The telented writer who made India proud by becoming the first Indian to win the Nobel prize in literature was also the first non-european to win the prestigious award. Born on 7 May 1861 into a Bengali family in Kolkata, the writer dazzled the world with his brilliant writings and spiritual insights. He composed india's stirring national anthem and is well-loved even after 150 years of his birth also known by the sobriquet Gurudev, the versatile genius being discussed is none other than rabindranath tagore. The grandmaster of Bengali culture and a towering figure of Indian literature, tagore was a poet, visual artist, novelist, musicians, playwright, educator, philosopher,and a social reformer . Although he wrote successfully in all literary genres , he was first of all a poet . Tagore came to the attention of the world almost a hundred years ago when he reached London with Gitanjali , an English translation of some of his poems originally written in Bengali. Moved by tagore's poetry ,lrish poet William Butler Years penned down a preface to Gitanjali. Talking about the charms of Gitanjali, Yeats wrote in the prefaces : " these prose translation from Rabindranath tagore have stirred my blood as nothing has for years." Yeats 'enthusiasm was echoed by the Nobel committee who presented Tagore with the Nobel prize in literature for "his profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse".The enthusiastic admiration Gitanjali received upon publication in March 1913 is evident in the fact that it was reprinted ten times by November 1913, when the award was announced. Some of the notable volumes of his poetry are Manasi, sonar tari, Gitanjali, gitimalya and Balaka. His major plays are raja, Dakghar, Achalayatan, Muktadhara and raktakaravi. He also authored several volumes of short stories, novels, musical dramas, dance dramas, essays, travel diaries and two autobiographies.He wrote over 2000 songs belongings to a genre now well-known as Rabindrasangeet. A visual artist of the first order , tagore composed numerous drawing and painting. Proclaimed as the greatest poet India has ever produced, tagore was perhaps the only litterateur who penned anthems of two countries - Jana Gana Mana for India and Amar Shonar Bangla for Bangladesh. Through the powerfully evocative lyrics of our national anthem and his other fine compositions , Tagore continues to inspire and guide a billion Indian hearts . In a fitting tribute to this great poet and Patriot many institutes across India and the world commemorated the 158th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore in May 2018.
