سمینار بین المللی تاگور ۲۰۱۳ مرکز مطالعات شورای جهانی هند | پژوهشهای ایرانی

سمینار بین المللی تاگور ۲۰۱۳ مرکز مطالعات شورای جهانی هند

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 سمینار بین المللی تاگور ۲۰۱۳  مرکز مطالعات شورای جهانی هند

 

 tagourAjam

Tagore’s visit to Iran: by Dr. M.Ajam

Rabindranath Tagore wrote in 1932, while on a visit to Iran, that “each country of Asia will solve its own historical problems according to its strength, nature and needs, but the lamp they will each carry on their path to progress will converge to illuminate the common ray of knowledge.

Rabindranath Tagore was very much interested in Iran and visited the country twice, first on 1932 and then in 1933 when he celebrated his 70th birthday in Tehran. Tagore’s visit to Iran and his meetings with the Iranian writers and poets in Boshehr, Shiraz, Tehran and Esfahan led to an extensive cultural and literary exchanges between the Iranian and Indian (Indo-Iranian) writers (scholars) and poets which continued for years.

The visit to Iran was made in response to an invitation extended by Reza Shah Pahlavi who captured the power in 1925. For a number of reasons, Tagore felt that he had to accept this invitation. The Persian language and literature which were propagated in India first by Zoroastrians with the advent of Islam in Iran, later by Muslims and then by Gurkanian Mogul kings formed part of the Bengali literature and around 3000 Bengali words and phrases are having their roots in Persian. Mohan Roy, the spiritual father of Tagore and many other great personalities of India at that time used to speak fluently in Persian. Though Tagore did not know Persian he was familiar with the Persian stories and Iranian poets particularly Hafez through their translated as well as original texts. Tagore’s grand father knew Persian and also he himself had compiled poem in Persian language Tagore’s  father  also knew Persian and he used to read the Hafez for the young Rabindranath. As Tagore said in his speech in Shiraz. He also was interested in Persian because his roots (ancestors) coming from Persia.

No doubt, Tagore had a tendency towards the desert lifestyle. His first poems in Kosot (nomadic life ) and his later references to the subject, his eagerness towards Hezar-o- Yek Shab (1001 nights) and a translation of the Waste Land by T.S. Eliot in 1932 all prove this claim. He was curios and wanted to know how the Iranian traditions were intermixed with the westernizing tendencies of Reza Shah. Practically, Tagore was expecting that the Iranian ruler would pay the expenses of an Iranian Study chair in the Viswa-Bharti but the stingy Aqa Khan refused to do so in 1930 (he was disappointed this time.)

 

But traveling to Iran during August, one of the hottest months of the year, was a big problem for Tagore. Train or ship was not a suitable mode of travel for the old poet. So, he took a Dutch mail plane. He flied from Kolkata to Allahabad, then to Jodhpur and Karachi and then Iranian Jask Port and finally landed in Bosheher Port. His trip took two days during which he used to complain from tiredness. Maharaja of Jodhpur, who himself was a pilot, accommodated Tagore in a hotel specially built for the air travelers there. In Karachi, he was served with the Bengali foods specially prepared by a Bengali lady residing there. This was Tagore’s second air travel. First time in 1921 he flied from London to Paris.

Tagore’s visit to Sa’dat School in Boshehr:

