These 'handicaps' were to torment him throughout his life and even death failed to overcome them. He was always overshadowed by his illustrious Nobel Laureate father, rathindranath, whom he followed and emulated throughout his life. He dedicated himself to the task of implementing the cherished dream of his father, as evinced by his humble submission as Sevak Sri Rathi ("Humble servant Rathi").
A cursory look at the life of rathindranath will substantiate his competence in various facades of creativity. His degree in Agricultural Science, fetched from the University of Illinois, U.S.A. helped him to start experimentations in agriculture in Silaidaha- Patisar at the insistence of his father and in 1922 he was instrumental in the establishment of Sriniketan, a centre for village reconstruction, which played a pivotal role in introducing innovative farming in pre-independent India.
Apart from his routine work, inspired and dictated by rathindranath, he excelled in creative endeavors as well. He was a dexterous artist and his nature sketches including flower studies exude his artistic sensibility. Several constructions strewn in Santiniketan and Sriniketan demonstrate his skill in architectural design. A pioneer of the "Inlay Technique", he created a style of his own in crafting innovative design in furniture-making. He played a significant role in the popularization of leather craft as a major cottage industry in Bengal. As a matter of fact, he paved and modeled the taste of middle class Bengali intelligentsia in respect of design and interior decoration.
Another significant arena in which he excelled was literature. He was a prolific writer and his biography, essays, stories, a few poems and speeches delivered on different occasions, make up his oeuvre.
His contribution towards the collection of rathindranath's memorabilia, which is a treasured possession of rathindra-Bhavana today, will be remembered by all Tagore connoisseurs forever.
As an administrator rathindranath excelled. He was the first Vice-Chancellor of Visva-Bharati, and steered the institution through many moments of crisis. So powerful was his dedication to the cause of Visva-Bharati that he refused to be nominated to the legislative assembly and single-mindedly continued to' serve the institution. It is indeed a pity that such an outstanding icon has hardly received his due recognition. rathindra-Bhavana, Visva-Bharati therefore shoulders the responsibility to bring his creative facets into light by the publication of this volume. This book is divided into three sections. The first section contains articles on rathindranath, while in the second part reminiscences of rathindranath have been recorded. A selection of rathindranath’s own articles and addresses has been incorporated in the final section. Some unpublished articles have also been included here. While Rathindranath's writings and articles reveal his creative aspect, the various addresses delivered on separate occasions have been included to indicate the sheer range of issues that Rathindranath had tackled at Visva-Bharati. We have retained the spellings that were used in the original manuscripts and published texts.
We acknowledge our profound gratitude to our Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sushanta Dattagupta, without whose inspiration this book would never have seen light of the day.
We take this opportunity to record our sincerest thanks to "Team Rathindra-Bhavana" and Santiniketan Press for their assistance and support in burning the midnight oil to prepare this volume.
We dedicate this book to Rathindra admirers.
Book's Contents and Sample Pages
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