Friday, August 7, 2009

Rabindranath Tagore, a question, and a hope

Tagore was the first Bengali to win the Noble Prize in literature. He created masses of amazing songs, poems, and stories that were translated into many different languages, appreciated by Bengali people as well as from people around the world. Well, I am digressing from the point of my post, which is not to acclaim Tagore, because there are far able people who can do a better job, but to raise a question that suddenly popped into my mind while I was watching a program on Tagore. Why haven't we seen any other Bengali noble laureate in literature after Tagore? It has been decades since Tagore passed away, and I don't think we have seen anyone else in Bengali literature rise to the pinnacle like Tagore. Are the Bengalis losing their creative and literary minds, I hope not, the ability to stitch together words that talk about simple life, and sway people's mind - maybe materialistic nature is burgeoning on the creative minds before they can bloom, who knows? But I do hope, and I will be greatly elated, that at some point we get to see another Tagore rise up to transform Bengali literature into new directions.

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