In early 1932, Tagore arrived in Iran for the first time and there he visited a number of places including the Sa’dat School in Boshehr. In a comprehensive reference book on Boshehr on Friday, —–, it has been said: in one of the days, the school was cleaned up and there were unusual movements there and Chairman  and the principle and the teachers of the school held a meeting to discuss the visit of an eminent scientific and literary personality of India to the school who was to arrive in Boshehr through sea. This great religious, scientific, literary and cultural personality and the well known philosopher was Tagore. Accompanied by the Consular General and Consular of Britain in Boshehr Port, Mirza Ahmad Khan, chief of Navi Daria-biagy and the civilian and military chives, Tagore finally arrived in the National Sa’dat School and was received by the Chairman and the principle and teachers of the school. In his honor, students first sang songs, played music and marched in front of Tagore. With a great pleasure and interest, Tagore visited the classrooms and spook to the teachers and students through Mirza Ali Farjad Khan, the first secretary of the Consulate General. Then, he delivered a speech at the big hall of the school which was used as a community center and a theater. During the speech, Tagore thanked the founders and the office bearers of the cultural institution for setting up the Intermediate National Sa’dat School in Boshehr. Honoring Tagore’s visit to Boshehr and the National Sa’dat
School, Consular General distributed gifts and awards among the distinguished students of the school. Tagore’s visit to the National Sa’dat School was reflected in the then Tehran publications and the Persian daily “Hablol Matin” of Kolkata carried out detailed reports on the visit and this important event was discussed for long time in the various meetings and gatherings. At present, the founding day of the Sa’dat School is observed as the Boshehr Day and a portrait of Tagore is put on display on the occasion.

 

Tagore visit to hafez tom Shiraz

Many Iranian scholars and officials left Tehran and went to shiraz to welcome Tagore .

After Boshehr Tagore traveled to  Shiraz (the Persian culture capital of Iran) to pay a respect to great Iranian poet and philosopher hafez  shirazi. Hāfez (1325–۱۳۸۹) and Tagore are very similar in the idea of tolerance and respect of other cultures.

He said in his speech in shiraz “his grandfather was reading all poem of Hafez by memory  in heart  and he also was compiling Persian poem .

And his father also had a Divān of Hafez and used to read  Hafez poem.

in one of his poem Hafez wrote :

If that Shirazi Turk would take my heart in hand(becomes my honey beloved)- I would remit Samarkand and Bukhārā  just for her bindi  Hindu/  sindoor khela .

In the arrival of Tagore to Shiraz , Mohammad-Taqí Bahār ( 1884—۱۹۵۱) famous poet and minister of culture presented the following poem to Tagore and described him  as a person  who , like Indian rice and the Egyptian sugar belong to the  whole world .

از وطن حافظ شیرین سخن                            بگذرد آن طوطی شکّرشکن. ( سفرتاگور)

طوطی بنگاله برآید  ز هند                               جانب ایران بگراید  به دل .

چون من از این مژده خبر یافتم                        پای ز سر کرده       و بشتافتم.

دیدمش آن سان که بنمودم خیال                      بلکه     فزونتر  به  جمال و  کمال

خضر مثالی و سلیمان فری                             گرد        وی از فضل و ادب لشکری.

آمد و چشم من از او نور دید                           راضیم از دیده که    « تاگور»    دید.

زانِ جهان است، نه مخصوص هند                      چون شکر مصری و هندی فرند

جان به گل و لاله درآمیختیم                           لاله و گل در قدمش ریختیم

He traveled  for second time to Iran to pay atribute and respect  to the great  Firdausi/ Hakīm Abu’l-Qāsim Ferdowsī Tūsī ‎) known as great Firdausi ( 940–۱۰۲۰ CE) a highly revered Persian poet.

Ferdowsi and hafez are 2 most popular poet and philosopher of Persian culture.

Tagore described them in his speech in a very beautiful and respectful ways.

He also admired Iran and Iranian culture in his arrival to the tomb of ferdowsi.

Tagore also like Hafez worked for one supreme cause, the union of all sections of humanity in sympathy and understanding, in truth and love.

He also the same as  Hafez believed that national and human identities inherent in us need not be contradictory and that promoting one’s culture should not preclude acceptance and respect for the culture of others. He believed that national and human identities inherent in us need not be contradictory and that promoting one’s culture should not preclude acceptance and respect for the culture of others.

He also such as  Hafez heralded the cultural rapprochement between communities, societies and nations much before it became the liberal norm of conduct.

This is why all Iranian love hafez and all Iranian song and sufi music is coming from hafez poem.

Hafez famous ghazal is : For peace and prosperity in this world and the next, understand what I advise: loyalty and Magnanimity to the friends, and with foes try to relate ,tolerate and respect.

