Of Roots, Morals, and Western Ideals

Understanding Indian Nationalism through the Gaze of Rabindranath Tagore

It is neither hidden nor obscure that Western concepts and ideologies dominantly
reign in most of the lands and waters of the globe. While this is true, Rabindranath
Tagore from the East believes that national interest can only be realized if and only if his
country, India, will start looking at its domestic riches and shrug off the ideals of the
West that do not align with his nation’s historical slam to the present.
Rabindranath Tagore focused his speech on why India had no genuine sense of
nationalism. Following his thesis statement: “It is my conviction that my countrymen
will truly gain their India by fighting against the education which teaches them
that the country is greater than the ideals of humanity”, he then proceeded to
elaborating the same by revolving his ideas through three factors – Indian history,
Western influence, and moral power. Ultimately, it was Tagore’s message that India has
the ability to be civilized without becoming a slave to the West, and in the course of
attaining its progress, it should not lose its ancestry and tradition, and most importantly,
its humanity.
With the objective to shed light on India’s faulty brand of patriotism, Tagore
expressed the miseducation of the Indians by stating that “The educated Indian at
present is trying to absorb some lessons from history contrary to the lessons of
our ancestors. The East, in fact, is attempting to take unto itself a history which is
not the outcome of its own living.” Subsequently, Tagore managed to expound this
statement by exemplifying Japan who drained its heritage by using up Western methods
but was only then left with weapons of civilization as a footprint to its ancestry. The
speaker also mentioned Europe whose present power was drawn from its past.
Apparently, it is Tagore’s perception that India should put a stop on competing
against the progress of other nations or striving to liken its identity with countries that
are highly different from itself. Simply, the speaker wants to emphasize that India must
not adjust its culture to conform with the ideals of other countries that swim in
extravagant lifestyles – that people in India have their own and unique brand of
civilization. Tagore successfully inserted this idea through this strong line: “India, must
make up our minds that we cannot borrow other people’s history, and that if we
stifle our own we are committing suicide.”
“India is no beggar of the West,” Tagore stressed. Ensuing this sharp
statement is Tagore’s pungent remark that the West must not bedamn the world by
proliferating its selfish interests and making materialism at its utmost goal. The West
must pursue its political destiny without exploiting other nations, for each country has its
own fate to follow. To further expound, Tagore expressed that he is against the general
idea of all nations, defining a nation to be a whole people as a collective power. This
collective power must be maintained for a nation to advance. Nonetheless, in the course
of acquiring wealth and power, a nation must not lose its morality and not deprive its
people of their rights.
To lock his speech, Tagore ended it by asserting this: We must show those
who are over us that we have in ourselves the strength of moral power, the power
to suffer for truth. Conclusively, nationalism in India must be preserved and defended
by looking back at its roots, denying Western ideals that may possibly distract Indians
from grasping authentic nationalism, and lastly, putting morality on top of its priority.
Only then will India be able to teach itself that humanity must always lead over a nation,
and that genuine nationalism is apperceived first and foremost from within, not beyond.