As a supreme symbol of India's culture and spirit, Tagore was a contemporary of the other colossus of nineteenth-century India, Mahatma Gandhi. These two towering figures came to represent the essence of Indian thought and life in the modern age. Contemporaries and icons of our freedom struggle movement, they differed in their intrinsic philosophies and yet shared the same vision. This book is a collection of Tagore s essays and addresses on Gandhi, whom he reverentially called The Mahatma . These were written on the occasion of Gandhiji s birth anniversaries and his Epic Fast in 1932, and provide a useful insight on the Mahatma. While Gandhi the Man talks of the Mahatma s immense humanity, A Liberated Soul reveals the secret of Gandhi s success as his dynamic spiritual strength and incessant self-sacrifice. In On Mahatmaji s Birthday Tagore acknowledges Gandhi as the central bond of brotherhood in the motherland, while in Moral Warfare he espouses a spiritual war against the violence of evils.

This book brings together the political thought of Gandhi and Tagore to examine the relationship between politics, truth and conscience. It explores truth and conscience as viable public virtues with regard to two exemplars of ethical politics, addressing in turn the concerns of an evolving modern Indian political community. The comprehensive and textually argued discussion frames the subject of the validity of ethical politics in inhospitable contexts such as the fanatically despotic state and energised nationalism. The book studies in nuanced detail Tagore’s opposition to political violence in colonial Bengal, the scope of non-violence and satyagraha as recommended by Gandhi to Jews in Nazi Germany, his response to the complexity of protest against the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, and the differently constituted nationalism of Gandhi and Tagore. It presents their famous debate in a new light, embedded within the dynamics of cultural identification, political praxis and the capacity of a community to imbibe the principles of ethical politics. Comprehensive and perceptive in analysis, this book will be a valuable addition for scholars and researchers of political science with specialisation in Indian political thought, philosophy and history. Gangeya Mukherji is Reader in English at Mahamati Prannath Mahavidyalaya, Mau-Chitrakoot, Uttar Pradesh, India.

This book is a collection of letters and debates exchanged between Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore between 1915 and 1941. The introduction by the compilor examines the historical context of the correspondence and provides an overview of the major issues discussed.

The first in-depth study of the deep bond between Mahatma Gandhi and Gurudev Tagore by one of our greatest historians. Tagore and Gandhi were both born in the 1860s and, through their very different spheres of activity, became figures of global renown and shapers of modern India. They also shared a deep personal friendship which was robust enough to bear the strain of differences on many public issues through the 1920s and '30s. Gandhi always addressed Tagore as Gurudev which, for Gandhi, was not an empty epithet. Gandhi sought Tagore's blessings at every critical juncture of his Indian public career. Tagore openly acknowledged Gandhi as the greatest Indian of his time. In Tagore and Gandhi: Walking Alone, Walking Together, Rudrangshu Mukherjee explores their relationship through their differences expressed in their writings and letters to each other and also tries to understand the beliefs that acted as the bond between the two of them. They differed with each other without a hint of acrimony, and they looked towards building an India that was inclusive and free from hatred and bigotry.

Between 1915 and 1941, Tagore (1861-1941) and Gandhi (1869-1948) differed and argued about many things of personal, national, and international significance---satyagraha, non-cooperation, the boycott and burning of foreign cloth, the efficacy of fasting as a means of resistance and Gandhi’s mantra connecting “swaraj” and “charkha”. The author tracks the development of this dialogue and argues that the debate was about more fundamental issues, such as the nature of truth and swaraj/freedom and the possibilities of untruth that Tagore saw in Gandhi’s movements for truth and freedom. Puri shows that the differences between the two men’s perspectives came from differently negotiated relationships to (and understandings of) tradition and modernity. Tagore was part of the Bengal renaissance and powerfully influenced by the idea that the Enlightenment consisted in the freedom of the individual to reason for herself. Gandhi, on the other hand, remained close to the Indian philosophical tradition which linked individual freedom to moral progress. Puri points out that Tagore cannot, however, be unreflectively assimilated to the Enlightenment project of Western modernity, for he came fairly close to Gandhi in rejecting the anthropocentricism of modernity and shared Gandhi’s belief in an enchanted cosmos. The only single-authored volume on the Tagore-Gandhi debate, this book is a welcome addition to the existing literature.

