Timothy Naarendorp’s Essay which
won him the second prize in the Senior Division of the Tagore National Art
Competition held in May 2011 in Suriname
Four Questions For Rabindranath Tagore and His Answers
People often feel at peace e when
they are surrounded by nature. That’s why one particular
man wrote and commented on the world of Nature. Rabinranath Tagore was born in
British India, where he lived from 1861-1941. He was a musician, painter, novelist,
and other great things. He was also the first non-European to be awarded the
Nobel Prize for literature. Tagore started writing poems at the age of eight
and published his first on at sixteen. He was the youngest son of Debendranath
Tagore, a leader of the BrahmoSamaj, which was a new religious section in the
nineteenth-century Bengal and which attempted a revival of the ultimate
monestic basis of Hinduism as laid down in the Upanishads. Mr. Tagore there are
four questions I’d like to ask you. I’d be glad if you were to answer them.
Timothy: “Tagore would you say
that children from your time or age were more capable of understanding each
other that the time or age I live in”?
R.Tagore : In my time people
didn’t really know much about technology as you do today. We would take our
time to read a book or do an activity that we like. We would play outside and
interact with one another. But nowadays I see you young people with all your
new and fancy technology. Sitting in a corner, fighting to understand that
particular piece of metal or in front of the television all day long.If you
young people want to understand each other better, you should put aside the
distractions of the modern world for a second and connect with each other.
Timothy : “Why do children in the
end never speak their minds when it
comes to certain important things?”
R. Tagore : “Every child has her
or his own way of thinking at a certain age. Children in my time were better at
speaking their minds. Because everyone was connected in a way, but there were
those who just let go of certain important things. And what I see in your time is
that some children have the nature to be nosy and ask every little detail until
the end. Others are taught to behave and not be a bother to others, whereas a
few just feel not saying anything would be better. So what you have to do is
show them that every little detail they think about that is being discussed is
of importance, even if it were something stupid, which is what I have seen in
every school that there is nowadays.
Timothy : “They say that text-books
made by missionaries themselves poison the minds of children . if that is the
case, where would a child learn the things he or she will need in the near
future.?”
R. Tagore : It’s true, if you
look at a number of books you will find that what is written in them are not
how it appears after finding out the truth. I have seen it over these many
years, it still continues, people love playing games with other people,
thinking that they are superior then the other. So they write lies in whatever
way they can, to keep you away from the truth. But I know the truth that’s why
I did everything and am still abiding to it. What you as the next generation of
youngsters have to do is not letting anyone think that way. Everyone is equal
to another; no one stands above the other. And if a child is taught the wrong
way in live, you should help that child in whatever way you can.
Timothy : “Would you say that
evil is bad? Because without evil there would beno good, just like the
missionaries who with the text-books poison the minds of children who are
taught out of them? There will be people who are going to correct them like you.”
R. Tagore :Now, I wouldn’t say
that they are evil, but what they are doing should not be. Why do they do does
things just to gain something better that others. It is true that without evil
there would be no good, but if you keep going in the bad direction you’ll end
up falling untilthere’s no more helping you. And the people in you time easily
end up falling off the path they choose, by looking at others wanting what
others have. If something must come to you, it will in time. So please just
patiently wait for what is yours.
I learned a lot from reading a
few stories about Tagore’s life and what he has done in his life. Tagore wasn’t
someone who got into university or any other high ranking scholar title. He was
just a normal man like any of us, went into Mother Nature to become one with
it. Us people or at least most of us life our daily lives in technology. And
all people do is make more of these fancy gadgets that only bring pain and
damage to Mother Nature. People need to at least go into Nature once every two
weekends, just to feel the difference of life in society and life in the
outdoors. I for one am glad that I was able to learn about such a great man as
Rabinranath Tagore. And I don’t just say it; thoughts like these where at the
back of my head. So I am a bit relieved to bring them to the front.
