Tagore`s contribution to litterateur, poetry remembered

Admirers of Tagore discussed his contribution to literature, poetry, playwright, education and culture at a grand event to mark his 150th birthday.

Cairo: Admirers of Rabindranath Tagore discussed his contribution to literature, poetry, playwright, education and culture at a grand event to mark the 150th birth anniversary of the Noble laureate here.

Prof Galal Amin, the renowned Egyptian sociologist and economist and writer gave a captivating talk, titled `Remembering Rabindranath` on his own personal recollections from Tagore?s writings and its influence on him. Amin compared Tagore to the great Arab poet El Muthanabi and Egyptian poet Shawki, whom he had met and became friends on his visit to Egypt in 1925. The function, which included the melodious rendering of Rabindra sangeet, screening of a documentary on Tagore’s `Gitanjali`, was attended by large number of dignitaries including Ambassador of India R Swaminathan, Ambassador of Bangladesh Mizanur Rahman, well-known architect Mohamed Abou Seada, senior Egyptian officials and artists. "The world identifies him as a mystical poet who was the first Asian to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913. But Tagore was more than a poet," said Indian envoy Swaminathan at the function held at the Opera House Complex. Suchitra Durai, the Director of the Indian Cultural Centre, highligted the multifaceted personality of Tagore and his historic contribution to Indian literature and culture. Tagore, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913, was a master of several literary forms ? he was a poet, a novelist, a short-story writer and a playwright. Born in May 1861, Tagore`s contributions reshaped Bengali literature and music in the late 19th and early 20th century. Tagore is perhaps the world`s only writer whose compositions have been adopted as the national anthems of two countries: India and Bangladesh. Tagore also became a celebrated painter at the age of 60. Tagore was also an educationist and an internationalist who visited many countries, including Egypt. The programme, organised by the Embassy of India in cooperation with the Embassy of Bangladesh and Egypt`s Ministry of Culture, was the first of many events to commemorate the birth anniversary of Tagore. PTI