Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore[a] ( /rbindrnt tr/; Bengali pronunciation: [robindro nat akur]), also
written Ravndrantha Thkura[1] (7 May 1861 7 August 1941),[b]sobriquet Gurudev,[c] was
a Bengali polymath who reshaped Bengali literature and music, as well as Indian
art with Contextual Modernism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Author
of Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse", [3] he became the first nonEuropean to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913.[4] In translation his poetry was viewed as
spiritual and mercurial; however, his "elegant prose and magical poetry" remain largely
unknown outside Bengal.[5] Tagore introduced new prose and verse forms and the use of
colloquial language into Bengali literature, thereby freeing it from traditional models based on
classical Sanskrit. He was highly influential in introducing the best of Indian culture to the West
and vice versa, and he is generally regarded as the outstanding creative artist of the modern
Indian subcontinent.
i

A Pirali Brahmin from Calcutta with ancestral gentry roots in Jessore, Tagore wrote poetry as an
eight-year-old.[6] At age sixteen, he released his first substantial poemsunder the
pseudonym Bhnusiha ("Sun Lion"), which were seized upon by literary authorities as long-lost
classics.[7][8] By 1877 he graduated to his first short stories and dramas, published under his real
name. As a humanist, universalist internationalist, and strident nationalist he denounced
the British Raj and advocated independence from Britain. As an exponent of the Bengal
Renaissance, he advanced a vast canon that comprised paintings, sketches and doodles,
hundreds of texts, and some two thousand songs; his legacy endures also in the institution he
founded, Visva-Bharati University.[9][10][11][12][13]
Tagore modernised Bengali art by spurning rigid classical forms and resisting linguistic
strictures. His novels, stories, songs, dance-dramas, and essays spoke to topics political and
personal. Gitanjali (Song Offerings), Gora (Fair-Faced) and Ghare-Baire (The Home and the World)
are his best-known works, and his verse, short stories, and novels were acclaimedor panned
for their lyricism, colloquialism, naturalism, and unnatural contemplation. His compositions
were chosen by two nations as national anthems: India's Jana Gana
Mana and Bangladesh's Amar Shonar Bangla. The lyrics and music for the original song of Sri
Lanka's National Anthem were also the work of Tagore.[14]

EARLY LIFE: 18611878

The youngest of thirteen surviving children, Tagore (nicknamed "Rabi") was born in
the Jorasanko mansion in Calcutta to parents Debendranath Tagore (18171905) and
Sarada Devi (18301875).[d]
Tagore was raised mostly by servants; his mother had died in his early childhood and his
father travelled widely.[21] Tagore family was at the forefront of the Bengal renaissance.
They hosted the publication of literary magazines; theatre and recitals of Bengali and
Western classical music featured there regularly. Tagore's oldest brother Dwijendranath was
a philosopher and poet. Another brother, Satyendranath, was the first Indian appointed to
the elite and formerly all-European Indian Civil Service. Yet another
brother, Jyotirindranath, was a musician, composer, and playwright.[22] His
sister Swarnakumari became a novelist.[citation needed] Jyotirindranath's wife Kadambari,
slightly older than Tagore, was a dear friend and powerful influence. Her abrupt suicide in
1884, soon after he married, left him for years profoundly distraught.[citation needed]
Tagore largely avoided classroom schooling and preferred to roam the manor or
nearby Bolpur and Panihati, idylls which the family visited.[23][24] His
brotherHemendranath tutored and physically conditioned himby having him swim the
Ganges or trek through hills, by gymnastics, and by practising judo and wrestling. He
learned to draw, anatomy, geography and history, literature, mathematics, Sanskrit, and
Englishhis least favourite subject.[25] Tagore loathed formal educationhis scholarly

