Soms beschouw ik me als een fluit die niet kan praten maar zingt – Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore in een brief aan zijn Nederlandse vertaler: niemand minder dan de dichter, toneelschrijver, romanschrijver en essayist Frederik van Eeden (1860 – 1932) 1 Voor details, zie Abstract “Van Eeden en Tagore. Ethiek en muziek” door Rokus de Groot in Tijdschrift van de Koninklijke Vereniging voor Nederlandse Muziekgeschiedenis, D. 49ste, Afl. 2de (1999), pp. …

Beyond Nationalism: “My freedom lies not in pursuing detachment” – Rabindranath Tagore

In September 2020 Amsterdam remembers the 100th anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore’s visit. It did not just made a deep impression, it caused a sensation.1 2020 also happens the year when Amsterdam celebrates the 75th anniversary of liberation from nazi-occupation2 while confronting the legacy of collaboration among some sections of society including local authorities.3 Between these …

Strength of faith and clarity of mind amidst “the din of war, the shrieks of hatred” – Rabindranath Tagore

The lumbering structure of modern progress, riveted by the iron bolts of efficiency […] will fall in a heap of ruin and cause serious obstruction to the traffic of the world. Do we not see of this even now? [1917] Does not the voice come to us through the din of war, the shrieks of …

True happiness according to Rabindranath Tagore

“True happiness is not at all expensive. It depends upon that natural spring of beauty and of life, harmony of relationship. Ambition pursues its own path of self-seeking by breaking this bond of harmony, digging gaps, creating dissension. Selfish ambition feels no hesitation in trampling under foot the whole harvest field, which is for all, …