Research Cell Presentation by Dr. Sanghita Sanyal

A presentation on “Perception of Mother, Nation, Goddess in a few songs of Rabindranath Tagore” was organised by the Research Cell of Loreto College on May 2, 2023. The speaker for the event was Dr. Sanghita Sanyal, Assistant Professor, Department of English, Loreto College. Dr. Sanyal began her presentation with a performance of a song by Rabindranath Tagore, after which she provided an overview of Tagore’s songs from the “Swadesh Parjay.” She argued that these songs may be called songs of solidarity, and that they create a somewhat nebulous perception of Tagore’s ideals of Mother, Nation, and Goddess. Through these songs, Tagore was incorporating himself into the contemporary milieu of pacifist and militant nationalisms, and his perceptions played a role in reshaping the collective national conscience. Dr. Sanyal also discussed how the songs are open to a newer reading of the gender question. Touching upon Tagore’s idea of nationalism in relation to the rest of the country, the presentation analysed Tagore’s viewpoints on the problematic space that women occupied in and around the indoctrinated notions of nation and home.