First, the disclosure: I translate the works of Rabindranath Tagore into English, and I yield to no one in my appreciation of his literature.
But. The sudden “discovery” that all the modern breakthroughs in modern science, mathematics and medicine were all originally made by ancient Indians may seem a new phenomenon to most of us. But not to Bengalis, who have held exactly the same view when it comes to all that is world-class in literature and philosophy.
Tagore invented all this long ago. What’s more, no one has bettered him. True, Satyajit Ray came close, Amartya Sen has some unique work to his credit, and Sourav Ganguly invented leadership. Not to mention the obvious historical truth that it was Subhash Chandra Bose who brought freedom to India, besides being the oldest living person on the planet, all set to celebrate his 118th birthday on January 23.
Here are six obvious parallels between the right wing return to roots and the Bengali obsession with Tagore.
Not based on facts
Air travel, nuclear armaments, and genetic engineering were not mastered in ancient India. The artistic imagination was powerful enough to have imagined things that resembled these, but that does not make them actual scientific discoveries, contrary to what some ‘scientists’ and ‘historians’ contend.
Similarly, Tagore did not create all the forms of modern literature. He did not write all that there is to write. Yes, his oeuvre was enormous, and he tried almost every form of literature known ‒ even school question papers. But Indian literature in general and Bengali literature in particular developed in directions that he did not set.
Unread, not understood
Tagore is best-known to Bengalis through his songs. Many of his novels have passed into the popular imagination through cinema, most notably through the works of Ray and, later, Rituparno Ghosh. It is difficult to estimate the popularity of his essays, drama and even his fiction among readers. As for his poetry, most of those who swear by Tagore today haven’t tried reading the vast majority of it.
When it comes to the ancient Indian epics, treatises and other texts, the general readership is just as low. Again, both The Mahabharata and The Ramayana are known to people through TV serials, which have reduced the complexity and nuances of the original works to third-rate special effects and plastic, costumed speechmaking. Certainly the claims made do not suggest a close reading or understanding of the sources.
The kernel of truth is being ignored
Most certainly there were some extraordinary advancements made in the sciences in pre-Mughal, pre-colonised India. While many of them date back to the medieval rather than ancient periods, the point is that only a handful of scholars have actually listed and explained the findings without embellishment but with due credit.
For instance, it is a fact that old Indian mathematics, focussed as it strongly was on computation, did actually formulate several methods of calculation. But no, that’s not good enough ‒ every aspect of modern mathematics, from calculus to Boolean algebra, must be traced back to Indian roots.
When it comes to Tagore, too, not every critical view is either hagiographic or dismissive. Tagore’s literary achievements have been catalogued and acknowledged in dispassionate, clear-eyed fashion by more than one scholar. But such views are buried under wide-eyed adulation.
Co-opted by the government
The Narendra Modi administration at the Centre, led by the prime minister himself, has appropriated these so-called scientific discoveries. It is the government ‒ and the right-wing "researchers" who provide the theoretical bedrock ‒ that is the loudest voice claiming a place in the sun of scientific history for the supposed marvels of ancient India.
Turn to West Bengal, and you have a state government that has virtually monopolised Tagore, installing music systems at every traffic signal in Calcutta to blast Tagore’s songs, completely irrespective of season and time of day, and utterly oblivious to the grating impact on harassed commuters.
Dissent is treachery
You don’t accept that all science originated in ancient India? You’re not a patriot.
You’re a Bengali but don’t believe that Tagore was the fount of all things miraculous in Indian literature? Seditious!
Ours, no one else’s
For decades, there has been a Bengali stranglehold on the works and thoughts of Tagore, on the flimsy pretext that people who don't read Bangla cannot possibly understand him in all his glory. The authorities at Viswa Bharati, the university Tagore founded, long fought to protect their rights over all his works in perpetuity ‒ a battle that led Indian copyright to be extended to sixty years from the earlier fifty after an author’s death.
As for the ancient scientific wonders, there too, it’s not a common heritage, but only one belonging to a Hindu civilisation. Or so the argument goes.
