1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:03,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:13,880 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:17,759 Speaker 1: I'm Sarah Dowdy and I'm very happy to be joined 4 00:00:17,800 --> 00:00:21,520 Speaker 1: by my new co host today. Yep, I'm Deblina chokoate 5 00:00:21,560 --> 00:00:24,400 Speaker 1: boardy I will be joining Sarah and talking about history 6 00:00:24,400 --> 00:00:27,600 Speaker 1: stuff with you. Yeah. Deblina is the homepage editor here 7 00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:31,400 Speaker 1: at how Stuff Works. Um so she basically programs the 8 00:00:31,400 --> 00:00:34,960 Speaker 1: whole homepage every day. So if you've ever visited the site, 9 00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:38,479 Speaker 1: you have seen Debilina's handiwork. Yes, and I hope you've 10 00:00:38,479 --> 00:00:41,280 Speaker 1: clicked on lots of things quick, lots of length. That's 11 00:00:41,280 --> 00:00:44,559 Speaker 1: what we all want you to do. But um, Debilina, 12 00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:47,440 Speaker 1: why don't you give us a little background on this 13 00:00:47,560 --> 00:00:52,000 Speaker 1: topic and explain why you picked it today? Sure? Well, 14 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:56,959 Speaker 1: today's topic is a little bit maybe appropriately maybe inappropriately 15 00:00:57,120 --> 00:01:02,440 Speaker 1: personal to myself. My parents are India, they're Bengali, and 16 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:06,440 Speaker 1: our topic today is Rabindranath Tagore, who is a well 17 00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:09,919 Speaker 1: known Bengali figure, probably best known for being the first 18 00:01:09,959 --> 00:01:13,839 Speaker 1: Asian Nobel laureate. And it's the hundred and fiftieth anniversary 19 00:01:13,840 --> 00:01:15,440 Speaker 1: of his birth. So it's been in the news a 20 00:01:15,440 --> 00:01:17,520 Speaker 1: lot lately. Yeah, there's a lot of stuff going on 21 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:21,280 Speaker 1: to celebrate his birth this year, UM, including the kol 22 00:01:21,360 --> 00:01:24,640 Speaker 1: Kappa Film Festival, has showed movies that are based on 23 00:01:24,680 --> 00:01:29,399 Speaker 1: his works. Um. People are performing his plays, school children 24 00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:32,640 Speaker 1: are performing his songs and his dance dramas, and so 25 00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:35,000 Speaker 1: it's a big to do. There's even a traveling train, 26 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:38,200 Speaker 1: which seems like probably the best part of the celebration 27 00:01:38,240 --> 00:01:41,479 Speaker 1: in my opinion. The traveling train is indeed awesome. It 28 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:46,759 Speaker 1: is visiting cities throughout India until next May, and each 29 00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:50,200 Speaker 1: car features kind of a different aspect, and it's featuring 30 00:01:50,440 --> 00:01:53,400 Speaker 1: mostly arts type of stuff. Like the other celebrations are 31 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:57,480 Speaker 1: like a museum on the move, essentially exactly great. Um, 32 00:01:57,520 --> 00:02:00,960 Speaker 1: but a lot of people don't really appreci she how 33 00:02:01,840 --> 00:02:04,360 Speaker 1: just how much of an accomplished artist this guy was. 34 00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:06,720 Speaker 1: How much of an accomplished poet he was? He was 35 00:02:07,200 --> 00:02:10,680 Speaker 1: a singer, a philosopher, he was interested in politics, he 36 00:02:10,720 --> 00:02:15,959 Speaker 1: was an educator, a reformer. Um, he wasn't a politician exactly, 37 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:19,040 Speaker 1: but I mean his influence there is pretty great too. 38 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:21,600 Speaker 1: He he just touched on so many different things. It's 39 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:25,040 Speaker 1: kind of, I don't know, it's kind of inspiring when 40 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:27,680 Speaker 1: you start looking at his life and also sort of 41 00:02:27,680 --> 00:02:30,280 Speaker 1: makes you feel like got up to that, what have 42 00:02:30,360 --> 00:02:34,320 Speaker 1: I done? Right? So his work in the political arena 43 00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:37,200 Speaker 1: and his reformation efforts that you mentioned last, those are 44 00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:39,519 Speaker 1: probably the things that are lesser known about him. Most 45 00:02:39,520 --> 00:02:42,200 Speaker 1: people know about his arts, his involvement in the arts 46 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:46,880 Speaker 1: scene in India, all his contributions there's far songs, plays, dramas, 47 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:49,960 Speaker 1: everything goes. But I think that people don't know what 48 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:52,680 Speaker 1: he contributed as far as politics well, and he's not 49 00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:55,040 Speaker 1: that well known in the West at all. So I mean, 50 00:02:55,080 --> 00:02:58,120 Speaker 1: we have a lot to explore, even the things he's 51 00:02:58,160 --> 00:03:00,840 Speaker 1: famous for in India definitely. And one of the things 52 00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:02,240 Speaker 1: that he is famous for that will take a look 53 00:03:02,240 --> 00:03:04,600 Speaker 1: at today he was knighted by the British government and 54 00:03:04,680 --> 00:03:07,120 Speaker 1: some accused him of being a pro British elitist and 55 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:10,880 Speaker 1: there's some controversy around that Nighting to try to talk 56 00:03:10,919 --> 00:03:14,080 Speaker 1: about a little later we will, um, But really what 57 00:03:14,120 --> 00:03:16,800 Speaker 1: we're gonna look at is just was he a nationalist 58 00:03:16,919 --> 00:03:19,400 Speaker 1: or not? Um? Was this just a different approach to 59 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:23,679 Speaker 1: nationalism