Visva-Bharati represented Tagore’s ideational vision. Hence, it was not just an academic institution; it evolved a design for refashioning human beings who had become machines, fulfilling their exclusive goals at the expense of others, especially those who were victims of different forms of oppression. What bothered the bard was the sustenance of socio-cultural prejudices of one section of people against another due to caste and religious differences. While studying at Visva-Bharati, students were required to be in touch with the villagers in the vicinity of the campus, which allowed them to become acquainted with how they survived through cultivation. Although educated Bengalis generally did not value those who worked in the paddy field, Tagore, through his training and writings, generated a passion among the students of Visva-Bharati for these socio-culturally peripheral sections who earned their livelihood as tillers of the soil.
The book also reiterates that Tagore wanted Visva-Bharati to be a platform for all from all over the world. It was a Visva-Neer or a nest for people from various parts of the world, regardless of their identities. Implicit here was his compassion for humanity, which was, he believed, indivisible. But humanism appeared nearly redundant due to colonialism, an outcome of the peculiar unfolding of historical processes since the onset of industrialization. What bothered the poet most was the nurturing of enmity out of differences among human beings, which meant that humanism ceased to be a cementing factor (p. 36). According to him, the forces opposed to humanity emerged uncontrollably due to the lack of moral and spiritual power complementary to its growth and consolidation (p. 37).
The author deserves praise for highlighting Tagore’s contribution to contemporary political discourse. By following a somewhat familiar mode of reasoning, she has referred to his three lectures on Nationalism, which he delivered in Japan and the US in 1916. It is commonly believed that he opposed nationalism as an ideological tool because he considered it destructive. In fact, his assessment was valid because he recognized that the nationalist egos of the nations involved in the First World War led to irreparable damage to humanity. The argument was thus context-driven. His approach to nationalism was differently textured, particularly in his two novels, Gora (1910) and Ghare Baire (1916). There, nationalism was neither entirely rejected nor hailed, but it cemented a bond among those fighting for India’s emancipation from the British yoke. He joined the nationalists during the 1903-08 Swadeshi Movement because it challenged an unacceptable British decree to partition Bengal. What brought people together was their nationalist urge to oppose an alien power that undertook a step to deploy a divide-and-rule strategy to segregate Hindus from Muslims and vice versa permanently.
The creation of Visva-Bharati was a micro-experiment the poet conducted to instill a sense of togetherness among the pupils, despite their diversity. Besides providing a different kind of education, which he described as Tapoban Siksha, Visva-Bharati gradually became a common space for people from various walks of life, serving as a genuine alternative to the English education introduced by Macaulay (p. 73). The author ends the text with a poignant note, drawing on a confession by Edward Thompson, who was probably the fiercest critic of Tagore in the 1920s. Thompson was later persuaded that what Tagore did for humanity as a whole was perhaps inconceivable to anyone other than him. It was thus admitted by Thompson when he admired Tagore for ‘educating a lot of typical John Bulls like myself’ (p. 76). During the inter-war period, Visva-Bharati became a place for peace and tranquillity, and Tagore was its navigator. This was an achievement for a poet who, besides his innovative literary texts, remains, even today, a beacon of light for those seeking a pathway forward amidst adverse circumstances.
The book is a descriptive account of how the Santiniketan Ashram was transformed into an institution for the generation and transmission of knowledge through an alternative pedagogy. It contains some rare photographs taken when Tagore was actively involved in the activities of Visva-Bharati as an alternative centre of learning. There are also some of Tagore’s writings as appendices. The book would be helpful for the uninitiated, as it traces the evolution of Visva-Bharati under Tagore’s tutelage assisted by colleagues he had chosen.
Bidyut Chakrabarty is former Vice Chancellor of Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan, West Bengal.