On Mother's Day - I Cannot Remember My Mother..... by Tagore

 On Mother's Day

Most beautiful poem by Rabindranath Tagore

I cannot remember my mother
only sometimes in the midst of my play
a tune seems to hover over my playthings,
the tune of some song that she used to
hum while rocking my cradle.

I cannot remember my mother
but when in the early autumn morning
the smell of the shiuli flowers floats in the air
the scent of the morning service in the temple
comes to me as the scent of my mother.

I cannot remember my mother
only when from my bedroom window I send
my eyes into the blue of the distant sky,
I feel that the stillness of
my mother's gaze on my face
has spread all over the sky.

By Rabindranath Tagore and translated by Sishu Bholanath

Rabindranath Tagore born 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941; was  poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He reshaped Bengali literature and music, as well as Indian art with Contextual Modernism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Author of the "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse" of Gitanjali, he became in 1913 the first non-European as well as the first lyricist to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Tagore's poetic songs were viewed as spiritual and mercurial; however, his "elegant prose and magical poetry" remain largely unknown outside Bengal. He is sometimes referred to as "the Bard of Bengal".  

First ever Philatelic Exhibition on "Rabindranath Tagore" out side India

First ever Philatelic Exhibition on "Rabindranath Tagore" out side India was held at Cairo, Egypt in July 2011, as part of the year long celebrations to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. 

The exhibition was organised by the Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture (MACIC), Embassy of India, Cairo in cooperation with the Foreign Cultural Relations Sector and the Fine Arts Sector of the Egyptian Ministry of Culture.  

The exhibition curated by me in Cairo at the invitation of the Kolkata chapter of ICCR was inaugurated by the H. E. Dr Emad Abou Ghazi, the Egyptian Minister of Culture with pomp and grandeur. Exhibits were made from the collection of Mr. Moloy Sarkar besides me. Mr Gopal Biswas of our group also lent his valuable and rare items for the exhibition.

Given here some Print Media Coverage and the facsimile of the bookmark presented to all the visitors.

- Sekhar Chakrabarty : email : sekhar.chakrabarti@gmail.com