for him? His involvement in politics and um look 60 00:03:23,720 --> 00:03:26,880 Speaker 1: at his renunciation of the of the knighthood and what 61 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:30,320 Speaker 1: surrounded that. So before we get into that, let's look 62 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:33,839 Speaker 1: at his beginnings. He was born May six, eighteen sixty one, 63 00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:37,880 Speaker 1: in Calcutta into a well to do, well educated, very artistic, 64 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:40,960 Speaker 1: progressive family. Yeah, he was really exposed to a lot 65 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:43,600 Speaker 1: as a kid too. I mean, his family would have 66 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:47,680 Speaker 1: been reading Sanskrit and ancient Hindu text and Persian literature 67 00:03:47,960 --> 00:03:51,920 Speaker 1: and known Islamic tradition. So imagine it this real melting 68 00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:55,320 Speaker 1: pot in his home of learning and um, just a 69 00:03:55,320 --> 00:03:59,160 Speaker 1: lot of intelligent discussion, I imagine, definitely. I think it 70 00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:03,880 Speaker 1: was unique to any culture at the time. And let's 71 00:04:03,880 --> 00:04:05,560 Speaker 1: talk about that time a little bit. It was during 72 00:04:05,560 --> 00:04:09,240 Speaker 1: British rule in India when he was born, and his family, 73 00:04:09,280 --> 00:04:11,839 Speaker 1: the two Gores, they were very active in the Bengal Renaissance, 74 00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:15,160 Speaker 1: which was basically a movement that began in the mid 75 00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:19,640 Speaker 1: eighteen sixties to protect national culture. It was really to preserve, um, 76 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:23,080 Speaker 1: the local culture, the arts, all the things that his 77 00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:27,880 Speaker 1: family wanted to celebrate, the traditional heritage, and it was 78 00:04:27,920 --> 00:04:32,360 Speaker 1: a response to Anglicization. So they would throw festivals every 79 00:04:32,440 --> 00:04:36,120 Speaker 1: year that featured Angian songs and poems and dances, and 80 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:39,200 Speaker 1: you mentioned wrestling matches when we were talking about this earlier. 81 00:04:39,240 --> 00:04:41,560 Speaker 1: I thought that was kind of a surprise thrown in there, 82 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:44,240 Speaker 1: but hey, it's a part of culture, right that the 83 00:04:44,360 --> 00:04:47,560 Speaker 1: arts with a little wrestling boards of aspect of culture 84 00:04:47,800 --> 00:04:52,120 Speaker 1: like sports. So in addition to being involved in this 85 00:04:52,400 --> 00:04:56,600 Speaker 1: yearly cultural event to Gore's father, Deb's enough to Gore, 86 00:04:56,960 --> 00:04:59,480 Speaker 1: he was very involved in something called the Brahma Somage. 87 00:04:59,760 --> 00:05:03,120 Speaker 1: The Aramis Homage was basically a movement within Hinduism, which 88 00:05:03,160 --> 00:05:06,600 Speaker 1: is established around or so, and it was an attempt 89 00:05:06,680 --> 00:05:09,800 Speaker 1: to reform Hinduism. What I mean by that is that 90 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:13,480 Speaker 1: it incorporated some aspects of Christianity. It denounced things like 91 00:05:13,640 --> 00:05:18,799 Speaker 1: polytheism and idol worship, and it also denounced the cast system. 92 00:05:18,839 --> 00:05:22,359 Speaker 1: So through this they were trying to um enact some 93 00:05:22,400 --> 00:05:25,240 Speaker 1: sort of social reform. But it never really became that 94 00:05:25,279 --> 00:05:29,440 Speaker 1: widely popular. Um. Yeah, I mean, even though I guess 95 00:05:29,440 --> 00:05:33,520 Speaker 1: it's still technically around today, it didn't really grow much 96 00:05:33,560 --> 00:05:36,200 Speaker 1: past the twentieth century or the early twentieth century. Yeah, 97 00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:40,159 Speaker 1: it's definitely recognized as a movement within Hinduism, um, but 98 00:05:40,320 --> 00:05:43,520 Speaker 1: I don't think it reached maybe the heights that to 99 00:05:43,640 --> 00:05:46,960 Speaker 1: Gore's father wanted it to the Brahmismdge movement. It did 100 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:49,559 Speaker 1: loose steam the twentieth century. But the important thing about 101 00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:52,279 Speaker 1: that is that we can see into Gore's life is 102 00:05:52,279 --> 00:05:55,279 Speaker 1: that it was combining these Eastern and Western ideals that 103 00:05:55,279 --> 00:05:57,960 Speaker 1: will see kind of throughout his development and in his 104 00:05:58,040 --> 00:06:01,359 Speaker 1: work and his philosophy. So that's the beginnings of that, 105 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:03,920 Speaker 1: I guess. Yeah. But I mean, if we're talking about 106 00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:08,679 Speaker 1: his childhood intellectual life aside um, he was kind of lonely. 107 00:06:08,760 --> 00:06:11,279 Speaker 1: He wasn't that close to his parents. This is according 108 00:06:11,279 --> 00:06:14,360 Speaker 1: to his own memoirs. M His dad was gone a lot, 109 00:06:14,440 --> 00:06:18,520 Speaker 1: traveling on business and um. Some people have suggested that 110 00:06:18,600 --> 00:06:22,360 Speaker 1: he just didn't really get much attention and love growing 111 00:06:22,440 --> 00:06:26,400 Speaker 1: up and sort of felt neglected in that respect. Yeah, 112 00:06:26,440 --> 00:06:29,599 Speaker 1: he did. He does give us accounts of traveling with 113 00:06:29,640 --> 00:06:33,479 Speaker 1: his father and his adolescence, but from what we can tell, 114 00:06:33,600 --> 00:06:37,440 Speaker 1: he wasn't really that close to anyone. Roby as he 115 00:06:37,480 --> 00:06:42,120 Speaker 1: was sometimes called, wasn't really close to his folks. But 116 00:06:42,279 --> 00:06:43,680 Speaker 1: that might have been a good thing because he was 117 00:06:43,720 --> 00:06:45,520 Speaker 1: given a lot of freedom. Because of that, he was 118 00:06:45,520 --> 00:06:48,080 Speaker 1: given a lot of space to develop creatively and to 119 00:06:48,200 --> 00:06:51,360 Speaker 1: write and that's exactly what he did. Yeah, So he 120 00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:55,039 Speaker 1: started writing at a very young age and kept on 121 00:06:55,160 --> 00:06:57,880 Speaker 1: doing it over six decades. He ended up writing about 122 00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:03,880 Speaker 1: two thousand, five hundred songs and twenty eight volumes of poetry, drama, opera, 123 00:07:04,279 --> 00:07:08,400 Speaker 1: short stories, novels, essays and diaries, plus a bunch of letters. 