His many Moods

That flowing beard and the aquiline nose is familiar to most Bengalis and indeed,Indians.

That flowing beard and the aquiline nose is familiar to most Bengalis and indeed,Indians. Actually it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Tagore’s middle-aged profile has been etched into our collective psyche. It’s an image that elicits instant reverence in us,an unquestioning reverence which goes in arm with our grousing dedication towards the father of the nation,Mahatma Gandhi. As it happens with most larger-than-life figures,a singular aspect or phase of their life gain prominence and media exposure,overshadowing all other.

That’s probably why,we cant really associate the almost rakishly good-looking man staring out of the pages of Portrayal of Nemories with the Bengali bard. He is a willowy man,dressed in a well-cut kurta and an intricately embroidered shawl thrown across his shoulders. He is standing next to his wife and it seems that he is almost challenging the camera to take a bad shot of him. This is a Tagore unlike any other we know.

The best thing about Abhik Kumar Dey’s pictorial biography on Tagoreis the fact that it does not limit itself to the man and his life. Dey actually takes the pains to document Tagore’s times through painstakingly put-together pictures of contemporaries and scanned copies of newspaper clippings from those times. I wanted to offer the reader a chance to have the most authentic and intimate stroll inside his life through photographs,letters,sketches and many other important documents. I also wanted the reader to know about the awe-inspiring heritage of the Tagore family, says Dey. The book also tells us about the scholars,literary giants,patriotic leaders,scientists and social reformers who were in close contact with Tagore and were instrumental in shaping the 19th century Bengal Renaissance movement.

For Dey,this book was a long-standing dream. His admiration of the poet found fruition in an earlier work,Rabindra Smristir Alamkaran,which explored the paintings of the poet and paintings of other artists used as illustrations and covers of Tagore’s works.

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