I would say it’s the music we all actually live by. The soul of Bengalis all across the world. There is no music that could be compared with the phenomena that Rabindranath Tagore had once created. Actually, there is no music that could be compared to anything else at all. Music is music and it’s one of its own, so do what Tagore created.
Step into the roads of Kolkata and you feel a breeze of a different era in your skin, the mornings of every Bengali begin with the sweet melodies of Tagore. The songs aren’t just songs; they have deep grown meanings which are still taken as the source of happiness and an escape from sadness.
Tagore’s songs are termed Rabindra Sangeet, the first edition of his songs was published in 1931 and 1932, and it was called Gitabitan (Garden of songs). Gitabitan is a book with a collection of more than 2000 songs by Tagore. The volume includes songs from different genres expressing worshipping the gods and goddesses, about Mother Nature, about country and a lot more. The other collection of his songs were Swarabitan which included 1,721 songs of Tagore and Rabi Chhaya (1885), Ganer Bahi o Valmiki Pratibha (1893), Gan (1908), and Dharmashongit (1909) which were published even before Gitabitan was launched.
The first song ever written by Tagore is
‘Ami banglai gaan gaai
Ami banglar gaan gaai
Ami amar ami ke chiro din ei banglai khuje pai’, it means
‘I sing in Bengali language
I sing the song of Bengal
I find myself all the time in Bengal itself’
Every single song of Tagore has a meaning so profound that people often cry by relating to it so purely. Tagore’s songs, plays, stories and poems are the things a Bengali is made of. People in West Bengal might not know how to read or write, but each and every one of them does know how to sing the tunes of Tagore. It is the one thread that binds all the people of West Bengal whether a Bengali or not, together.
People all over the world find inspiration from the songs of Tagore and many translations of his work has been done so far by Tagore himself and many other artists as well. Indian cinema is also so much inspired by Tagore’s work that many of his songs have been translated in Hindi and has been used in Movies since. One of the best examples is the song ‘Jodi tor daak shune keyo na ashe tahole ekla cholo re’ which is sung by Mr. Amitabh Bachchan himself and has been used in the movie Kahaani starred by Vidya Balan.
Many such examples are there of people admiring Tagore’s work and living through the pain and happiness of his songs. His songs are still fresh and alive in the heart of every single person who has ever listened to any of his works.