Unity in Diversity

My friend Audrey Jones,  a member of the University of the Third Age,  is a regular visitor to The Tagore Centre in North London and is an admirer and follower of Tagore.

She gave a presentation a couple of years back and today kindly read her dissertation to me over the phone. I plucked out major chunks as part of my personal research into the arts and culture of Bengal.

Tagore 1861-1941 Nobel Prize Winner for Literature 1913. In England he lived in Hampstead and attended University College London.

A song without a melody is like a butterfly with its wings clipped.

There where the whole world unites is the nest.

Tagore created a spiritual climate in his own soul.

The relationship between God and Man and Nature is circular. No one of the three is more important than the other.

Tagore loved story-tellers and story-telling, the Bengali language and literature, nature, and wanted the human race to be a melting pot of cultures and people.

He was not a Buddhist.

Come learn more on Saturday 10th November at the Brady Arts Centre E1

“The Life and Work of….” Coming on Thursday 8th November

One of the remarkable things about Humayun’s long and distinguished literary career is his influence. His writing is so influential that people not only get psychological pleasure from reading his books, but usually end up becoming fans of his fictional characters, such as Himu, Misir Ali, and Baker Bhai. His creations generate the smells, sounds, and vibrations of feelings and moods, which are more powerful than all the unused hydrogen bombs in the United States. However, in death, Humayun’s celebrity seems likely to exceed his popularity, even at the height of his fame. His funeral, which was held in Dhaka on Tuesday, became a Super Bowl-like event: millions of Bengalis from all walks of life flocked to the Central Shaheed Minar yesterday to say “Hasta la vista, Humayun Sir.”