Thaindian News

New Delhi, May 12 (IANS) The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) celebrated the 150th birth anniversary of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore with a day-long programme which included panel discussions and theatrical performances, a varsity official said Thursday.

Jointly organised by IGNOU’s School of Humanities (SOH) and Tagore Chair, the programme was held in the varsity Tuesday. As part of the programme, Tagore’s poems were translated by eminent personalities followed by dramatic performance based on Tagore’s story ‘Samapti’ by a troupe from the National School of Drama.

“Tagore had an enduring faith in the creative power of young minds which today is marred by artificiality. He provided philosophical underpinnings and led a life of aesthetic simplicity,” said IGNOU’s Vice Chancellor V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai.

Panellists including writer and critic U.R. Ananthamurthy, Sahitya Akademi Award recipient Manoj Das, Indranath Choudhury, Prayag Shukla, C.K. Ghosh and Nandini Sahu discussed various aspects of Tagore’s personality and creativity in the light of his humanism, said the official.

These included sessions on various art forms of Tagore by Shukla, who emphasized the need to spread awareness about Tagore’s works in the society. While Ghosh presented the community development initiatives undertaken by Tagore, Sahu presented some of Tagore’s poems and read the translations.

Meanwhile, Ananthamurthy observed that the dark corners of Tagore writings could be accessed only through his paintings and SOH director Rita Rani Paliwal recalled the ecological issues that Tagore felt concerned about.

Talking about the humanist aspect of Tagore’s writings, Das said “his greatest characteristic was his sublime simplicity with which he wrote stories, legends, novels, songs, dance, dramas, essays, etc, reflecting a spiritual aspect”.