To me, personally, that’s a crime! 💜💜💜

Gurudev and the Mahatma ❤️

Life Lessons from the Great Tagore-Gandhi Debate

Nobel Laureate Tagore | On His Birthday Today

7th May 2025 #Reflections #onhisbirthdaytoday

Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore, are two towering figures associated with the Indian independence movement.

Both shared a camaraderie and a bonhomie that’s evident in Tagore bestowing the title ‘Mahatma’ on Gandhi and Gandhi addressing Tagore respectfully as ‘Gurudev’.

Both Gandhi and Tagore placed immense value on education as a tool for individual and national awakening.

Both believed in the importance of selfless service to society.

Both envisioned an India that was inclusive and free from religious and social divisions.

Both were critical of the excessive materialism and industrialization of the West as well.

Yet… despite this mutual admiration and their shared goal of India’s upliftment, their approaches to various crucial issues, particularly in the realms of education and nationalism, revealed significant differences of opinion.

In fact, the “great debate” between Tagore and Gandhi foregrounds their contrasting perspectives to life, and bespeaks to the importance of celebrating other perspectives, other voices and other truths that life has to offer us.  

While Tagore envisioned a more holistic and creative education that’s universal in its appeal, foregrounding the arts, literature, music, and a connection with nature, Gandhi envisaged a nationalism that is deeply rooted in the Indian soil, emphasizing self-reliance (Swadeshi), non-violent resistance (Satyagraha), and the rejection of Western colonial influence.

Tagore’s institution - Visva-Bharati, aimed at fostering intellectual freedom, creativity, and a global outlook, blending Eastern and Western knowledge, that emphasizes self-realization and the harmonious development of the individual.

He was quite sceptical of narrow, aggressive nationalism, which he saw as a potential source of conflict and intolerance. Hence, he advocated for a more cosmopolitan and humanistic approach, that prioritised universal humanism over a strict nationalistic fervour.

Gandhi on the other hand, emphasised on self-reliance that favoured a rejection of foreign-made goods and a return to traditional, indigenous crafts.

In this regard, the charkha, or the spinning wheel, was a powerful symbol of self-reliance and economic independence for Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian independence movement, as it represented economic self-sufficiency, economic empowerment and resistance against British industrial dominance.

In short, although they were very good friends, they agreed to disagree on their perspectives to life and society.

While Gandhi, the pragmatic political leader, focused on mass action and self-reliance, Tagore, the visionary poet and philosopher, emphasized on universalism, cultural renaissance, and the holistic development of the individual.

This three-decade long friendship in fact speaks volumes to the celebration of differences between individuals.

As friends, as family, as siblings, as colleagues, we may all have our different / differing world views to life and living.

Like Tagore and Gandhi, it’s good to have healthy dialogues and debates that hinge on our differences.

But let’s not enforce our personal worldviews / perspectives on another.

To me, personally, that’s a crime! 😊

Let’s believe in celebrating every individual’s unique world view! Let’s agree to disagree! 😊

The moment we realise that, everyone has the right to their beliefs, opinions, perspectives and world views, that’s when we will stop judging, criticising and commenting on another person’s attitude to life and living!

As Hector Garcia says in their Ikigai –

“Our ikigai is different for all of us, but one thing we have in common is that we are all searching for meaning.”

This celebration of the quintessential differences in every individual makes life meaningful and rewarding, and helps us to look upon life as ‘a celebration of differences!’

To sum it up, in the words of the French enlightenment philosopher Voltaire –

“I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”.

How beautifully he’s said it! Ain’t he? 😊

Image credits: gandhi.gov.in

PS: You may want to read Tagore’s take on Visva Sahitya, on our past blogpost HERE