 150 years of his birth, while his institution, Visva-Bharati, is now a bustling central university. However, Tagore?s iconic status remains restricted largely within Bengal and India today.
The problem of translation looms large in this case and is most evident in the publishing industry around his writings. With the expiry of the copyright, Tagore is available in various editions and at affordable rates. But inadequate translation into English and other Indian languages means that the breathtaking variety of his works largely remained unknown outside Bengal. While recent attempts are being made to correct this (the Oxford and Rupa series on Tagore are notable examples) in English, translations in regional and other foreign languages need further impetus. Tagore collections that might familiarise audiences with the range of Rabindranath?s creativity are few and far between and their production remains leaves much to be desired.
The need to bring out innovative well-planned translations is recognised by Kumkum Bhattacharya, director of the Visva-Bharati publishing department. ?We have already brought out a translation of the Dakghar (Post Office) and Tasher Desh (The Card Country) in a sleek box set and more such volumes are on the way,? she says. Regular festivals and book fairs dedicated to him could also stimulate interest by making a variety of books and research available on him.
The Tagore music industry thrives within Bengal and every puja remains an occasion for budding artists to try their hand at Rabindrasangeet. Celebrations of his birthday renew the Bengali love affair with his songs and Rabindrasangeet is by far the most popular item in the Bengali music industry. But the question remains that Tagore songs are virtually unknown outside Bengal and India today. By and large, there has been inadequate engagement with marketing Rabindrasangeet on a global level. It is ironic because Rabindrasangeet has been used in popular cultural forms and has proved successful. Tagore?s plays were performed in his lifetime and globally recognised, yet there has been little experimentation and adaptation of them in recent times. Ashok Mahapatra, a professor in English from Sambalpur University, was recently struck by the evocative music and performance of Tagore?s dance dramas. Unfortunately, no translations or adaptations in other languages are available, and these haunting productions remain beyond the pale of most Indians and foreigners. With the rise of visual culture, this is a potent area to tap, and the adaptation of Tagore into cinema will generate a lot of interest in him.
Places associated with Tagore have blossomed into tourist destinations. Jorasanko, the ancestral residence, attracts visitors, while Santiniketan records a footfall of thousands on weekends and on special occasions. These places also vibrate with an industry of handicrafts that Tagore established to revitalise the rural economy. Sadly, the handling of the tourist inflow remains woefully disorganised. Paul, a tourist from France, has to rely on local half-informed guides and rickshaw pullers to go around Santiniketan. Drawn to Tagore?s philosophy of universalism, he laments that the university hasn?t set up a guided tour or produced a documentary to trace the evolution of the institution. ?I would want the museum to house a store where memorabilia and handicrafts associated with the place are available,? he says. Madhuri, a young student of fine arts in Baroda, is fascinated by Tagore?s paintings and looks for other prints by artists of the Santiniketan School, but is disappointed. ?I was looking for replicas of Ramkinkar?s works; why can?t they sell them at within the museum itself?? she complains. ?With Kalabhavana (the Department of Art) around, I would have expected cards, sculptures and replicas freely available here. A guided tour across the campus would have generated both interest and revenue for at the university and students could be roped into the project,? she says. Few tourists bother to visit Sriniketan, the site of Tagore?s experiments with rural development, or Palli-Siksha Bhavana (Institute of Agriculture), so that much of the poet?s multifaceted personality remains unknown. Nilanjan Banerjee, special officer, Rabindra Bhavana (the Tagore Museum) outlines his plans to redesign and overhaul the museum complex, highlighting the array of Tagore?s responses to nationalism, globalisation, social reform and his travel and reception across the world. ?We are already selling prints of Tagore?s pictures and paintings and the response has been fantastic,? he says. Having visited Stratford and looked at the ways in which the Bard of Avon is marketed, he plans to make available an assorted range of memorabilia?calligraphy, key chains, coffee mugs, T-shirts, statues and the like to cater to the interest of visitors. As part of the 150th birth anniversary, documentaries and publications are being planned and the occasion may stimulate a serious rethink. Tagore was also a pioneer in envisioning a system of holistic education, a concept that several leading schools in India have experimented with. In that sense, they too are part of a larger industry that has evolved around his ideas.
Occasions like Vasantotsav (spring festival) or Poush mela (the winter fair), festivals initiated by Tagore, form the life and blood of the economy of Bolpur and its adjoining areas. ?Tagore had transformed a small obscure town into a tourist hub and a centre for handicrafts,? confesses Asit, who runs the shop called Silpayan that manufactures handicraft items. ?Sales are phenomenal,? he says, ?our leather products, cotton yarn, stoles are exported. The lives of hundreds of artisans have now reached a comfort zone.? Once a rural hamlet, Bolpur is now a rapidly expanding town with a range of hotels and eateries. An interesting development has been the rampant expansion for real estate industry around this university, because the place is seen as a fashionable weekend retreat for rich and middle-class Bengali families. Ironically, one of the leading housing complexes is named Sonar Taree after Tagore?s poetry. Almost all the major builders have now a stake in this thriving industry that threatens to choke the university and an amusement park completes the tourist package. There is a salon named after Gurudev, while Sports Tagoreland jostles for space with a poultry shop named after him.
Despite this thriving size of the Tagore industry, Mausumi Sen, a lecturer in a local college, sees it as deeply disorganised and often rooted in a regional bias. ?We need more aggressive strategies to make Tagore?s vision of India and the world available. He was after all one of the first serious philosophers of global peace and cooperation,? she argues. ?Composite festivals like the one held at ICCR in Kolkata where publications, book fairs performances, translation workshops and seminars need to be organised on a regular basis to stimulate the engagement with Tagore. We have transformed him into a saint and a Bengali saint at that. It is time to make him available nationally and globally,? she sums up.
As Rabindrasangeet wafts in, a motley crowd gathers before the Tagore Museum in Santiniketan. The Tagore industry is at work elsewhere. The question remains, can it be broadened and modernised to live up to his global status as the world poet?