travails at the local Presidency College spanned a single day. Years later he held that proper
teaching does not explain things; proper teaching stokes curiosity:[26]
After his upanayan (coming-of-age) rite at age eleven, Tagore and his father left Calcutta in
February 1873 to tour India for several months, visiting his father's Santiniketan estate
and Amritsar before reaching the Himalayan hill station of Dalhousie. There, Tagore read
biographies, studied history, astronomy, modern science, and Sanskrit, and examined the
classical poetry of Klidsa.[27][28]
DHANRAJ PILLAY
Dhanraj Pillay (born 16 July 1968 in Pune) is an Indian field hockey player and former
captain of the Indian hockey team. He is currently the manager of the Indian hockey team.
Also he is a member of the ad hoc committee of Indian Hockey Federation, formed after the
suspension of Kanwar Pal Singh Gill.[2]
Personal life[edit]
Dhanraj Pillay was born at Khadki near Pune in Maharashtra. He is the fourth son
of Tamil parents Nagalingam Pillay and Andalamma. As a bachelor, he lived
in Powai, Mumbai, while his parents continued to live in Khadki. He is fluent
in Tamil ( his Mother tongue), Hindi, English and Marathi.
Early life[edit]
Pillay spent his youth in the Ordnance Factory staff colony where his father was a
groundsman. Playing on the soft, muddy surface of the OFK ground with his brothers and
friends from the colony, he learnt his skills with broken sticks and discarded hockey balls,
imitating the style of legendary forward and idol,Mohammed Shahid. His mother, whom he
gives all the credit for his success, encouraged all her five sons to play hockey despite
leading a hand-to-mouth existence.
Dhanraj moved to Mumbai in the mid-eighties to join his elder brother Ramesh, who was
playing for RCF in the Mumbai League. Ramesh had already played for India in
international matches and his guidance helped Dhanraj develop as a potent, speedy striker.
He then moved over to Mahindra & Mahindra where he was tutored by the then Indian
coach, J.M. Carvalho.
KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, Jr.; April 16, 1947) is an American
retired professional basketball player who played 20 seasons in theNational Basketball
Association (NBA) for the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers. During his career as
a center, Abdul-Jabbar was a record six-time NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP), a record 19time NBA All-Star, a 15-time All-NBA selection, and an 11-time NBA All-Defensive
Team member. A member of six NBA championship teams as a player and two as an
assistant coach, Abdul-Jabbar twice was voted NBA Finals MVP. In 1996, he was honored
as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History. NBA coach Pat Riley and players Isiah
Thomas and Julius Erving have called him the greatest basketball player of all time.[1][2][3]
[4][5]
After winning 71 consecutive basketball games on his high school team in New York City,
Lew Alcindor attended college at UCLA, where he played on three consecutive national
championship basketball teams and was a record three-time MVP of the NCAA Tournament.
[6] Drafted by the one-season-old Bucks franchise in the 1969 NBA draft with the first
overall pick, Alcindor spent six seasons in Milwaukee. After winning his first NBA
championship in 1971, he adopted the Muslim name Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at age 24.
Using his trademark "skyhook" shot, he established himself as one of the league's top

scorers. In 1975, he was traded to the Lakers, with whom he played the last 14 seasons of
his career and won five NBA championships. Abdul-Jabbar's contributions were a key
component in the "Showtime" era of Lakers basketball. Over his 20-year NBA career his
team succeeded in making the playoffs 18 times and past the 1st round in 14 of them; his
team reached the NBA Finals 10 times.At the time of his retirement in 1989, Abdul-Jabbar
was the NBA's all-time leader in points scored (38,387), games played (1,560), minutes
played (57,446), field goals made (15,837), field goal attempts (28,307), blocked
shots (3,189), defensive rebounds (9,394), and personal fouls (4,657). He remains the alltime leading scorer in the NBA, and is ranked 3rd all-time in both rebounds and blocks. In
2007 ESPN voted him the greatest center of all time,[7] and in 2008 they named him the
"greatest player in college basketball history."[8] Abdul-Jabbar has also been an actor, a
basketball coach, and a best-selling author.[9][10] In 2012, he was selected by Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton to be a U.S. global cultural ambassador.[11]