The songs of Rabindranath Tagore are the eternal treasures of our quest for the true identity of man in terms of music. His songs of awakening are a prelude to the why and how of this quest in a very crystallised and transparent pattern presented in poignant and telling words of the mind and the heart. Our moments of joy, sorrow, love, languishment, hope, disappointment, loneliness and wonder are woven in unparalleled words in these songs of awakening. As one reads and attunes with the very words of these songs, one is blessed with a new dawn of awareness for marching ahead in search of excellence and ascent.

A permanent companion to anyone who wants to be in perfect tuning with Tagore for awakening anew and afresh any time anywhere.

Mohit Chakrabarti, D. Litt.: Teaches Education and English at Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan, India. Honoured with National Award as Teacher Educator.

Credited with participation/ presentation/ acceptance of papers in international/ national conferences/ symposia/ seminars etc. like The World Assembly of Teacher Educators, The University of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica; Beijing Normal University, Beijing; Institution of Education, Singapore; First International Conference on “Literature in Translation”, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi; First International Symposium on “India and World Literature”, University of Delhi, Delhi; Workshop on “Setting the Agenda for Change for Central Universities for the 21st Century, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India.

Associated with different Universities, National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) and Educational institutions, Professor Chakrabarti has recently acted as member, Teacher Education for Curriculum Renewal, National Focus Group on Teacher Education, NCERT, New Delhi.

Consistent and prolific contributor to studies and researches on Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore and Swami Vivekananda. Writer of books for children in Bengali and English.

The songs of Rabindranath Tagore bring forth a vision of life in fullness. His catholicity of vision in delving deep into the finer feelings and softer emotions of life in aesthetic and mystic grandeur is incomparable and unparalleled. This is perhaps all the more justified when his songs of awakening ring in the innermost core of the mind and the heart.

What makes Tagore’s songs of awakening so significant? What are the very essential points of departure in which these songs are enriched? Why should one consider these songs of awakening as milestones of one’s ascent and excellence as the best creation of the All Beautiful? One might go on supplementing numerous other questions prompting, of course, apposite answers. What is really very amazing is that his songs of awakening simply prepare us to be more vibrant and spontaneous in making newer and more challenging adventure within ourselves where the diverse components of the human feelings and emotions –freedom, joy, love, sorrow, loneliness, separation, pains, trials, doubts, disturbances, devotion and dedication—all await a symphony in all brilliance and perfection in consciousness par excellence.

When love is considered to be a serene component of awakening, it turns out as a perennial force not only for the time present but remarkably for the time past with all its glorious moments also, and for the time future that beckons with promises and perfume of perfection. In fact, Tagore’s songs of awakening with fullness of the vision of love are the benchmarks of the quest for the beyonding of man. Moreover, love embodied and personalised in and through Nature unfolds a newer horizon of the soul of love which is the All Soul, Infinite, All Illumined One. What a quest for love in the muse in awakening?

Hope in Tagore’s songs of awakening also plays a very characteristic role. He adores and embraces it in terms of pain, desolation and disappointment so much so that in the final analysis we come across a newer avenue of awakening with absolute glory and serenity. Tagore also introduces the songs of awakening not simply as an exercise in optimism but more than that. These reveal how one can undergo an inward endeavour at viewing life as a variegated casket to finer and softer sensibilities that moderate and crystallise whatever stands for excellence and ascent to man. The oyster in every mind looks more illumined with the exquisite exploration of feeling and emotions sensitised in one’s own approach to soul consciousness.

Humility is the essence of Tagore’s songs of awakening. Therefore, a positive and vibrant attitude to all constraints is the hallmark of the true identity of humans continually striving for oneness with the All Serene. Distress and disgrace, darkness and desolation, wounds and agonies-all are warmly welcome as boosters to awakening and reawakening in contemplation and action, and, with these ends-in-view, his songs make a calm and serene call complimenting everyone with askance and counter askance for finding out the true inward world of freedom and joy, serenity and extinction of personality.

In selecting the songs, care has been taken to be justified to Tagore as far as possible in highlighting the most natural and significant components that adorn as marvels of awakening. At the same time, these songs are so poignant in unfolding the true image of man in pursuit of fullness that even a cursory effort to be attuned through the invaluable words would always pay startling dividends.

I earnestly carry forward within myself the endless warmth of love and affection from my eldest sister, Shrimati Madhabilata Brahmachari. I humbly dedicate this book to her as a token of reverence and gratitude.

Sobdo, my son, has satisfactorily processed the computer work for the book. Hearty congrats!

If the book appeals to all lovers of Tagore, I would recall his own words as a tyro in appositely attuning myself: “Thy infinite gifts come to me only on these very small hands of mine. Ages pass, and still thou pourest, and still there is room to fill.