Doodling Art by Rabindranath Tagore – Doodled Fancy

Rabindranath Tagore is recognized world wide for literature, but he had immense talent in other fields too. Art, music, dramatics… he was a genius in all of them and more. In this post I would like to highlight Rabindranath Tagore’s skill in doodling.

Till I saw doodling art of Rabindranath Tagore exhibited in Uttarayan in Shantiniketan, I never knew this could be an art too! I was completely awestruck at the display of this kind of work there. I always knew of the paintings of Rabindranath Tagore, but doodling by him was new!

Uttarayan in Shantiniketan

Tagore lived in Uttarayan complex whenever he was in Shantiniketan. There are 5 houses within this complex – Udichi, Udayana, Konaraka, Shamali and Punascha. Tagore’s museum here is Bichitra Sadan.

Very strict rules for entry to this complex; this is especially after the theft of the Nobel Prize medal that Tagore received. We had to leave our mobile and camera at the gate.

Doodling Art by Rabindranath Tagore

How did doodling take an artistic form? Tagore, while composing poems or prose would cross out a word or phrase. These pen-through erasures made him uneasy. His desire to rescue these islands of crossed out spots made him join them into some designs.

Initially they would form some visually decorative pattern then they would form some kind of zoomorphic shapes.

Quoting Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore here:

The only training which I had from my young days was the training in rhythm, the rhythm in thought, the rhythm in sound. I had come to know that rhythm gives reality to that which is desultory, which is insignificant in itself.

And therefore, when the scratches in my manuscript cried, like sinners, for salvation, and assailed my eyes with the ugliness of their irrelevance, I often took more time in rescuing them into a merciful finality of rhythm than in carrying on what was my obvious task.Rabindranath Tagore

tagore_manuscript6_c-1

This is how the doodled work would look.
Tagore doodling artwork

Definition of ‘Doodle’ – Doodles are aimless scribble, design or sketch. But Rabindranath Tagore’s doodling was not aimless; there emerges order and elegance, a flight from chaos. This orderliness gave him a sense of ease.

Tagore’s was a different style. He scribbled, he daubed and dabbled with child like abandon. Some psycho analysts tried to study his work; all they could conclude was that such art work was his pure fancy and playfulness.

Book on Rabindranath Tagore’s doodles: Doodled Fancy

Tagore doodling Book

The way he cancelled date that was written by him. Pic is from the book.

Tagore doodling cancelling a date

No photography is permitted, but I was lucky to lay my hands on the book “Doodled Fancy”. Dinkar Kowshik compiled many of his doodled work in this book. The pics in the book are in black and white. Some of the original doodling work was done in colors.

Also read: My humble effort to translate Tagore’s poem Taal Gachh – the Palm Tree

 

Handicrafts Souvenirs from Shantiniketan Bolpur
Taal Gachh, The Palm Tree, Tagore's Poem

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