Arek Rabindranather Galpo

Most of us know Rabindranath Tagore as the poet and literary giant—the writer of poems, songs, stories, novels, and plays—but overshadowed by this literary figure is another Rabindranath: the worker and social practitioner, who in his early years at Shilaidaha and Patisar, and later at Santiniketan and Sriniketan, devoted himself tirelessly to building society; alongside his lifelong literary pursuits, Rabindranath regarded this work as another form of his sadhana (spiritual practice), making the “worker Rabindranath” no less important than the “poet Rabindranath.” In 1343 of the Bengali calendar, addressing members of the Sammilita Rabibar at Santiniketan, he urged them to judge him not as a poet but as a worker, and this book takes up that very challenge by placing “Worker Rabindranath” at its centre, introducing not only his actions but also, in simple terms, the thought and philosophy that shaped them; it is therefore not the story of poet Rabindranath but of another Rabindranath altogether—one whose lesser-known life of work, though written with younger readers in mind, is sure to surprise and move readers of all ages.