This was whey Iranian scholar loved Tagore so much. Tagore travels to Iran contributed a great cultural exchange; his name was on the article of the newspaper at that time..

Each of these visits reinforced the firm resolve of our scholars  to further strengthen people-to-people links. Tagore travel caused Iranian scholars to pay more attention to Indian culture many Iranian scholars travelled to India to discover India again  one of them was Bahār , he compiled many famous poem about the greatness of India and Indian culture he wrote : once again my white horse of imagination  traveled to India  my life be scarified of earth of India. I song  o beloved Hindustan  be happy and  prospers ever. and  all month and all years be free from sadness.

On April 11, 1933, Rabindranath Tagore and Dinshah Irani visited Iran. Tagore was in Tehran in the second month of spring and his daughter-in-law Pratima Devi accompanied him to look after her father-in-law. The 70th birthday of Tagore was celebrated in Tehran. On his way back to India via Baghdad, Tagore was a guest of King Faisal. Shortly after the visit, Tagore received the news of death of his only grandson Nitindranath . No doubt, it was very difficult for Tagore to tolerate such a grievous development as his generation came to an end after death of the young Nitindranath.

 

Professor Pur-dawood says: during his stay in Tehran, Tagore asked Reza Shah Pahlavi to dispatch a teacher to India to teach in his college. At that time, I was staying in Germany. I received a message from the Iranian government that I have been chosen for the purpose. On December 21, 1932, I left Berlin for India and returned to Germany on March 27, 1934. Shantiniketan College which was called Visva Bharti today is one of the government universities in India. When Tagore was alive, a number of scientists used to teach free of cost at Shantiniketan. Many Western experts such as Sylvain Levi of Paris in 1920, Winternitz and Lesny of Prague in 1921, Carlo Formici and Giusepp Tucci of Rome in 1925 visited Shantiniketan and delivered speeches there. Carlo Formici and Giusepp Tucci who were sent by Mussolini, presented hundreds of volumes of Italian books to Shantiniketan. In response to an invitation of Mussolini, Tagore visited Italy on May 15, 1926 where a number of India’s great personalities were present. Tagore spent the cash prize of his Nobel Prize in development of his college. All incomes from the sale of his Gujarati books were also spent in this way. Most of the expenses of Shantiniketan were met by the demotions received from the Nizam of Hyderabad, Zoroastrians and etc.

During the discussions, Tagore told me many times: I feel that nobody in Tehran knows me as none of my works has been translated into Persian to introduce me to the people. Since he repeated this two or three times, I told him that I will do the job with the help of one of the teachers here. With the help of one of the teachers Ziauddin who knew Persian to some extent, I translated some 100 lines of Tagore’s poems from Bengali into Persian. Tagore translated most of his poems from Bengali to English in his own way. The English text of Tagore’s poems has been the basis for the translation of the same into any other language. So, everybody has chosen his own way and method in translating Tagore’s poems.

On the eve of the Iranian New Year (Now-Ruz) of 1311, I was in Shantiniketan. Tagore who had come to know the approach of the Iranian New Year, ordered to celebrate the occasion in a big way. One of the Indian artists Mandala Buss decorated the place wonderfully. Tagore and all of the teachers and students participated the festivities. I was given a greeting card which was written by Tagore himself in red ink. The red colure among Hindus is a sign of prosperity. I, there, read few poems which I had written to celebrate the arrival of spring.

In the poems, I referred to the freedom of India and Hindu Gods. One of my friends Krishna Kriplani translated them into English. Tagore was very impressed by hearing the poems and phrases such as Guru from an Iranian phrases such as Guru from an Iranian.

Tagore was one of the most creative exponents of an Asian sense in the early twentieth century. He wrote in 1932, while on a visit to Iran, that “each country of Asia will solve its own historical problems according to its strength, nature and needs, but the lamp they will each carry on their path to progress will converge to illuminate the common ray of knowledge.” His ideas on culture, gender, poverty, education, freedom, and a resurgent Asia remain relevant today.

