Yes, he IS relevant even today.

“Age considers; youth ventures”. These words were spoken by none other than Rabindranath Tagore, nearly 100 years ago. His undying faith and confidence in the youth has made him relevant in young minds even 150 years after his time.

Despite his ancient appearance with his flowing white beard and hair, Tagore’s outlook and opinions were surprisingly modern. He religiously believed in the saying “Today’s youth is tomorrow’s future”, and devoted much of his life to educate, culture and inspire the young minds of his generation to the benefit of the country and in turn, the world. However, his efforts didn’t stop at his own generation alone – he went on to preserve his teachings in something more permanent than spoken words – written words.

In April 1905, Tagore was invited by the Vangiya Sahitya Parishad (a major literary association in Bengal) to address the college graduates of Kolkata. The lecture has been preserved in a collection of his works under the theme of “Self-Strength”. In his lecture, he strongly expressed his views and feelings towards the education of the generation.

At this time, India was still under the regime of the British Raj. In his lecture Tagore awakened the young in Bengal to a significant truth. He said that under the influence of the English, our society had reached the extent where we considered our native culture to be secondary. India had lost its self-pride, and those who excelled in literature were compared to literary phenomena in Britain, rather than Bengal – as though we didn’t have any rich culture ourselves. Michael Madhusudhan Datta was titled “The Milton of Bengal” and Bankim Chatterjee “Walter Scott of Bengal”. This fashion extended even till theatre, where an Indian actor had to be compared to Garrick to do him justice, despite Indian theatre having passed an era by the time Garrick came along. This lack of faith in our own culture resulted in a total lack of authenticity in thought. Today we are beginning to realise the meaning of this, as Bengali bands incorporate our native folk genres into their music to strengthen it and give it authenticity.

Tagore wanted to tell us that education must reach beyond the covers of a book – It must include practical resources to make the education stable. What use is there in learning the history of a country if you are not able to encounter it by visiting the country? Likewise, what use is living in a country of whose history we are totally ignorant of? This was the situation at that time – students memorised volumes of British history while remaining miserably ignorant of the history of their own land. Furthermore, education must include the awareness to enhance one’s own society or the education is fruitless. Once again, this is highly relevant in this century as well. Those with the capability, grow up with the aim of settling abroad. The thought of helping our own nation barely passes our minds.

This patriotism that was so deeply ingrained in his mind was spread amongst the youth through several of his poems, essays and plays. One particular dance drama, “Tasher Desh” (The Land of Cards), satirised the strict meaningless rules of the British. The play shows the journey of an adventurous prince and his friend to a land governed by meaningless rules. These Cards had never heard of the idea of ‘freewill’. The protagonist represented the free-spirited youth, while the Cards, the antagonists, symbolised the rigid British. On another level, we can also see the cards as the unwavering orthodox generation. The dance drama is still widely performed in Bengal as well as abroad, and is openly enjoyed by the young and old alike.

We often hear the words “In our days...” escape the mouths of the elderly. Rabindranath Tagore was vehemently against this approach. “These elderly people often criticise this age by comparing it to benefits of their own age. They have come to the ends of their journeys and are now simply calculating their advantages. They seem to forget that today’s young are also starting their journeys, full of hope and have decades left before they sit down to calculate! Each generation has its own advantages and disadvantages. The youth should be inspired to live life to the fullest...” he said in his lecture in 1905.

Tagore’s support towards the young has been reflected at its peak in his poem “Shobujer Abhijan” (The Adventure of the Green). In the poem, he has personified the new green plants of spring to be the youth and he calls out to them to break the idleness and monotony of the ancient who have fallen asleep.

“Youth of all ages, you are immortal. Shake off the old and diseased, unleash your endless spirit.”

Like in these lines, Tagore has immortalised youth. His significance will remain undiminished in the young minds for all the ages to come.