124 00:07:08,400 --> 00:07:10,280 Speaker 1: So this is what we meant at the beginning when 125 00:07:10,320 --> 00:07:13,200 Speaker 1: we're saying this can make you feel a little inadequate. 126 00:07:13,440 --> 00:07:16,480 Speaker 1: He lived a very long time, but he was writing 127 00:07:16,920 --> 00:07:22,680 Speaker 1: for his entire life pretty much NonStop, definitely. In eighteen 128 00:07:22,720 --> 00:07:25,440 Speaker 1: seventy seven, he actually went to England to study for 129 00:07:25,560 --> 00:07:28,400 Speaker 1: about a year at the University College of London, and 130 00:07:28,440 --> 00:07:30,200 Speaker 1: while he was there he wrote some more too. He 131 00:07:30,200 --> 00:07:33,600 Speaker 1: wrote some plays and he was introduced to the western 132 00:07:33,600 --> 00:07:36,960 Speaker 1: style of music there, but it didn't really last. He 133 00:07:37,040 --> 00:07:39,720 Speaker 1: ended up coming back after a year, and um, the 134 00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:41,600 Speaker 1: only thing that I could find on that is that 135 00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:46,320 Speaker 1: he thought it was too cold. Legitimate complaints. It's legit. 136 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:49,200 Speaker 1: I mean, I've lived in cold places. It's tough. But 137 00:07:50,160 --> 00:07:54,640 Speaker 1: that was definitely an influence in his life though, I think. Yeah, Um, 138 00:07:54,720 --> 00:07:57,440 Speaker 1: so you know, he came back to India after just 139 00:07:57,520 --> 00:07:59,920 Speaker 1: about a year of studies, but he kept on writing, 140 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:02,600 Speaker 1: and he published his first book of poetry when he 141 00:08:02,680 --> 00:08:06,480 Speaker 1: was only about seventeen, and then throughout the eighteen eighties 142 00:08:06,720 --> 00:08:10,480 Speaker 1: he kept on putting out books, all leading up to Manasci, 143 00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:14,400 Speaker 1: which was published in eighteen nine. And that's sort of 144 00:08:14,840 --> 00:08:18,440 Speaker 1: one of his first works that is fairly well known, 145 00:08:18,560 --> 00:08:21,240 Speaker 1: right yep. A lot of his well known poems and 146 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:24,560 Speaker 1: some of his well known political satire and commentary is 147 00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:27,640 Speaker 1: in that book. Uh. And that satire did take kind 148 00:08:27,640 --> 00:08:30,560 Speaker 1: of a critical tone toward towards his fellow Bengalis, and 149 00:08:30,560 --> 00:08:33,840 Speaker 1: so we see kind of his starting of his evolution 150 00:08:33,920 --> 00:08:37,040 Speaker 1: of his political views social views there. Yeah, because that 151 00:08:37,080 --> 00:08:40,120 Speaker 1: tone starts to change too in the eighteen nineties because 152 00:08:40,160 --> 00:08:44,240 Speaker 1: of his traveling and a few events that happened. Yep, 153 00:08:44,679 --> 00:08:47,400 Speaker 1: as we mentioned earlier to Gore's family was pretty wealthy, 154 00:08:47,440 --> 00:08:49,440 Speaker 1: so they had both a home in the city and 155 00:08:49,520 --> 00:08:53,000 Speaker 1: they had some estates in East Bengal, which we know 156 00:08:53,080 --> 00:08:58,240 Speaker 1: today is Bangladesh. So he went for a while in 157 00:08:58,280 --> 00:09:02,160 Speaker 1: the eighteen nineties to manage his is father's estates there 158 00:09:02,679 --> 00:09:05,040 Speaker 1: and he stayed there for about a decade. But this 159 00:09:05,080 --> 00:09:09,040 Speaker 1: area was pretty rural, pretty poverty stricken, and he was 160 00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:11,120 Speaker 1: in close contact with the villagers while he was there, 161 00:09:11,200 --> 00:09:13,600 Speaker 1: so it really gave him a new outlook, so to speak. 162 00:09:14,040 --> 00:09:16,200 Speaker 1: He gained a lot of sympathy for the plight of 163 00:09:16,240 --> 00:09:20,840 Speaker 1: the locals there, I think, and this began to inform 164 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:23,360 Speaker 1: his writing a lot, Yeah, and change his style a 165 00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:26,240 Speaker 1: little too even. Yeah, well, he started writing in a 166 00:09:26,240 --> 00:09:27,559 Speaker 1: little bit of a new style at that time. He 167 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:30,520 Speaker 1: started experimenting a little bit more with free verse as 168 00:09:30,559 --> 00:09:33,840 Speaker 1: opposed to earlier when he was I think when he 169 00:09:33,880 --> 00:09:38,680 Speaker 1: was younger, he was mostly writing in traditional classical Indian forms. Um. 170 00:09:38,720 --> 00:09:41,559 Speaker 1: Again part of this whole Bengal Renaissance thing, the idea 171 00:09:41,559 --> 00:09:44,400 Speaker 1: of preserving culture. But as he got more into the 172 00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:47,640 Speaker 1: eighteen nineties, started being a little more flexible with his form. 173 00:09:47,679 --> 00:09:49,920 Speaker 1: So that was one thing. But then also his subject 174 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:52,280 Speaker 1: matter I think started to explore more of what he 175 00:09:52,320 --> 00:09:55,120 Speaker 1: had seen, um some of more of the issues that 176 00:09:55,160 --> 00:09:59,080 Speaker 1: he had seen in rural Bengal. And so this informed 177 00:09:59,080 --> 00:10:02,480 Speaker 1: his work, uh, And I mean it wasn't just limited 178 00:10:02,559 --> 00:10:05,360 Speaker 1: to his own experiences too. He started to be influenced 179 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:08,640 Speaker 1: by some world events that were going on, namely the 180 00:10:08,640 --> 00:10:12,319 Speaker 1: Boer War in eighteen ninety nine and just a little 181 00:10:12,360 --> 00:10:15,080 Speaker 1: I've tried to do a real podcast on the Bower 182 00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:18,360 Speaker 1: War before and it didn't really work out. But to 183 00:10:18,480 --> 00:10:20,920 Speaker 1: give you a basic rundown of it, it was a 184 00:10:20,960 --> 00:10:25,720 Speaker 1: conflict between the two independent Dutch speaking Bauer republics of 185 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:30,240 Speaker 1: South Africa in the British Empire, and it was very bloody. 