Rabindranath Tagore was a multifaceted genius whose creativity spanned every form of artistic expression. His concerns ranged from global and universalist ones to practical and mundane issues. He established institutions to reflect his vision and through his travels, writings and actions demonstrated that the international brotherhood of man was not merely a theoretical construct.

Tagore was a man ahead of his time. His ideas on culture, gender, poverty, education, freedom, and a resurgent Asia remain relevant today.

During the last two decades the Iranian have paid more attention to the Tagore written.

Many  books and articles have been published about Tagore the life and  idea of Tagore in persian.  last year I wrote an article on the occasion of 150the birth  anniversary of  Tagore and it was well received in Iranian mass media.

The IRNA official news agency of Iran  and the Iranian TV,  IRIB carried out many features on the occasion .

Bahar poem about India and  tagor eبهار جلد ۲ ص ۲۳۸

باز خنگ فکرتم جولان گرفت—-  فیل طبعم یاد هندوستان گرفت. (خنگ = اسب سفید تندرو)

تا خیالم نقش روی هند بست— –  یافت ذوقم جلوه طاووس مست

 دل اسیر حلقه زنجیر هند—- جان فدای خاک دامن گیر هند

بس ملاحت ها در آن خاک و هواست———-هند را کان نمک خواندن رواست

ایزدی بود آشناییهای ما —- آشنا داند صلای آشنا

هند و ایران آشنایان همند—– هر دو از نسل فریدون و جم ند

ساغری گیر از می عرفان هند——   نوش یاد پارسی گویان هند

یادی از مسعود سعد راد کن —- بعد  یاد رونی استاد کن.(بیرونی)

آن که چون سعدی سخنگویی نوست—- بلبل گلزار دهلی خسرو است..

از همایون گیر تا شاه جهان —– شاعران را بوده هند آرام جان

هند بازار خرید ذوق بود—– هند یکسر عشق و شور و شوق بود

صنعت ذوق و هنر ترکیب یافت——-   از صفاهان و هری ترتیب یافت. (هرات)

پس روان شد کاروان در کاروان —- تنگهای دل پر از کالای جان

رشک غزنین گشت بزم اکبری —- نغمه خوان آنجا هزاران عنصری

غالبی آمد اگر شد طالبی —– شبیلی هست ار نباشد غالبی. (نام شاعر پارسی گوی هند)

بیدلی گر رفت اقبالی رسید—- بیدلان را نوبت و حالی رسید

عصر حاضر خاصه اقبال گشت—– واحدی کز صد هزاران برگذشت

ای بهار از هند با من دم مزن —–      بیش از این بر آتشم دامن مزن

کز فراق هند بس دلخسته ام —- نام هند است این که بر خود بسته ام

نام اصل هند باشد مه بهار —- جذب گرد    کۀ   به مه بی اختیار

من بهار کوچکم در ری مقیم —- دل طپان از فرقت هند عظیم

پس پیامی می فرستم سوی یار — در لطافت چون نسیم نو بهار

گویم ای هند گرامی شاد باش — سال و ماه از بند و غم آزاد باش 

Dr.Mohammad Ajam  is ex professor of university and legal and studies  Minister Counsellor

مقاله  مذکور : زیر چاپ و منتشر شده است :

Tagore the Eternal Seeker : Footprints of a World Traveller”. Edited By SuryakanthiTripathi, Radha Chakravarty ,Nivedita Ray
published by ICWA and Vij Books India Pvt Ltd, New Delhi,Tagor in .Iran page  page 358-379 by Dr Mohammad Ajam

ISBN:  ۹۷۸-۹۳-۸۲۶۵۲-۹۵-۳, ۲۰۱۵

  • نوبل

*شب شعر ایران و هندوستان – تاگور شاعر پرآوازه هندی

*نگاهی به زندگی ‘تاگور’ شاعر پرآوازه هندی وعلاقه شدید وی به ایران و زبان فارسی.دکتر محمد عجم

 بررسی کتاب:رابیندرا نات تاگور: یک صد سال از استقبال جهانی

Tagore’s visit to Iran تاگور در ایران و عشق به زبان فارسی و حافظ

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