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Rabindranath Tagore with Willie Pearson Willie Pearson was an Englishman and a resident of Santiniketan. He brought a touch of Europe to Santiniketan. He planted a foreign vine in the yard of Rabindranath's house near Uttorayan. After it grew up, there were blue flowers hanging from the vine. Rabindranath loved blue flowers. These flowers called him out and made him stop whenever he was walking along. Rabindranath wanted to respond, but did not know the name of the vine. So he named it Nilmanilata (blue-jewel vine) and wrote a poem entitled Nilmanilata addressing the vine. Rabindranath wrote a poem called Pardeshi about these birds. These birds were green. The red soil of Birbhum, the blue flowers hanging from the vine and the green birds flying over them came together to make a bold statement about harmony in nature. The birds stayed in Santiniketan for a long time. Then one day they flew away and disappeared in the paddy fields of Bengal. Balaka is dedicated to Willie Pearson. "Keno chokher jale bhijia dilem na Sukhno dhulo jato? Ke janito aasbe tumi go Anahuter mato? Tumi par ho-a asechho maru, na-e je sethai chha-aa taru, Pather duk-kho dilem tomai Aman bhagyahato" Next Previous List Home |