Rabindranath Tagore. Woman’s Face.Ink on paper. 50.8 cms x 53 cms. IMAGE COURTESY NATIONAL GALLERY OF MODERN ART, NEW DELHI.

I GREW UP IN KOLKATA. IN MY FORMATIVE YEARS, GURUDEV TAGORE INFLUENCED ME
and many of my friends. When I was in middle school, we were introduced to
Rabindra Sangeet. Tagore’s profound words affected me deeply – “Jodi tor dak shune
keo na ashe tobe aekla chalo re”. If your ideas are not accepted, go alone, follow your
conviction.

This song is my mantra.

When I started ART India, there were many sceptics and naysayers. When I first
sought to improve the standard of the J.J. School of Art, there were obstacles.
Perseverance was the key. It always has been. We have to move forward, believe in
ourselves and if we dither in our tracks, Gurudev’s words remind us not to give up.

Gitanjali has anthems of hope for most of us.

Who can forget lines like:

“Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth”

I hear Tagore’s voice and I smile and I sing. In the meanwhile, the air fills with the
perfume of promise. Easily one of the noblest representatives of our land, Tagore is
an extraordinary son of India.

I salute him on his 150th birthday!

Sangita Jindal