Tagore the Traveller

Tagore in Buenos Aires, Argentina (1924).

Tagore first crossed the 'kalapani' (the ocean, crossing which was considered inauspicious by Hindus) in 1878 for higher studies to London via Paris, and stayed there for a year and a half (September 1878-February 1880). Although he studied at the London University for just four months, he wrote a column for his family magazine under the title “'Uropey Probashi'r Potro” (“Letters of an expatriate from 'Urope”). His lonely, homesick stay there kept him deterred from travelling for nearly a decade, when he visited London again in 1890.

Tagore was scheduled to visit London in early 1912, but he fell sick and spent a lot of time on the river Padma for recovery. It is then when he translated his works from “Gitanjali” in English. When he visited London later that year, Gandhi-disciple missionary priest Charles F Andrews, Irish poet William Butler Yeats and English poet-artist Thomas Sturge Moore became fans of his works.

The translations were published as “Gitanjali: Song Offerings”, the foreword of which was written by Yeats. Tagore's Nobel win for the book brought him to the attention of the literary world, and he visited the US that year, where he stayed for a nearly a year. In 1916-17, he gave a series of lectures in USA and Japan, many of which were on anti-nationalism.

On invitation from the respective governments, Tagore next visited Peru and Mexico. His visit to Argentina in 1924 saw him fall ill, where his famous encounter with stalwart Argentine writer Victoria Ocampo happened. After coming back to India in 1925, he visited Italy the next year, where he met their fascist leader Benito Mussolini. Although the two shared cordial relations at first, they fell out later when Tagore spoke against him in lectures.

In his late sixties, Tagore went on a four-month trip across Asia, where he toured Bali, Java, Kuala Lumpur, Malacca, Penang, Siam and Singapore – that can be found in his travelogue “Jatri”.

In 1930, at the age of 69, Tagore again visited Europe and USA, where he had exhibitions of his artworks in London and Paris, and wrote his Hibbert Lecture “The Religion of Man” in Birmingham (UK). That same year, he visited Germany, Switzerland, Denmark and the erstwhile Soviet Union. Tagore's last travel was to Iran, the land of Persian poet Hafiz – of who he was an ardent fan, followed by Iraq and Singhal (now Sri Lanka).

All his life, Tagore wanted to delve into the society and politics, and had an unyielding interest and curiosity about the lives of people in different parts of the world – that made him the globetrotter he was. His thoughts and philosophies were shaped by his experiences and the luminaries he met, while he had his own share of impact on those he met. Jawaharlal Nehru, in his book “The Discovery of India”, termed Tagore as India's international personality, who believed in cooperative works with world powers. He reached the messages of India to the world, and brought the messages.