Archive · 10 Oct 2026
Tagore’s Poems Surface Across Unexpected Places and Times
The writer remembers finding Rabindranath Tagore’s poems in many surprising places.
These memories include a school contest in England, a bookshop in the United States, and a political gathering in Singapore.
The writer also recalls people who helped introduce Tagore’s work to readers in the West.
One story about Tagore caused anger because some readers thought it insulted Bengali culture.
The essay begins and ends by connecting its memories to the Israel-Palestine conflict.
The writer argues that the conflict’s realities are far removed from hopeful claims about peace.
The columnist opens by linking the Israel-Palestine conflict to the 1948 Deir Yassin massacre and criticizing the prospects for a two-state solution and the Abraham Accords.
The essay recounts personal encounters with Tagore’s poetry, including a copy of Sanchayita gifted by Jayati “Bunny” Gupta.
The author recalls controversy after describing a story portraying Tagore as saving collected rent during a river storm.
Tagore’s work also appears in the author’s memories of England, Harvard, and Singapore, including Lim Yew Hock’s recitation of Gitanjali.
The essay describes Tagore’s Western literary connections and later artistic links involving W.B. Yeats, Uday Shankar, and Anna Pavlova.
- Who
- The columnist, Rabindranath Tagore, and people encountered in the writer’s recollections.
- What
- A personal essay about Tagore’s poetry and influence, framed by commentary on the Israel-Palestine conflict.
- When
- The recollections span several decades; the opening refers to the period three years after Hamas’s attacks and 78 years after Deir Yassin.
- Where
- The essay recalls events and encounters in England, Calcutta, Cambridge, London, Singapore, and West Asia.
- Why
- The writer reflects on Tagore’s far-reaching presence and contrasts literary memory with the realities of conflict in West Asia.
- Central figure
- Rabindranath Tagore
- Literary work recalled
- Gitanjali
- Other anthology mentioned
- The Crescent Moon, described as Macmillan’s “Bolpur Edition”
- Deir Yassin
- The essay describes the 1948 massacre and cites a British delegation report to the United Nations.
- Singapore episode
- Lim Yew Hock recited from Gitanjali when summoning Singapore’s new legislature in 1956.
- Author’s book
- Looking East to Look West: Lee Kuan Yew’s Mission India
- Award
- The author says the book won the Vodafone Crossword Award for Non-Fiction.