H1.31.9

Rise of Nationalism in India

Rabindranath Tagore set his book, “Gora” during the early days of the 20th century.
This is when the nationalist movement swept through India.
After the Great Uprising of 1857, the British launched their “divide and rule” policy in India. They wished to divide Hindus and Muslims.
The British Government took control of India’s administration from the East India Company in 1858.
Allan Octavian Hume founded the Indian National Congress in 1885. He wanted to give Indians a voice with the British Government.
The Party quickly became the centre of the nationalist movement that swept through India.

Nationalist movements and thinkers in Europe, like Theodor Herzl and Giuseppe Mazzini, influenced many Indians.
Some of India’s leaders copied and changed the ideas that people like Mazzini promoted.
Today’s leaders have warped the original ideas even more.

Tagore’s own views were much broader than those prevalent during his time. He expressed some of his thinking in his poem, “Let My Country Awake.”

He wrote “Gora” in this setting of a rising wave of nationalism in India.


Synopsis

On the surface, the book traces two parallel love stories. The first is between Gora and Sucharita. The second is between Binoy and Lolita.

Most reviewers have found long passages on themes like caste, feminism, gender, religion, etc., scattered through the book.
Tagore also explored many nationalist themes while writing “Gora”.

My Impression

I did not find any real merit in the book. I accept that this may be because of poor translation from Bengali to English.

Gora’s character confused me. The translator used the masculine and feminine genders to refer to Gora. At times, I became unsure if the word, “Gora” was used to refer to the British.
“Gora” also refers to a fair skinned person, and we also use the word in colloquial speech to refer to a white-skinned Westerner.
The translator also mixed up the past and present tense in a single paragraph, making it difficult to follow the flow of the narrative.
There were some interesting passages in the book in which Tagore wrote about some themes like nationalism, religion, brotherhood, etc.
However, the poor translation marred the story.

Towards the end, I tired of the book, and was glad that to conclude the narrative. ( )

La narración empieza en Calcuta. Historia llena de amor, sentimientos vistos desde otra perspectiva ,desde otra cultura. ( )

So it turns out Tagore is really all he's cracked out to be! This is a wonderful work of fiction (and philosophy). It was like a breath of fresh air for me, because when I read enough petty books and start wondering if maybe reading just got boring or maybe I can't quite feel like books are so grand anymore, or maybe I'm just not as impressionable, I stumble upon something like this and realise that everything is still fine with the world of books, and all I've been longing for is simply just a really good, deep read. This is precisely that kind of book, and it really impressed me how Tagore transported me into the whirlwind of thoughts and ideas that shaped the 19-20th centuries in India. It was also extremely well timed for me, as the previous book I read was Gissing's Odd women which also addressed a lot of the problems that this book did.
What will you find in this book? Discussions about the love for your nation, your community and family, spirituality and religion, as well as religious freedom and freedom to act as an individual, as opposed to the restrictions society puts on you and the prejudice free thinkers have to face, but that's not all. This book also talks about coming of age, finding yourself, a young person's place in the world and in the spiritual realm, also about what it truly means to be a highly evolved human being, not just by intelligence but through your deeds and understanding. If you are someone who often ponders these questions, you will greatly enjoy this book. ( )