186 00:10:30,240 --> 00:10:33,680 Speaker 1: At the end, the Boer Republics agreed to come under 187 00:10:33,720 --> 00:10:36,880 Speaker 1: the sovereignty of the British Crown. So to Gore was 188 00:10:36,960 --> 00:10:39,960 Speaker 1: already starting to get kind of interested in politics and 189 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:42,480 Speaker 1: political writing when this was going on, but the Boer 190 00:10:42,559 --> 00:10:46,240 Speaker 1: War really it got him more interested in it. It 191 00:10:46,240 --> 00:10:51,960 Speaker 1: it made him look more into world politics, world events. Yeah, 192 00:10:51,960 --> 00:10:54,320 Speaker 1: so let's talk about two Gore's politics a little bit, 193 00:10:54,760 --> 00:10:57,040 Speaker 1: just to give people an idea of what was going 194 00:10:57,080 --> 00:10:58,400 Speaker 1: on in his mind and what point of view he 195 00:10:58,440 --> 00:11:01,840 Speaker 1: was coming from. A lot people, as we said before, 196 00:11:01,920 --> 00:11:05,280 Speaker 1: especially anti colonial nationalists, they accused to Gore of being 197 00:11:05,400 --> 00:11:09,320 Speaker 1: pro British and against the nationalist movement, and this wasn't 198 00:11:10,080 --> 00:11:12,160 Speaker 1: kind of had some truth to it, maybe, but wasn't 199 00:11:12,200 --> 00:11:16,440 Speaker 1: exactly true. To Gore was against colonialism, to put that 200 00:11:16,520 --> 00:11:19,600 Speaker 1: out there. He wanted India to be an independent nation. 201 00:11:20,080 --> 00:11:24,280 Speaker 1: But he didn't think that the confrontation and non cooperation 202 00:11:24,840 --> 00:11:29,240 Speaker 1: UM tactics that were used by some of his contemporaries 203 00:11:29,280 --> 00:11:33,240 Speaker 1: Gandhi obviously a very famous one, Mahandas Gandhi, who was 204 00:11:33,320 --> 00:11:37,000 Speaker 1: actually his friend. UM So they differed in this way. 205 00:11:37,920 --> 00:11:41,880 Speaker 1: He was one who did use these tactics and and 206 00:11:41,920 --> 00:11:45,760 Speaker 1: they disagreed on this, but they were still very good friends. 207 00:11:45,920 --> 00:11:49,160 Speaker 1: He was actually the first to call Gandhi Mahatma, which 208 00:11:49,200 --> 00:11:52,520 Speaker 1: means great soul, which I just learned that in this podcast. 209 00:11:52,559 --> 00:11:56,120 Speaker 1: So it wasn't it fun fact. But he certainly wasn't 210 00:11:56,440 --> 00:12:00,839 Speaker 1: pro British. He wanted India to be its own country exactly. 211 00:12:00,960 --> 00:12:03,800 Speaker 1: He just didn't think that a change, a straight change 212 00:12:03,800 --> 00:12:07,560 Speaker 1: in political regime is all that they needed. His answer 213 00:12:08,679 --> 00:12:13,520 Speaker 1: to the problem of India was education. He proposed that 214 00:12:13,559 --> 00:12:18,119 Speaker 1: only through education could the their nation really affect true change. 215 00:12:18,960 --> 00:12:21,840 Speaker 1: And actually, as an example of this, um I found 216 00:12:21,840 --> 00:12:24,120 Speaker 1: a statement that he made in nineteen o nine which 217 00:12:24,200 --> 00:12:26,720 Speaker 1: was actually a letter to an American lawyer who had 218 00:12:26,720 --> 00:12:29,360 Speaker 1: written him talking about the problem of India and what 219 00:12:29,400 --> 00:12:32,040 Speaker 1: was going on with colonialism. And it was from a 220 00:12:32,120 --> 00:12:36,200 Speaker 1: lawyer named Myron H. Phelps and to Gore put it 221 00:12:36,240 --> 00:12:39,000 Speaker 1: this way. To him, he said, for us, there can 222 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:41,920 Speaker 1: be no question of blind revolution, but of steady and 223 00:12:41,960 --> 00:12:45,719 Speaker 1: purposeful education. He said, that's basically what it would take 224 00:12:45,760 --> 00:12:49,440 Speaker 1: to snap his people out of the quote trance that 225 00:12:49,559 --> 00:12:52,920 Speaker 1: cold blooded repression had put them under. Yeah, so, I 226 00:12:52,920 --> 00:12:55,960 Speaker 1: mean some people see this as just a different approach 227 00:12:56,040 --> 00:13:01,920 Speaker 1: to nationalism. It's it's not revolution, it's revolution through education. Yeah. 228 00:13:01,960 --> 00:13:05,600 Speaker 1: He wanted his country not just to be independent, but 229 00:13:05,640 --> 00:13:08,559 Speaker 1: to be independent and truly truly be independent in every 230 00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:12,760 Speaker 1: aspect um, you know, not just be free from an 231 00:13:12,800 --> 00:13:15,640 Speaker 1: oppressive government, but to be able to stand alone as 232 00:13:15,640 --> 00:13:18,079 Speaker 1: a nation. And he thought education was the only way 233 00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:20,640 Speaker 1: that they would be able to do that. So, yeah, 234 00:13:20,720 --> 00:13:22,360 Speaker 1: you're right, some people do just think that this is 235 00:13:22,400 --> 00:13:25,800 Speaker 1: a different approach to nationalism um that he was taking. 236 00:13:26,240 --> 00:13:28,400 Speaker 1: So a good thing to do, though, if you're interested 237 00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:31,920 Speaker 1: in education is to start your own school, why not, 238 00:13:32,080 --> 00:13:34,080 Speaker 1: which is exactly what he did, and he did just that. 239 00:13:34,240 --> 00:13:38,480 Speaker 1: He founded an experimental school at Shanta Nikitan. It's a 240 00:13:38,520 --> 00:13:41,640 Speaker 1: small town in west Bengal which means a bode of peace. 