Tagore Centre at IIAS

The proposal,submitted by the Institute sometime back,stand already approved by Union Ministery of Human Resource Development and now waits approval of a high power committee headed by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. “This is going to be nation’s biggest tribute to Tagore — whose contributions as a popular poet,novelist,musician,painter ,playwright,social scientist and philosopher have been acknowledged internationally”,a senior HRD official told the Indian Express here.

The excitement over the upcoming centre is palpable at the Institute.As says Director Peter Ronald deSouza “ Looking at the kind of mandate,which IIAS has been given by its visionary founder s like Porf S. Radhakrishnan,the Centre will be a biggest contribution that Institute will be able to make to Tagore’s life and legacies.We are getting ready for the events to follow in the 150 th year of Tagore”.

As proposed the Centre — which will be a permanent Tagore Chair at the IIAS,will have four fellows,including one exclusively working on his works in the creative field like visual art,theatre,music etc.Tagore had composed more than 2,200 songs and was a prolific painter. Some of his songs are an integral part of Bengali culture. Tagore’s music is been inseparable from his literature — poems or parts of novels,stories,or plays alike — became lyrics for his songs.

Other three – few also foreigners,will devote on Tagore’s works in the Indian literature ,humanities and social sciences.The funding will be provided by the HRD ministry .

“ We have suitable infrastructure,wherewithwals and environment to facilitate advanced studies on this greatest human being of the century ,having influence across the world.There are some of the amazing facts about Tagore’s personality ,which need to be explored. He (Tagore) had travelled almost all over the world and even had met noble Laureate Albert Einstein in 1930 — and he turned out to be a greatest admirer of Tagore”,deSouza informs.

The setting of the Tagore centre in Shimla also coincides with UNESCO plans to commemorate the 150th Anniversary of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore in 2011. Union HRD Minister Kapil Sibal has recently been at Maison de L’Inde City University,Paris extend Indian government��s endorsement to the celebrations. A rare Iconography of Tagore obtained with the help of Visva Bharati University was also displayed at the function there,including a rare photo of Tagore with Mahatma Gandhi and another with Einstein. A similar commemoration was also earlier also organised in 1961 for his 100th Anniversary.

Only recently,Himachal tourism department had also launched a coffee table book – Har Ghar Kuchh Kehta Hai,which also contains details on Tagore’s association with Shimla including his stay and peoms written at Woodfield.

UNSECO beside Tagore,is also planning 100 th year anniversaries of two other international poets – Pablo Neruda,also a noble Laureate from Chile and African-Martinican poet Amie David Cesaire.