GITANJALI- Rabindranath Tagore

As I start the review of this book, I need to mention that I'm going to be biased on this one. I deeply respect the writer and have immense love for all his works, albeit understandably. Even before I'd gotten down to reading this book, I'd heard so much about it. That rose my expectations quite a lot, but there was also a fear that it might not lead up to the hype. However, the poems are beautiful; according to me, you need to read it more than once to actually take in all that he has to offer.

Gitanjali (Song Offerings), by Rabindranath Tagore, is a collection of poems written on varying subjects like hope, solitude, empowerment and prayer. It was originally written in Bengali and translated in English by Tagore himself. His poems may have a complex subject, but his writing is noble and pleasing. There is simplicity, romanticism, philosophy, depth, morality and sublime imagery in the texts. The lines are subtle and comforting, and that will refresh your spirituality, without a doubt. He writes to the deity, and though many believe in different deities, his words are universal and completely transferable to one's own relationship with the higher power.

This is perhaps the most famous excerpt from the book:

Where the mind is without fear and the head held high;

Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by Thee into ever-widening thought and action;
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

A captivating read overall.