241 00:13:42,320 --> 00:13:44,760 Speaker 1: And this wasn't his first experience with this town. His 242 00:13:44,880 --> 00:13:49,520 Speaker 1: dad I had founded a oshroom there, So he founded 243 00:13:49,520 --> 00:13:53,120 Speaker 1: a school there too, And his whole idea behind the 244 00:13:53,160 --> 00:13:55,760 Speaker 1: school was pretty much goes along with his philosophy that 245 00:13:55,760 --> 00:13:57,680 Speaker 1: he's had all along. You know. He felt that the 246 00:13:57,720 --> 00:13:59,600 Speaker 1: East and West needed each other, and so he wanted 247 00:13:59,600 --> 00:14:03,480 Speaker 1: to encore break both types of thought into this school 248 00:14:03,480 --> 00:14:05,200 Speaker 1: that he had. So what he did is he got 249 00:14:05,280 --> 00:14:08,920 Speaker 1: both Indiana and Western scholars to teach there. And um, 250 00:14:08,920 --> 00:14:11,560 Speaker 1: it was a different kind of environment than outdoor classes. 251 00:14:11,679 --> 00:14:14,080 Speaker 1: They had outdoor classes. That's pretty neat like the sound 252 00:14:14,120 --> 00:14:17,679 Speaker 1: of that. Um, But just because he's running this school, 253 00:14:17,800 --> 00:14:20,040 Speaker 1: sounds like that would kind of keep you preoccupied. I 254 00:14:20,120 --> 00:14:24,520 Speaker 1: don't think he's not writing. He's still writing prolifically. Um. 255 00:14:24,600 --> 00:14:28,320 Speaker 1: And unfortunately going through a few personal tragedies in the 256 00:14:28,320 --> 00:14:33,520 Speaker 1: early nineteen hundreds. His wife died in nineteen o two. Incidentally, 257 00:14:33,640 --> 00:14:36,160 Speaker 1: they had gotten married when she was only ten years 258 00:14:36,160 --> 00:14:40,240 Speaker 1: old and he was twenty two. Um. And then after 259 00:14:40,280 --> 00:14:43,160 Speaker 1: his wife died, he also lost his father and two 260 00:14:43,160 --> 00:14:47,040 Speaker 1: of his children, all in this really short period of time. Yes, 261 00:14:47,080 --> 00:14:50,720 Speaker 1: And it was the sadness resulting from these events that 262 00:14:50,840 --> 00:14:56,680 Speaker 1: inspired several poems song poems as they're sometimes called, which 263 00:14:56,720 --> 00:15:00,160 Speaker 1: he translated into English and published as a collect and 264 00:15:00,280 --> 00:15:04,520 Speaker 1: called Keith and Joy in nine twelve. And some have 265 00:15:04,600 --> 00:15:07,000 Speaker 1: said that the fact that he did translate themselves is 266 00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:10,880 Speaker 1: not necessarily a good thing. Yeah. I mean they still 267 00:15:10,920 --> 00:15:17,160 Speaker 1: sold well apparently between March and November nineteen thirteen, ten reprints. Um. 268 00:15:17,200 --> 00:15:20,480 Speaker 1: But yeah, his his translations came under a lot of 269 00:15:20,480 --> 00:15:24,520 Speaker 1: scrutiny later. If if you've ever come across him in 270 00:15:24,640 --> 00:15:27,480 Speaker 1: a literature class or something, and you're outside of India, 271 00:15:27,800 --> 00:15:31,040 Speaker 1: it might be some sort of comparison to W. B. Yates. 272 00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:34,160 Speaker 1: And they were friends, if you could call it that, 273 00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:36,600 Speaker 1: for about thirty seven years. They had a really long 274 00:15:36,640 --> 00:15:41,480 Speaker 1: relationship with each other, and Yates is largely credited to 275 00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:45,320 Speaker 1: exposing him to the West, you know, introducing him to 276 00:15:45,360 --> 00:15:49,240 Speaker 1: the West and helping make him famous there. But they 277 00:15:49,240 --> 00:15:54,040 Speaker 1: had kind of a tumultuous friendship to say the least. Yep, 278 00:15:54,120 --> 00:15:58,360 Speaker 1: they actually met through William Rothenstein. He was an artist 279 00:15:58,440 --> 00:16:01,560 Speaker 1: who hosted to Gore and One in in around nineteen 280 00:16:01,600 --> 00:16:03,960 Speaker 1: twelve nineteen thirteen, so around the time that he was 281 00:16:04,520 --> 00:16:09,040 Speaker 1: publishing this translation and When to Go arrived. He gave 282 00:16:09,240 --> 00:16:14,760 Speaker 1: Rothenstein an English translation of these poems and Rothenstein then 283 00:16:14,960 --> 00:16:17,520 Speaker 1: sent them to Yates and some other some other people 284 00:16:17,920 --> 00:16:22,440 Speaker 1: about town. Yates apparently loved them. He was really really 285 00:16:22,480 --> 00:16:26,000 Speaker 1: into them. He apparently said, quote, I have carried the 286 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:29,680 Speaker 1: translations of these manuscripts about with me for days, reading 287 00:16:29,720 --> 00:16:33,000 Speaker 1: it in railway trains or on top of omnibuses or 288 00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:35,920 Speaker 1: in restaurants, and I've often had to close it less 289 00:16:35,960 --> 00:16:40,600 Speaker 1: some strangers see how much it moved me. Um, But 290 00:16:40,600 --> 00:16:42,400 Speaker 1: I don't know. Maybe we should talk about yates His 291 00:16:42,520 --> 00:16:45,200 Speaker 1: later opinion in a minute, because this is the this 292 00:16:45,280 --> 00:16:48,280 Speaker 1: is to Gore's rising star at this point, this is 293 00:16:48,520 --> 00:16:51,960 Speaker 1: his fame starting to spread throughout the West as well 294 00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:54,560 Speaker 1: as the East. So people finally got to know him 295 00:16:54,760 --> 00:16:56,640 Speaker 1: through this. They finally got to know him through this 296 00:16:56,720 --> 00:16:59,800 Speaker 1: English translation and through people kind of spreading the word 297 00:16:59,800 --> 00:17:03,760 Speaker 1: abou out him, and it led and will not people 298 00:17:03,760 --> 00:17:05,840 Speaker 1: spreadying the word, but just his talent, I guess, led 299 00:17:05,880 --> 00:17:09,360 Speaker 1: to him winning the Noble Prize for Literature in thirteen. 300 00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:11,919 Speaker 1: As we mentioned, he was the first Asian to receive 301 00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:15,000 Speaker 1: such an honor, and after that his fame kind of 302 00:17:15,040 --> 00:17:19,960 Speaker 1: grew exponentially, fame outside of India, that is, he was 303 00:17:20,040 --> 00:17:23,240 Speaker 1: knighted by King George the Fifth of Britain in nineteen fifteen, 304 00:17:23,280 --> 00:17:25,560 Speaker 1: and he started traveling abroad a lot more. He wasn't 305 00:17:25,600 --> 00:17:27,880 Speaker 1: in India as much as he used to be. He 306 00:17:27,960 --> 00:17:32,200 Speaker 1: was doing lectures and readings. He went to Europe, North America, 307 00:17:32,320 --> 00:17:36,560 Speaker 1: South America, Asia, East Asia, um, all over the place. 