Kashi forgets Gurudev on birth anniversary

Varanasi: Nation paid rich tributes to Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore on this 155th birth anniversary on Saturday but Varanasi, which had close connection with the great poet, seemingly forgot him. No one found time to put even a garland on his statue at Tagore Park located at the one of the busiest crossings in Bhelupur. Even Banaras Hindu University (BHU), which was close to his heart, also forgot to hold a function in his honour.
The members of a club have planned a cultural programme to pay musical tributes to him at Tagore Park on Sunday morning. "We will hold a programme of Ravindra Sangeet at Tagore Park," Shantanu Chatterjee, an office-bearer of the club, said.
Tagore was the chairman of Bharat Kala Parishad established in 1920, which was converted into Bharat Kala Bhavan (Indian Art Museum). Later, the museum became the property of BHU in 1950 when the collection was transferred to the university and the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru laid the foundation stone of Bharat Kala Bhavan. Nehru opened the present building of the museum in 1962.
Though, BHU failed to hold any programme to mark his birth anniversary, it has a plan to set up Tagore Bhawan to store material related to the cultural life of Bengal in Gurudev's times and collection of publications on Tagore.
Tagore wrote an essay 'Hindu Vishwavidyalaya' and read it at Ripon College, Calcutta (now Kolkata) in 1911. He also delivered convocation address at BHU in 1934, said Vishwanath Pandey, officer on special duty, centenary celebration cell, BHU.
It is believed that Tagore, during his boat journey from Ghazipur to Varanasi, had conceived the idea of his two creations Nauka Dubi and Chokher Bali. Rituparno Ghosh made films casting Aishwarya Rai (Chokher Bali) and Raima Sen (Nauka Dubi) at the backdrop of majestic ghats of Varanasi.