With over 100 to choose from, it was hard to decide where to start with the short stories of Bengali writer Rabindranath Tagore. In recognition of his mastery of so many fields, we have chosen this lesser-known story written in 1929. This was a year after Tagore took up painting (at age sixty-seven!) and went on to re-shape the Indian art world. The moral of the story reflects Tagore’s life: embrace your passions and don’t let the criticism of others (such as the ‘connoisseurs’ who laughed at Rangalal) or worship of money (as demonstrated by Govinda) stand in your way.
Original Text / PDF (2,053 words)