পারস্য-যাত্রী/পরিশিষ্ট/ভ্রমণ-অভিজ্ঞতার আলোচনা

রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর

পারস্য-যাত্রী

১৯৬৩ (পৃ. ১৬৬-১৭০)

ভারতে প্রত্যাবর্তন:
ভ্রমণ-অভিজ্ঞতার আলোচনা

করাচী। ৩১ মে ১৯৩২

স্বাগতসংবর্ধনা-কালীন ভারতীয় সাংবাদিকদের সহিত আলোচনা

 “The sad news from Bombay” was apparently uppermost in the poet’s mind and coming fresh from a part of the world where, according to him, there was no trace of bitterness of the kind which was so tragically in evidence in this country, he dwelt with great depth of feeling on the contrast.

 “It is very humiliating to us that such things should be possible in this country,” he said. “People in the countries which I have just visited ask, ‘What is the matter with these people? Why do they fight among themselves?’ They cannot imagine what is at the back of it. They say it cannot be a difference of creeds and they are quite as sorry as ourselves.”

 Speaking of the enthusiastic reception given him during the tour he said it showed that it came from the heart of the common people and was not merely an official welcome.

 Reverting again to the contrast between the two countries, the poet quoted an ordinary unlettered Bedouin chief who, in course of conversation, said: “According to our Prophet, the man who hurts another by tongue or hand is no Muslim.”

 Dr. Tagore proceeded: “It is not something inherent in the Muslim mentality that is the cause of this trouble but something wrong in our own country. What I have seen of other centres of Mahomedan culture has given me very great hopes that things will change also in India and we shall not have to suffer from communal, fratricidal riots. That is what I hope from what I have seen in other parts of the Islamic world.”

 Asked if the demonstrations of human fellowship that his visit to Persia, Iraq and Arabia had evoked would have an influence on the situation in this country, Dr. Tagore said: “I hope so and I look forward to it, and if my visit should be instrumental in bringing about better relations, I should be very happy.”

১ জুন ১৯৩২
কলিকাতায় ফিরিয়া রবীন্দ্রনাথের বিবৃতি

 Never through my extensive travels in different parts of the world have I come so intimately close to the heart of the people as I have done during this trip in Persia and Iraq. That a great Mahomedan world should ever feel eager to invite a Poet of an alien tradition and with genuine fervour offer him a welcome, is a sign of the renaissance in Asia.

১৬ জুন ১৯৩২
দেশবন্ধু চিত্তরঞ্জনের মৃত্যুবার্ষিক উপলক্ষে রবীন্দ্রনাথ

 What struck me in my recent travels in Persia and Iraq is that everywhere in the East there is a ferment of creative life rapidly evolving a new order of humanity, that barriers of racial and sectarian difference and dead accumulations of the past are giving way to an intense urge of nation-building which will truly represent the genius of the peoples of Asia.

 History is in making in the East; breaking through the obstacles of circumstance and habit, the car of time is rushing recklessly onward, and in spite of acute suffering and almost anarchical chaos a steady foundation of a new civilisation is being laid on the people’s newly awakened self-confidence and freedom of mind, which is the permanent basis of truth. Great leaders of men are rising up everywhere, giving directions to the efforts and aspirations of the people and guiding the nations along the difficult path of courageous self-expression. They are inspiring the people with a consciousness of their inalienable rights and their responsibility to humanity in its wider aspect.

৬ অগস্ট্‌ ১৯৩২ তারিখে কলিকাতা-বিশ্ববিদ্যালয় রবীন্দ্রনাথের সংবর্ধনার্থ একটি সভার অনুষ্ঠান করেন। এই সভায় তদানীন্তন উপাচার্য হাসান সুরওয়ার্দি কবির পারস্যভ্রমণের উল্লেখ করেন।

তদুত্তরে রবীন্দ্রনাথ

 It not only gladdens my heart but makes me feel at home when Sir Hassan gives special emphasis in his address to the generous reception that was offered to me in Persia. What is significant about it is the fact that the welcome came from the people of that great country and we all know that honour from the people really means love. Honour is cautiously critical while love is intuitive, and the ordinary man in all those parts of the world which are not too sophisticated have an instinctive feeling of attachment to a poet, a childlike faith in his mission. It was enough that I came to these people in Iran as one of those who could be smilingly excused for being nothing better than a singer and the simple hearts of my hosts were touched with an unthinking admiration which had the savour of the feeling of a common brotherhood. I have no doubt that they realised that I was among them and not above them, and I almost feel glad that they hardly know my work, that I was not to them the subject of thesis for doctorate of either idolatrous or iconoclastic character. In my delightfully natural contact with them I never for once was nervously made aware of any particular merit of mine of a special kind and limitation, was never compelled to act a part that was expected of me. I thank you, Sir Hassan, for evoking in my mind on this occasion that atmosphere of spontaneous acceptance heartily human which fell to my lot in the land of your own forefathers whose hospitality you carry further on in this hall in the kind words that you speak of me echoing the very music that rang into my ears in the garden of Hafiz. It may amuse you to know that I was once asked by a man of high position in Persia if in my pedigree there was anywhere any touch of Iran and I confessed that it was in my heart. And this fact must have been made fully evident to my Persian friends which enabled me to join my hands to theirs in fellowship without having any obvious credentials of intellectual or social value. I wish I could claim the same easy communion of hearts in this hall also and be relieved of any responsibility of a solemn position to be held in a frigid attitude.

বিবিধ

১২ এপ্রিল ১৯৩২

পারস্যে প্রবেশকালে দূরলিপিযোগে অভ্যর্থনা

To Jenabe Doctor Tagore

from Bushire

 May I congratulate you on your arrival on Persian Empire Territory? Am anxiously awaiting to receive you personally.

—Teleghani, Governor General
of the Persian Gulf and Southern Parts of Persia.

১৪ এপ্রিল ১৯৩২

শিরাজের নাগরিকদের অভিবাদন

 Our honourable guest! Great Poet and Philosopher of the East! We are too humble to utter a word to suit your world-wide fame. But the city of Shiraz claims to have two men eternally living. The horizon of thought and study of these two great men is quite close to that of yours. The very same fountain-head, from which your verse and your philosophy spring, has irrigated the flower-bed of the existence of these two poets. The soul of Saadi, who since several hundred years lies at eternal rest underneath a sacred piece of soil in this City, is soaring up on this garden at this very moment, while at the same time smiles of pleasure and satisfaction are playing on the lips of Hafiz who is so glad with the happiness his countrymen are enjoying today.

ইহার বাংলা রূপ ও কবির উত্তরের সারমর্ম: স্রষ্টব্য পৃ ৩৮-৩৯