308 00:17:36,760 --> 00:17:39,320 Speaker 1: So yeah, he was one of the most famous Indians 309 00:17:39,320 --> 00:17:42,120 Speaker 1: in the world at this point, perhaps the most famous. 310 00:17:42,359 --> 00:17:46,639 Speaker 1: But then, unfortunately, something really bad happened. On April thirteenth, 311 00:17:46,760 --> 00:17:50,359 Speaker 1: nineteen nineteen, in a Star which is located in the 312 00:17:50,400 --> 00:17:54,119 Speaker 1: state of Punjab in India. British soldiers fired on an 313 00:17:54,200 --> 00:17:57,040 Speaker 1: unarmed gathering of men, women and children who had come 314 00:17:57,080 --> 00:17:59,680 Speaker 1: into the city to partake in a traditional Sikh festival. 315 00:18:00,720 --> 00:18:03,800 Speaker 1: There was a peaceful nationalist demonstration going on that day, 316 00:18:03,840 --> 00:18:06,719 Speaker 1: but many of the people who who were around, who 317 00:18:06,720 --> 00:18:08,879 Speaker 1: were involved in the shooting, they weren't even really a 318 00:18:08,880 --> 00:18:12,080 Speaker 1: part of the demonstration exactly. They were completely kind of 319 00:18:12,119 --> 00:18:14,480 Speaker 1: innocent of whatever was going on. So a lot of 320 00:18:14,560 --> 00:18:18,640 Speaker 1: lives were lost, and we don't know exactly how many. 321 00:18:18,800 --> 00:18:21,520 Speaker 1: A lot of sources you look at, and I think 322 00:18:21,560 --> 00:18:24,160 Speaker 1: the official number reported by the British Raj was three 323 00:18:24,600 --> 00:18:27,720 Speaker 1: seventy nine, but some people say that it could have 324 00:18:27,760 --> 00:18:30,240 Speaker 1: been as many as a thousand or more. Well, and 325 00:18:30,280 --> 00:18:32,720 Speaker 1: then the accounts of it in the British press were 326 00:18:33,800 --> 00:18:36,840 Speaker 1: especially disturbing. You know, they were treating it as though 327 00:18:37,080 --> 00:18:39,400 Speaker 1: it had been a riot and the people who were 328 00:18:39,480 --> 00:18:43,959 Speaker 1: killed had gotten themselves into trouble essentially, and people just 329 00:18:44,119 --> 00:18:48,800 Speaker 1: had a very unfortunate reaction to to the whole thing 330 00:18:48,840 --> 00:18:50,720 Speaker 1: that went down. Yeah, it was weird. It was a 331 00:18:50,720 --> 00:18:54,960 Speaker 1: big cover up um for obvious reasons. They didn't want 332 00:18:54,960 --> 00:18:56,679 Speaker 1: people to know that this had gone down the way 333 00:18:56,720 --> 00:18:59,639 Speaker 1: it had, because there was basically no reason for these 334 00:18:59,680 --> 00:19:01,800 Speaker 1: people being killed, so they had to spin it. They 335 00:19:01,800 --> 00:19:05,639 Speaker 1: had to spin it and uh. But then there were murmurings, 336 00:19:05,640 --> 00:19:08,040 Speaker 1: of course, of what had really happened throughout India and 337 00:19:08,080 --> 00:19:10,440 Speaker 1: to Gore caught wind of this, and he was pretty 338 00:19:10,520 --> 00:19:13,520 Speaker 1: disgusted by the entire situation and it kind of changed 339 00:19:13,560 --> 00:19:16,280 Speaker 1: his outlook and it definitely changed the way he felt 340 00:19:16,320 --> 00:19:19,320 Speaker 1: about being a British night. So he wrote a letter 341 00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:22,560 Speaker 1: to Lord Chelmsford, who was the Viceroy of India at 342 00:19:22,560 --> 00:19:26,160 Speaker 1: the time, and renounced his knighthood. And if you read 343 00:19:26,160 --> 00:19:29,840 Speaker 1: his letter, it's interesting because it is so formal, so polite, 344 00:19:29,880 --> 00:19:33,800 Speaker 1: it's very written in very precise English, but I don't know. 345 00:19:33,840 --> 00:19:37,919 Speaker 1: He's clearly very deeply disturbed by what's happened and can't 346 00:19:37,960 --> 00:19:42,320 Speaker 1: reconcile being a night with supporting this definitely. Um, we 347 00:19:42,400 --> 00:19:44,720 Speaker 1: have a little excerpt from the letter just to give 348 00:19:44,720 --> 00:19:47,680 Speaker 1: you an idea of how incensed he was via the situation. 349 00:19:48,440 --> 00:19:51,439 Speaker 1: He says, the very least I can do for my 350 00:19:51,520 --> 00:19:55,960 Speaker 1: country to take all consequences upon myself in giving voice 351 00:19:56,000 --> 00:19:59,160 Speaker 1: to the protest of millions of my countrymen surprised into 352 00:19:59,280 --> 00:20:02,879 Speaker 1: dumb anguish of terror. The time has come when badges 353 00:20:02,920 --> 00:20:06,720 Speaker 1: of honor make our shame glaring in their incongruous context 354 00:20:06,760 --> 00:20:09,639 Speaker 1: of humiliation. And I, for my part, wish to stand 355 00:20:09,840 --> 00:20:12,640 Speaker 1: shorn of all special distinctions, by the side of those 356 00:20:12,680 --> 00:20:16,040 Speaker 1: of my countrymen who, for their so called insignificance, are 357 00:20:16,119 --> 00:20:20,160 Speaker 1: liable to suffer a degradation not fit for human beings. Yeah. 358 00:20:20,320 --> 00:20:24,360 Speaker 1: So this was the end of this quote, total cooperation 359 00:20:24,480 --> 00:20:30,440 Speaker 1: with the British, and it changed people's opinions of him too. Um, 360 00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:33,119 Speaker 1: he wasn't the same guy anymore. And I mean we 361 00:20:33,160 --> 00:20:36,639 Speaker 1: can talk about that, maybe first in a literary sense, 362 00:20:37,040 --> 00:20:41,680 Speaker 1: with Yates, because people have suggested that this is part 363 00:20:41,760 --> 00:20:45,720 Speaker 1: of the reason why Yates's opinion of Tore soured. According 364 00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:49,520 Speaker 1: to Anna Jaelna car Too, Core's resigning his knighthood just 365 00:20:49,600 --> 00:20:53,919 Speaker 1: didn't match up correctly with the idea Yates had of 366 00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:58,879 Speaker 1: him as this serene mystic from the east who certainly 367 00:20:58,920 --> 00:21:02,520 Speaker 1: wouldn't get involved in politics, certainly wouldn't do anything as 368 00:21:03,080 --> 00:21:07,480 Speaker 1: bold as renounced his knighthood. Um, it just didn't match 369 00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:09,640 Speaker 1: up with the Yates is to Gore. And of course, 370 00:21:09,680 --> 00:21:11,960 Speaker 1: I mean we can assume there's some other reasons in here. 371 00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:14,879 Speaker 1: Yates really didn't like to Gore as translations. As we 372 00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:21,200 Speaker 1: mentioned earlier, Um, he was probably bound to be disappointed 373 00:21:21,240 --> 00:21:25,840 Speaker 1: in this creation he had imagined for himself because to 374 00:21:25,960 --> 00:21:28,879 Speaker 1: Gore did write so much more than just romantic poetry. 