Rabindra Songs

The Humming of a Native Foreigner

Abstract

The worth-mentioning elements with which the conscience
or spirit of the mass people of colonial Bengal during the time of great
poet Rabindranath Thakur (1861-1941) was constructed were usually
their native language, culture, love, thoughts, freedom movement, nature,
farmers and misery in natural calamities. With this reality we can
juxtapose Thakur’s songs or Rabindra Shangeet since it is expected that
a literary figure will uphold the spirit of of his nation. Juxtaposed, we see
that in his songs he not only refrains from upholding the spirit, but also
tries to evade it. Thus epistemology delivered by Thakur’s songs is that
Thakur, by writing the songs or any Bangaly listener, by worshipping
them, is a foreigner despite being a native. This paper has the aim to
explore how Thakur’s songs, evading mass people’s language, way of
singing, nature of love, tradition of thoughts, the existance-related
question of freedom from British colonizers, nature including its farmers
and severe misery of the farmers during natural calamities, proves
Thakur or any Bangaly worshipper of the songs to be a native foreigner
as he hums them.