The fact is that both belong to the world.
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But. The sudden “discovery” that all the modern breakthroughs in modern science, mathematics and medicine were all originally made by ancient Indians may seem a new phenomenon to most of us. But not to Bengalis, who have held exactly the same view when it comes to all that is world-class in literature and philosophy.
Tagore invented all this long ago. What’s more, no one has bettered him. True, Satyajit Ray came close, Amartya Sen has some unique work to his credit, and Sourav Ganguly invented leadership. Not to mention the obvious historical truth that it was Subhash Chandra Bose who brought freedom to India, besides being the oldest living person on the planet, all set to celebrate his 118th birthday on January 23.
Here are six obvious parallels between the right wing return to roots and the Bengali obsession with Tagore.
Not based on facts
Air travel, nuclear armaments, and genetic engineering were not mastered in ancient India. The artistic imagination was powerful enough to have imagined things that resembled these, but that does not make them actual scientific discoveries, contrary to what some ‘scientists’ and ‘historians’ contend.
Similarly, Tagore did not create all the forms of modern literature. He did not write all that there is to write. Yes, his oeuvre was enormous, and he tried almost every form of literature known ‒ even school question papers. But Indian literature in general and Bengali literature in particular developed in directions that he did not set.
Unread, not understood
Tagore is best-known to Bengalis through his songs. Many of his novels have passed into the popular imagination through cinema, most notably through the works of Ray and, later, Rituparno Ghosh. It is difficult to estimate the popularity of his essays, drama and even his fiction among readers. As for his poetry, most of those who swear by Tagore today haven’t tried reading the vast majority of it.
When it comes to the ancient Indian epics, treatises and other texts, the general readership is just as low. Again, both The Mahabharata and The Ramayana are known to people through TV serials, which have reduced the complexity and nuances of the original works to third-rate special effects and plastic, costumed speechmaking. Certainly the claims made do not suggest a close reading or understanding of the sources.
The kernel of truth is being ignored
Most certainly there were some extraordinary advancements made in the sciences in pre-Mughal, pre-colonised India. While many of them date back to the medieval rather than ancient periods, the point is that only a handful of scholars have actually listed and explained the findings without embellishment but with due credit.
For instance, it is a fact that old Indian mathematics, focussed as it strongly was on computation, did actually formulate several methods of calculation. But no, that’s not good enough ‒ every aspect of modern mathematics, from calculus to Boolean algebra, must be traced back to Indian roots.
When it comes to Tagore, too, not every critical view is either hagiographic or dismissive. Tagore’s literary achievements have been catalogued and acknowledged in dispassionate, clear-eyed fashion by more than one scholar. But such views are buried under wide-eyed adulation.
Co-opted by the government
The Narendra Modi administration at the Centre, led by the prime minister himself, has appropriated these so-called scientific discoveries. It is the government ‒ and the right-wing "researchers" who provide the theoretical bedrock ‒ that is the loudest voice claiming a place in the sun of scientific history for the supposed marvels of ancient India.
Turn to West Bengal, and you have a state government that has virtually monopolised Tagore, installing music systems at every traffic signal in Calcutta to blast Tagore’s songs, completely irrespective of season and time of day, and utterly oblivious to the grating impact on harassed commuters.
Dissent is treachery
You don’t accept that all science originated in ancient India? You’re not a patriot.
You’re a Bengali but don’t believe that Tagore was the fount of all things miraculous in Indian literature? Seditious!
Ours, no one else’s
For decades, there has been a Bengali stranglehold on the works and thoughts of Tagore, on the flimsy pretext that people who don't read Bangla cannot possibly understand him in all his glory. The authorities at Viswa Bharati, the university Tagore founded, long fought to protect their rights over all his works in perpetuity ‒ a battle that led Indian copyright to be extended to sixty years from the earlier fifty after an author’s death.
As for the ancient scientific wonders, there too, it’s not a common heritage, but only one belonging to a Hindu civilisation. Or so the argument goes.
The fact is that both belong to the world.