375 00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:33,400 Speaker 1: He wrote essays and plays and prose. But I mean 376 00:21:33,560 --> 00:21:36,600 Speaker 1: we have to assume it it did play a role. Yeah, 377 00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:38,719 Speaker 1: I mean I think it did. But I think at 378 00:21:38,760 --> 00:21:40,600 Speaker 1: the same time there had to be more to it. 379 00:21:40,760 --> 00:21:42,560 Speaker 1: I mean, they knew each other, so he must have 380 00:21:42,600 --> 00:21:44,359 Speaker 1: known that there was more to Gore than just this 381 00:21:44,720 --> 00:21:48,680 Speaker 1: romantic literature and poetry that he wrote. Um, he did 382 00:21:48,680 --> 00:21:51,159 Speaker 1: a lot of political writing, a lot of speaking. He 383 00:21:51,280 --> 00:21:54,359 Speaker 1: was kind of a voice for for the way he 384 00:21:54,400 --> 00:21:57,640 Speaker 1: had he had publicly promoted him though yep, I guess, 385 00:21:57,640 --> 00:22:00,840 Speaker 1: so that's true. But I guess was bound to happen, 386 00:22:00,920 --> 00:22:03,560 Speaker 1: since to Gore wrote other things anyway, so there was 387 00:22:03,600 --> 00:22:05,560 Speaker 1: bound to be some kind of falling out between them 388 00:22:05,600 --> 00:22:10,159 Speaker 1: at some point. But it changed. It changed what Yates 389 00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:13,080 Speaker 1: thought of to Gore, at least in the you know, outwardly, 390 00:22:13,359 --> 00:22:17,199 Speaker 1: and it changed I think what to Gore thought of 391 00:22:17,280 --> 00:22:20,000 Speaker 1: his own views a little bit too. Definitely, he didn't 392 00:22:20,080 --> 00:22:23,480 Speaker 1: really he didn't really change his views about the East 393 00:22:23,520 --> 00:22:25,840 Speaker 1: and West needing each other. He still thought that. He 394 00:22:25,920 --> 00:22:29,240 Speaker 1: still thought, you know, he wanted to see um kind 395 00:22:29,280 --> 00:22:33,679 Speaker 1: of a universal land where people all cultures would come 396 00:22:33,680 --> 00:22:36,000 Speaker 1: together and there weren't all these barriers between them. But 397 00:22:36,080 --> 00:22:39,200 Speaker 1: at the same time he I think he was very 398 00:22:39,240 --> 00:22:42,680 Speaker 1: conflicted about the situation that happened, especially because he had 399 00:22:42,720 --> 00:22:45,480 Speaker 1: English friends and so it made the situation kind of 400 00:22:45,480 --> 00:22:48,440 Speaker 1: difficult for them, and he tried to express these feelings 401 00:22:48,440 --> 00:22:51,679 Speaker 1: through his work after the fact. Yeah, and after this 402 00:22:51,760 --> 00:22:54,840 Speaker 1: he kept on traveling, so he was still out and 403 00:22:54,880 --> 00:22:57,760 Speaker 1: about in the world very much. So Um He said 404 00:22:57,760 --> 00:23:01,159 Speaker 1: to have visited more than thirty country ease on five 405 00:23:01,240 --> 00:23:06,840 Speaker 1: continents of lecturing and having these extended conversations with people 406 00:23:06,880 --> 00:23:10,600 Speaker 1: like Einstein on truth and beauty. They have this amazing 407 00:23:10,720 --> 00:23:14,600 Speaker 1: debate and music. I mean stuff that you wouldn't even 408 00:23:15,080 --> 00:23:19,880 Speaker 1: you know, think of Einstein talking about. Yeah, anyway, but 409 00:23:20,920 --> 00:23:22,760 Speaker 1: I mean to Gore's is all over the world. He 410 00:23:22,800 --> 00:23:26,400 Speaker 1: meets Mussolini and it takes them a little while before 411 00:23:26,760 --> 00:23:30,520 Speaker 1: he starts hearing reports about the fascism that's going on 412 00:23:30,760 --> 00:23:34,520 Speaker 1: in Italy from some exiles and denounces MUSSLINI But yeah, 413 00:23:34,560 --> 00:23:39,440 Speaker 1: even then, you know his his denunciations are still very 414 00:23:39,480 --> 00:23:43,520 Speaker 1: polite and proper interesting to read them. Yep. He never 415 00:23:43,560 --> 00:23:50,760 Speaker 1: loses his smooth talking never. UM. But so he this 416 00:23:51,119 --> 00:23:54,080 Speaker 1: going around the world is partially to speak because he's 417 00:23:54,119 --> 00:23:59,280 Speaker 1: asked and to to speak on behalf of the independence movement, UM. 418 00:23:59,320 --> 00:24:02,000 Speaker 1: But it's also to earn money for his school. He's 419 00:24:02,040 --> 00:24:06,080 Speaker 1: still stumping for his cause, which is education, and he's 420 00:24:06,080 --> 00:24:08,440 Speaker 1: still out there trying to keep the school, the six 421 00:24:08,480 --> 00:24:14,119 Speaker 1: centric school that he started going UM and later this 422 00:24:14,320 --> 00:24:17,320 Speaker 1: school in Shathan Ni Kitan it becomes a university called 423 00:24:17,680 --> 00:24:24,320 Speaker 1: Visba Barathi university in nineteen one, um, and so he 424 00:24:24,359 --> 00:24:27,280 Speaker 1: has some success with that, but it's sort of peters 425 00:24:27,280 --> 00:24:30,560 Speaker 1: out as he Um. Yeah, you were talking about it 426 00:24:30,720 --> 00:24:33,240 Speaker 1: to support it. What it's like today kind of more 427 00:24:33,280 --> 00:24:35,640 Speaker 1: of a place where you can learn about him than 428 00:24:36,240 --> 00:24:40,280 Speaker 1: a university. I think it's more to study his philosophies 429 00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:44,520 Speaker 1: and so forth than necessarily. But it does still exist. Yes, 430 00:24:44,560 --> 00:24:47,000 Speaker 1: you can still visit it today. Actually, I think that 431 00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:50,840 Speaker 1: India's recently nominated to be a World here at UNESCO 432 00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:53,840 Speaker 1: World Heritage Site. So you've been there. I've been there. 