Acting vice-chancellor of Patna University Sudipto Adhikari lights a lamp at the inauguration of the programme on Thursday. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

Patna, March 17: A programme was organised today to commemorate Kaviguru Rabindranath Tagore’s 75th felicitation anniversary in the auditorium of the Wheeler Senate House of Patna University and his 150th birth anniversary by the Bihar State Minority Commission.

People from Bengalee Samitee Bihar, Ravindra Parishad and the geography and Bengali departments of Patna University all came together to pay tributes to the Nobel laureate before Rabindrasangeet and Rabindra Nritya performances.

A Powerpoint presentation displayed collections of pictures of Gurudev with Mahatma Gandhi, Einstein, Bernard Shaw and many other stalwarts.

Tagore had reached Patna railway station along with his dance drama troupe of Chitrangada on his way to Delhi when he was collecting money for Visva-Bharati University. Rajendra Prasad had also come to receive Tagore at the station.

He was felicitated by a citizens’ committee at Wheeler Senate House of Patna University on March 17, 1936. He was also provided a special salon for his travel to Delhi.

“Peerless was he, Kaviguru Rabindranath Tagore’s manifestation of cultures in his work saturated with his philosophy. Full of moral values, he is a great asset not only for the people of Bengal but also for the rest of country. Although today we are commemorating his anniversary, we should not stop at this as if it were a kind of formality, rather we should try to imbibe the values he teaches us through his fountains of writing,” said Sudipto Adhikari, acting vice-chancellor, Patna University.

Naval Kishor Choudhary, a professor of economics department, seemed upset as the state government didn’t take much initiative to make the programme grand. “Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore’s work was genuinely timeless and he represents the cultural conscience of our country and it is very sad that when Bihar Divas celebrations are being planned out in such a grand manner, we are leaving out a very important figure from our celebrations. I request the state government, particularly the chief minister, to kindly pay attention and arrange three-day cultural celebrations and seminars on Tagore’s work in literature to commemorate this anniversary at Wheeler Senate Hall so that people can be kept in touch with their cultural roots. I also urge the government for a chair in the Patna University in the memory of Kaviguru Rabindranath Tagore to mark the 75th felicitation anniversary at Wheeler Senate Hall,” said Choudhary.

“If I have to choose a person who represents the cultural glory of India, it would certainly be Kaviguru. He formed a vast empire of music, literature, drama among other things,” said Balram Tiwari, the head of the Hindi department of Patna University.

“His genre of culture still needs to be introduced among the masses beyond the Bengali culture. It is our heritage and people of all cultures and religions in our country need to know this as this is our heritage,” said Dr Razi Ahmed, the director of Gandhi Sanghralaya.

“I was shocked to know yesterday that there is not a single copy of Gitanjali available in the publication division of the city when I asked one of my students to search for it. How can people know the rich literature written by Gurudev if Gitanjali is not available there,” said Ahmed.