My favourite Indian author.

      My favourite Indian author-Ravindranath Tagore

It is very difficult to choose from many eminent Indian writers and authors. The list is long. From Kalidas, Tulsidas, Ravindranath Tagore, Premchand, R.K.Narayan, Hariwansh Rai Bachchan to Amish. They are all unique in their chosen fields and topics. All authors present a vivid tussle of human emotions and struggle. Hariwansh Rai Bachchan relates his own struggle and in doing so he stimulates emotions in his own way.

But to my mind, Ravindranath Tagore was a born artist. He surprised the world with his literary abilities with Gitanjali ; the poem for which he was awarded Nobel Prize for literature in 1913.

He expressed his patriotism through his various short stories, poems, and novels, reflecting the true picture of our country and society at large. He may be regarded as a writer who inspired high ideas among our fellow countrymen. His contribution to art and culture was immense.

Although I have read many short stories and few Gurudev novels, I want to discuss a book that I have recently read. The book is GORA of Ravindranath.

     Gora is an Englishman accidentally brought up since his birth in an orthodox Hindu Brahman family. Gora sees the world through his eyes and fixes his ideas on patriotism. He disregards any other culture and way of living which does not have its origin in India. He thinks that we can serve our country without imitating others. He is very proud of the Indian way of thinking and orthodoxy where women have no place of contributing. Gora does not see women as any assistance to the Indian cause until he meets a family of women and men beaming with liberal ideas. Soon, the confrontation of ideas occurs, and both sides experience a complimentary substance in their attitudes towards things.

Through this novel, Gurudev, wants us to realize that as an Indian we should be proud of our traditions and culture. But at the same time, we have to reform our ways of doing things to an extent that the poorest of our society should be benefited from our acts of orthodoxy. He indicates the society is complete when we give proper place to women and that women can play a part in the struggle for freedom.

    The story is very interesting from start to end. It keeps you bound till the end and this is the main characteristic of Gurudev’s novels.