'Harmony' – Prince Charles' desire for the world
PRINCE Charles paid special tribute to the work and teachings of Rabindranath Tagore – as he unveiled the first ever statue of him in London yesterday (7).
A poet, novelist and the first non-European to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913, the unveiling marked the laureate's 150th Birth Anniversary. The Tagore Centre which is the UK's leading institution promoting his work was behind the event.
Prince Charles unveiled the statue and spoke of the impact Tagore's teachings had on him personally and the world at large.
He said that it was time that the world recognised the work of great teachers such as Tagore. He admitted – though July 7 was a dark anniversary in the country's calendar – the inscriptions on the statue would shine as beacons of tolerance in all times to come.
Prince Charles also said that he found Tagore's work very relevant today. He related himself closely with Tagore's thinking that real education is not the one that merely provides an individual with information but teaches to live in harmony with surroundings and the world as a whole, binds all citizens in the rhythm of relations which are not merely utilitarian.
He said: 'It is time that we hear the earth cry and do something about it. We need to be living in the world with consciousness, knowing it, spiritually connecting with it and not merely making use of it but expanding it with sympathy. We have an urgent need to act.”
Charles quoted one of Tagore's poem, "He warns us – no, it is not yours to open buds into blossoms, shake the bud, strike it; it is beyond your power to make it blossom.”
"Your touch soils it, you tear its petals to pieces and strew them in the dust and yet blinded by our conceit, it would seem that we are still unable to see the consequences of our foolishness, even though it is becoming more and more obvious – in the way the climate is being disrupted, or the way resources are being
dangerously depleted, or that the skies, rivers and seas are all being polluted." Finally Prince Charles unveiled Tagore's statue.
A welcome Rabindra Sangeet song and Bengali dance performance were part of the ceremony.
High Commissioner of India, Mr Nalin Surie, Chief Patron of the Tagore Centre, Baroness S Flather, Film Directors, Dr Sangeeta Datta and Rituparna Ghosh were amongst some of the important people who attended the ceremony.
Baroness Flather said that Prince Charles' words were very well prepared and thought after.
The creator and sculptor of Tagore's statue, Shenda Amery had a look of pride when she could see her work stand forever in the pages of history.