A century ago, activists confronting racism and colonialism—in India, South Africa, and Black America—used print media to connect with one another. Then, as now, the most effective medium for their undertakings was the English language. Imperfect Solidarities: Tagore, Gandhi, Du Bois, and the Global Anglophone tells the story of this interconnected Anglophone world. Through Rabindranath Tagore’s writings on China, Mahatma Gandhi’s recollections of South Africa, and W. E. B. Du Bois’s invocations of India, Madhumita Lahiri theorizes print internationalism. This methodology requires new terms within the worldwide hegemony of the English language (“the global Anglophone”) in order to encourage alternate geographies (such as the Global South) and new collectivities (such as people of color). The women of print internationalism feature prominently in this account. Sonja Schlesin, born in Moscow, worked with Indians in South Africa. Sister Nivedita, an Irish woman in India, collaborated with a Japanese historian. Jessie Redmon Fauset, an African American, brought the world home to young readers through her work as an author and editor. Reading across races and regions, genres and genders, Imperfect Solidarities demonstrates the utility of the neologism for postcolonial literary studies.

Dennis Dalton's classic account of Gandhi's political and intellectual development focuses on the leader's two signal triumphs: the civil disobedience movement (or salt satyagraha) of 1930 and the Calcutta fast of 1947. Dalton clearly demonstrates how Gandhi's lifelong career in national politics gave him the opportunity to develop and refine his ideals. He then concludes with a comparison of Gandhi's methods and the strategies of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, drawing a fascinating juxtaposition that enriches the biography of all three figures and asserts Gandhi's relevance to the study of race and political leadership in America. Dalton situates Gandhi within the "clash of civilizations" debate, identifying the implications of his work on continuing nonviolent protests. He also extensively reviews Gandhian studies and adds a detailed chronology of events in Gandhi's life.

On his passport he was Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. The poet Rabindranath Tagore gave him the title ‘Mahatma’- the great soul- but he was rather uncomfortable with that. Nelson Mandela calls him a ‘sacred warrior’; others describe him as the ‘the saint of the spinning wheel’ and we now declare him as our ‘Father of the Nation’. A courageous freedom fighter; a shrewd politician; a passionate social reformer and a staunch nationalist; Mahatma Gandhi was all this and much more. He was the most unusual leader this country has seen; and one of the most influential personalities whose name is synonymous with India’s independence. He was the one who touched the lives of millions; whose ideals of satyagraha and ahimsa inspired great leaders of the world; and who could make the entire country come to a halt by going on a fast. Through a vivid narrative; author Subhadra Sen Gupta recreates the life and legacy of this phenomenal leader to portray the man beneath the simple handspun clothes; who ate saltless vegetables and bitter neem chutney; who greeted kings and paupers alike; who walked 240 miles at the age of sixty to break the Salt Law; and whose entire life was dedicated to truth and to peace. Even today as we read inspirational accounts of Gandhiji’s life and talk of gandhigiri; we know that his ideals are alive and relevant to today’s generation.

Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941)--poet, philosopher, painter, novelist, playwright, composer, traveller, political commentator and Asia’s first Nobel Laureate--was one of his era’s cultural icons. Proclaimed as the greatest poet India has ever produced, Tagore left an astonishing legacy undimmed nearly 70 years after his death. But he was also an enigmatic, complex and contradictory figure, torn between India’s spiritual values and the spirit of the West. In this definitive biography, Krishna Dutta and Andrew Robinson explore the man behind the myth, presenting the power of his person, the power of his name and the power of his work. The result is an enlightening and exquisitely rendered portrayal--not of the legend but, to quote Tagore, of "the figure that once moved."

Provides primary sources about Gandhi's life using Gandhi's own writings where possible, or otherwise the writings of those who knew him best.