There is not a single Bengali child who grows up without reading a lot of Rabindranath Tagore. From the toddler stage whether in poems, stories, songs or plays, Tagore is an integral part of Bengali consciousness. And even outside the confines of Bengal on both sides of the border, Tagore, as the only Indian Nobel Laureate in literature occupies a position that is peerless. Feisal Alkazi’s book Tagore for Today is a teaching resource that aims to bring the bard into the classroom, and make him more accessible to the current generation of children, by using not just academic tools but an interesting mix of literature and art appreciation. As the blurb states, ‘Every child may not grow up to be a writer or an artist, but learning to understand the arts is essential to education.’ In this aim alone, to get children to learn to understand and appreciate the arts, the book is an invaluable resource. It aims to highlight the multifaceted genius that Tagore was and is, and the relevance of his worldview even today.
November 2016, volume 40, No 11