433 00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:56,159 Speaker 1: I went there when I was fourteen, um, although I 434 00:24:56,200 --> 00:24:58,520 Speaker 1: can't remember too much unfortunately, but I do remember it 435 00:24:58,600 --> 00:25:02,960 Speaker 1: being very serene and um and uh liking it a lot. 436 00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:04,760 Speaker 1: That's the rule of the podcast. You always have to 437 00:25:04,800 --> 00:25:08,080 Speaker 1: mention the places been too. It makes everybody think we're 438 00:25:08,160 --> 00:25:11,119 Speaker 1: going all over the world seeing all this stuff. Oh dear, 439 00:25:12,960 --> 00:25:17,080 Speaker 1: not really, guys, um, But I don't know. Even with 440 00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:20,639 Speaker 1: all of this traveling around the world and promoting his 441 00:25:20,720 --> 00:25:23,840 Speaker 1: school and promoting his writings, he kind of kept his 442 00:25:23,920 --> 00:25:28,159 Speaker 1: distance from the more confrontational side of the nationalist movement. 443 00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:31,480 Speaker 1: He didn't get super involved in that. Even after this 444 00:25:31,720 --> 00:25:35,080 Speaker 1: renouncing his knighthood and all that. No, he still kept 445 00:25:35,080 --> 00:25:37,880 Speaker 1: his distance. Um, he was still part of it through 446 00:25:37,920 --> 00:25:41,040 Speaker 1: his writings and through his talks that he gave UM 447 00:25:41,240 --> 00:25:43,600 Speaker 1: and he was still friends with Gandhi of course, even 448 00:25:43,600 --> 00:25:46,120 Speaker 1: though he didn't necessarily support a reaction that he did. 449 00:25:46,640 --> 00:25:50,760 Speaker 1: But Um, but he didn't get to to involved. And 450 00:25:50,920 --> 00:25:55,840 Speaker 1: unfortunately he passed away about seven years before India actually 451 00:25:55,880 --> 00:26:01,760 Speaker 1: achieved independence in nine But on the bright side, maybe 452 00:26:02,119 --> 00:26:07,160 Speaker 1: Um India's national anthem john a Ghanamana is based on 453 00:26:07,160 --> 00:26:10,520 Speaker 1: one of his song poems, and another of his songs, 454 00:26:10,560 --> 00:26:14,880 Speaker 1: am Our Shawnar bang La is Bangladesh's national anthem. Yeah, 455 00:26:14,960 --> 00:26:19,120 Speaker 1: so that's pretty impressive, I think. So he still gets 456 00:26:19,119 --> 00:26:20,760 Speaker 1: to be a part of it. It's not easy to 457 00:26:20,800 --> 00:26:22,960 Speaker 1: forget him at all. He's still a big part of 458 00:26:22,960 --> 00:26:25,200 Speaker 1: the national culture. Every time they sing the national anthem 459 00:26:25,280 --> 00:26:31,679 Speaker 1: or hear it, they'll think of him and Um and music. Art. Actually, 460 00:26:31,760 --> 00:26:34,520 Speaker 1: an interesting fact about his art he didn't take up 461 00:26:34,560 --> 00:26:37,679 Speaker 1: painting until he was about seventy years old, which I 462 00:26:37,680 --> 00:26:41,639 Speaker 1: think is amazing. So he takes the painting at age seventy. 463 00:26:42,040 --> 00:26:45,640 Speaker 1: Yet somehow he managed to create about two thousand paintings 464 00:26:45,640 --> 00:26:48,919 Speaker 1: and drawings before he died and around age eighty he 465 00:26:49,040 --> 00:26:52,359 Speaker 1: was busy. So that's incredible. It's kind of insane. It 466 00:26:52,359 --> 00:26:54,400 Speaker 1: sounds like a recipe for corporal tunnel to me. But 467 00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:58,320 Speaker 1: he did well and he was considered, you know, among 468 00:26:58,800 --> 00:27:02,760 Speaker 1: some of India's best content briardist still So if you 469 00:27:02,800 --> 00:27:05,479 Speaker 1: would like to see some of his paintings, and you 470 00:27:05,560 --> 00:27:08,640 Speaker 1: are around India and can check out this awesome train 471 00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:12,800 Speaker 1: that we mentioned before, catch the train. Um, there's a 472 00:27:12,840 --> 00:27:16,560 Speaker 1: whole car that's dedicated to his paintings and his drawings, 473 00:27:16,840 --> 00:27:20,639 Speaker 1: So check it out. Well, I think that about wraps 474 00:27:20,640 --> 00:27:22,000 Speaker 1: it up. Do you have anything else you want to 475 00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:25,479 Speaker 1: say about Decore before we leave off? I don't think 476 00:27:25,560 --> 00:27:27,640 Speaker 1: I do at the moment, but if anyone else does. 477 00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:30,880 Speaker 1: If you have a favorite song or a favorite poem, um, 478 00:27:30,920 --> 00:27:33,520 Speaker 1: maybe a novel or play, he had a couple. He 479 00:27:33,560 --> 00:27:35,720 Speaker 1: wrote a couple of novels too, also in the early 480 00:27:35,800 --> 00:27:38,400 Speaker 1: nineteen hundreds. And if you have anything that you want 481 00:27:38,400 --> 00:27:40,879 Speaker 1: to mention or please write to us. Yeah, we're at 482 00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:44,080 Speaker 1: history podcast at how stuff works dot com. We're also 483 00:27:44,680 --> 00:27:48,879 Speaker 1: on Twitter at Miston History and on Facebook, so you 484 00:27:48,920 --> 00:27:53,080 Speaker 1: can post away your favorite poems and stories there um 485 00:27:53,080 --> 00:27:54,920 Speaker 1: and if you want to learn a little bit more 486 00:27:55,040 --> 00:27:59,160 Speaker 1: about his contemporary Gandhi, you can check out an article 487 00:27:59,240 --> 00:28:02,280 Speaker 1: by our own Jane McGrath. It's called why did Gandhi 488 00:28:02,320 --> 00:28:05,520 Speaker 1: March two hundred and forty miles for Salt? And you 489 00:28:05,520 --> 00:28:08,520 Speaker 1: can find it by searching for Gandhi on the homepage. 490 00:28:08,680 --> 00:28:15,280 Speaker 1: It's www dot how stuff works dot com For more 491 00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:17,639 Speaker 1: on this and thousands of other topics. Is it how 492 00:28:17,680 --> 00:28:21,480 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com. The how stuff Works dot Com 493 00:28:21,480 --> 00:28:24,040 Speaker 1: i phone app is coming soon. Get access to our 494 00:28:24,080 --> 00:28:27,640 Speaker 1: content in a new way. Articles, videos, and more all 495 00:28:27,680 --> 00:28:30,600 Speaker 1: on the go. Check out the latest podcasts and blog 496 00:28:30,640 --> 00:28:33,280 Speaker 1: post and see what we're saying on Facebook and Twitter. 497 00:28:33,640 --> 00:28:35,160 Speaker 1: Coming soon to iTunes