Rabindranath Tagore: A Biography.

RABINDRANATH TAGORE: A Biography. By Uma Das Gupta. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. 2004. 120 pp. Rs. 225, cloth. ISBN 0-19-5669800-0.

During the past decade, there has been an attempt by a small group of scholars in the area of Tagore studies to reassess and "restore" the life and works of Rabindranath Tagore, Asia's first Nobel Laureate, for a new generation of readers, east and west. New translations, as well as studies of Tagore's historical milieu and multi-faceted activities, aim to make him more accessible to a wider contemporary audience. Such studies indicate how limited the Western perception of Tagore-as-mystic, formed around the 1913 Gitanajali period, has been, and how an accurate understanding of him must consider the extraordinary range and sheer volume of his long and productive artistic life, as well as his many socio-political and educational activities.

Rabindranath Tagore: A Biography, by Uma Das Gupta, a volume in the Oxford University Press series of short biographies on nineteenth-century contributors to modern India, is a welcome addition to this development. The author is a well-known scholar in the field of Tagore studies. She has been closely associated with Tagore's educational centre at Santiniketan, and has written a history of Santiniketan and a detailed study of Tagore's rural reconstruction efforts in Sriniketan.

In constructing a biography of Tagore geared toward a general audience, the author has chosen to focus on Tagore the man of action, and on the activist concerns that dominated his life, such as religious and educational reform, nationalism and internationalism, rural development and the promotion of self-esteem for his countrymen. The study utilizes source materials in both English and Bengali, such as archival files, manuscripts, correspondence, interviews, etc.

The book has ten chapters, with an appendix of selected letters that illuminate various aspects of the biography. Early chapters chronicle Rabindranath in his historical and familial setting, and explore how his attitudes were shaped by the cosmopolitan joint-family environment. The author traces the ways in which the Tagore family sought to create a viable synthesis of the old and new influences during the renaissance period, and how Rabindranath steered a path outside the framework of sectarian Hindu orthodoxy and imperialism in his quest to create a model for a humane India. Tagore's exposure to rural Bengal through the family estates is explored as a turning point for his spirituality and concerns for rural uplift.

The middle chapters concentrate on the evolution of Rabindranath's educational experiment at Santiniketan and Sriniketan and how his approach to Indian autonomy differed from that of Mahatma Gandhi, despite a close relationship between the two. The study examines Tagore's creative writing during this period as a reflection of his growing social concerns.

The final chapters move to Rabindranath's international experience following his reception of the 1913 Nobel Prize and his attempts to create an environment at Visva-Bharati, in which a global community could relate in ever more inclusive social and political terms. The author assesses Tagore's legacy and examines the extent of his influence, as well as criticism that has been levelled against him. Given the author's knowledge of Santiniketan and Sriniketan, more of her own critique would have been appreciated in this section. Also, given that the biography is of interest to specialists, as well as non-specialists, it would have been helpful to include more specific reference notes and an index.

In sum, the author has constructed a compact accessible biography of Tagore's work as a man of action, which should be of value to both specialist and non-specialist alike. The biography explores and highlights important and neglected aspects of Rabindranath, which, hopefully, will encourage the reader to delve further into the works of this neglected icon from Bengal.

KATHLEEN M. O'CONNELL

University of Toronto, ON, Canada