A page from his Geetanjali

Of the many stories we heard of Rabindranath Tagore and his family while growing up, my favourite was the one about the full moon night. A few days or weeks after the death of Tagore's son, his nephews, nieces and the younger members of the family wanted to go watch the full moon and experience the jotsna in the forest. The younger ones were pleading with the elder family members to let them go, to which eventually, Tagore agreed. Promising to join them soon, he sat down at his writing table and could not help writing the lines – Aaj jotsna rate shobai geche bone – everyone visits the forest on this moon-lit night – which eventually became one of the most hauntingly beautiful songs of Tagore's.

All through the song, Tagore wonders about the beauty of the forest, the moon covering it with its light and the awestruck spectators. However, he prefers to stay within the four walls of his cell. He wants to spend the time cleaning his home, his hearth, with utmost care.

One does not know if the story holds any truth. For that matter, many of the incidents have probably been twisted and changed based on imagination and storyteller's sense of poetic justice. But this story is held very close to heart, simply because it defines one of the most important elements of life and death – life might stop for some after death, however in reality, life moves on, and that too in its very own pace.

It must have torn at Tagore's heart when suddenly experiencing the jyotsna in the forest became so much more important for his family members than his son's untimely death. For a moment, Tagore must have found it difficult to fathom the idea of the moon still shining out in to the forest, even after such a tragedy struck him hard. But of course, as he quickly realised, life moves on and the show must go on.