Just as George Orwell (1903-1950) envisioned a bleak future in his novel, 1984, Tagore left his optimistic vision filled with hope for posterity – a vision which has also been borne true. Written in the Phalgun or spring of the Bengali year 1302 (1895), ‘1400 Saal‘ or ‘The Year 1993’, was first published in Tagore’s collection called Chitra (Picture) in 1895.
1400 SAAL or The YEAR 1993
A hundred years from today…
Who are you reading my poetry
With eager curiosity?
A hundred years from today.
I won’t be able to give you
Even a small fragment of the
Exuberance of this spring morning —
A blossom or a birdsong,
The passions that
Drench us.
A hundred years from today…
Still, once, open your Southern door,
Sit by the window,
Gaze at the distant horizon,
And imagine —
One day, a hundred years before,
A lively, euphoric cluster wafted from
Heaven into the heart of the universe,
Like a new-born Phalgun day —
Free of ties, ecstatic and restless,
Adrift with the scent of flowers.
The Southern breeze
Rushed to colour the Earth
With a youthful glow,
One hundred years before you.
On that day, the soul of a poet soared
With a song-soaked heart —
To find words which bloom
With an abundance of love,
One hundred years ago.
A hundred years from today
Which new poet will strum
Lyrics in your hearths?
I felicitate the poet with delight
In your joyous spring —
But let my vernal songs,
Find echoes in your hearts for a while,
Like the buzz of bees,
Like the murmur of leaves...
One hundred years from today...
About 32 years down the line, Nazrul responded to this poem of Tagore’s with a rejoinder, which is from the standpoint of a young poet and depicts his adulation for the older one and his poetry. Nazrul’s poem in Bengali is also called 1400 Saal and has been translated by Professor Fakrul Alam. The translation can be read by clicking here.
This poem was also discussed and translations read in 1993, the Gregorian calendar year for 1400 in the Bengali calendar, in a function jointly organised by the Nehru Centre of the High Commission of India in London and the Tagore Centre of London and held in the premises of the Nehru Centre. The translations included a rendition of Tagore’s own rather brief and ‘loosely translated’ version, according to the keynote speaker and scholar, Brian A. Hatcher, published in the poet’s collection called, The Gardener and reprinted in The Collected Poems and Plays of Rabindranath Tagore (New York, 1966).
Tagore’s own vision of his songs being remembered after one hundred years has been not only borne true but also his hope that poets and poetry will continue to impact our lives, stirring hope and love in our hearts. The role of a poet as seen by Tagore, perhaps, is what Uma Dasgupta’s research on Sriniketan reinforces — as that of a visionary and not merely a recorder of events.
This poem has been translated by Mitali Chakravarty with editorial input by Sohana Manzoor and research by Sohana and Mitali on behalf of Borderless Journal
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