Tribute to the World poet from Mukto-mona ....

25th Baishakh, 1409 Bangla year : the 141st birth anniversary of Rabindranath Thakur, the foremost icon of Bengali literature and culture who single-handedly transformed our beloved Bengali language into its today’s modern and mature form by virtue of his extraordinary creative genius. A true internationalist in spirit and a firm believer of universal humanism, he toiled hard to promote and propagate the Bengali language and literature in the world stage which eventually led to his winning...... (Read More)

On May 8 (Baishakh 25) Bengal’s greatest poet Rabindranath Thakur’s 141st birth anniversary came. However, there was no mention of it in any of the Internet newspapers published from Bangladesh or in any forum excepting Mukto-Mona. I was saddened by this negligence of our newspapers and forum moderators. Lately, we are so much wrapped up in our work that hardly there is any time for Rabindranath’s birthday celebration. The poet had departed this mortal world nearly 61 years ago when ....  (Read more)

I ran into Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore the other day on a busy Kolkata street. It was Jorasanko, the neighborhood where he was born in his legendary family house—the ThakurbaRi. Of course, the area is now one of the dirtiest in Kolkata, or for that matter, in India. But that's beside the point. I didn't anticipate I'd be able to strike up a conversation with him. But somehow I managed to do it. For the next few minutes, he put up with my insolence, and graciously answered all the stupid questions and comments I had for him. I report that memorable experience to you...  (Read more)

Being an earnest fan of Rabindranath Tagore visiting Shantiniketan had been a long cherished desire for me. My dream suddenly came true due to the 90th Foundation Day of the Sakhawat Memorial School which I had the privilege to join as an associate member of the alumni. In this regard I am thankful to Mrs. Sultana Zaman who made it possible for those of us who were not connected to their association, to accompany them. The event took place from 12th to 13th of January 2002. Our programme was to spend five days in Kolkata and three days in Shantiniketan....  (Read more)

Tagore and Einstein met through a common friend, Dr. Mendel. Tagore visited Einstein at his residence at Kaputh in the suburbs of Berlin on July 14, 1930, and Einstein returned the call and visited Tagore at the Mendel home. Both conversations were recorded. The July 14 conversation is reproduced here,  . ...(Read more)

Until his death in 1941, Tagore towered over the rest of his contemporaries. Awarded the Nobel prize for literature, he has left a lasting imprint. It is a commentary on the vitality of Bengali literature that even the presence of a Tagore did not stultify the growth of talent in others At the turn of the twentieth century, Bengali had already emerged as a remarkably versatile medium of expression, rich in vocabulary and  . ...(Read more)

Poet Nazrul Islam could be aptly called as the Keats of Bengal. Similar to English poet John Keats who was a handsome man and whose literary life was shortened by a disease, our Nazrul too was a handsome man and his literary geniuses only lasted from 1920 through late 1930s. In this short period of quarter century or so, he wrote innumerable poems and songs without even collecting a single one for himself. . ...(Read more)

I thought about writing a few words on this issue on Rebel poet Kazi Nazrul Islam for whom I myself have great appreciation. "Does Nazrul's own words mean anything?". Well it should but his words had been so different from time to time that it is tough to figure out one single ideology or even a consistent evolution of ideas. Let me give a few examples from his own writings to highlight these inconsistencies.. . ...(Read more)