This year's annual celebration of the (161st) birth anniversary of the Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore took place online on Saturday 7 May. Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Council member Obhi Chatterjee, Kaberi Chatterjee and their colleagues from Prantik led a programme of Tagore readings, poetry and music around the theme of freedom, with Professor Sitanshu Ray joining from Tagore’s university town of Santiniketan and Sayan Bandhopadhyay joining from Kolkata in India.
Shakespeare Birthplace Trust colleagues Anjna Chouhan, Julia Howells and Paul Taylor read English translations of Tagore's verse and song. Hitesh Saxena, Commercial Representative and Head of Chancery at the Indian Consulate-General in Birmingham, attended the event and spoke eloquently about Tagore’s contemporary relevance.
If you missed the event you can watch the recording here:
On Monday 9 May, Dr Shashank Vikram, Consul General of India, Birmingham, paid homage to Tagore on his birth anniversary by laying a beautiful flower garland at his bust in the Birthplace garden. Following this we were pleased to show him around the wider site. He thoroughly enjoyed the garden and the house, asked numerous questions and recounted stories of learning Julius Caesar (his favourite Shakespeare play) at school.
Find out more about the connection between Shakespeare and Tagore here, and catch up with recordings of our recent celebrations of Tagore’s birth anniversary here. This collection includes the previously unpublished recording of the 160th birth anniversary celebrations in 2021.