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Shubhasita: Noble Thoughts.....
Happy New Year to all!!
Noble thoughts always inspire us. Sometimes these great thoughts are
presented so simply that it can be understood very easily. Each week
I'll try to post thought provoking writings from great personalities..
Hope you enjoy it!!
thanks
Chandan
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.. Rabindranath received me graciously. He emanated an aura of charm, culture,
and courtliness. Replying to my question about his literary background, he
told me that he had been chiefly influenced by our religious epics and by
the works of Vidyapati, a popular fourteenth century (Vaishnava) poet.
Inspired by these memories, I began to sing Tagore's version of an old
Bengali song, "Light the Lamp of Thy Love". Bhola(my nephew) and I
chanted joyously as we strolled over the Vidyalaya grounds.
About two years after founding the Ranchi school, I received an invitation
from Rabindranath to visit him at Santiniketan and discuss our educational
ideals. I went gladly. The poet was seated in his study when I entered; I
thought then, as at our first meeting, that he was striking a model of
superb manhood as any painter could desire. His beautifully chiseled face,
nobly patrician, was framed in long hair and flowing beard. Large, melting
eyes, an angelic smile; and a voice of flute like quality that was
literally enchanting. Stalwart, tall and grave, he combined an almost
womanly tenderness with the delightful spontaneity of a child. No idealized
conception of a poet could find more suitable embodiment than in this gentle
singer.
Tagore and I were soon deep in a comparative study of our schools, both
founded along unorthodox lines. We discovered many identical
features-outdoor instruction, simplicity, ample scope for the child's
creative spirit. Rabindranath, however, laid considerable stress on the
study of literature and poetry, and on the self-expression through music
and song that I had already noted in the case of Bhola. The Santineketan
children observed periods of silence but were given no special yoga
training.
The poet listened with flattering attention to my description of the
energizing "Yogoda" exercises and of the yoga concentration techniques
taught to all students and Ranchi( A place in Bihar).
Tagore told me of his own early educational struggles. "I fled from school
after the fifth grade," he said, laughing. I could readily understand how
his innate poetic delicacy would be affronted by the dreary, disciplinary
atmosphere of a schoolroom.
"That is why I opened Santiniketan under the shady trees and the glories of
the sky." He mentioned eloquently to a little group studying in the
beautiful garden. " A child is in his natural setting amidst the flowers and
the songbirds. There he more easily express the hidden wealth of his
individual endowment. True education is not pumped and crammed in from
outward sources, but aids in bringing to the surface the infinite hoard of
wisdom within"*.
- Autobiography of a Yogi: Rabindranath Tagore and I Compare Schools
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[* "The soul having been often born, or, as the Hindus say, `traveling
the path of existence through thousands of births'...there is nothing of
which she has not gained the knowledge; no wonder that she is able to
recollect ..... what formerly she knew... For inquiry and learning is
reminiscence all."
- Emerson, " Representative Man"
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A mind all logic is like a knife all blade.
It makes the hand bleed that uses it.....
- Rabindranath Tagore
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