Someone firmly planted in his native soil but adept at working on a global canvas.
Tagore is someone who has so much to say about the way we live today. His philosophy on nationalism, education, and aesthetics are deeply engaging.
He really went to his own beat (a bit like Gandhi in that he is politically unclassifiable) and he remained true to his sometimes idiosyncratic visions.
Thanks for your question. I say that because I think both Gandhi and Tagore had a mixture of ideas, philosophies, and thoughts that do not fit neatly into a left-right binary. Gandhi was for non-violence and against technology but he also saw a role for the caste system in Indian life (the problem according to him was not that people were in castes with defined jobs but that lower castes were not given respect as human beings for doing essential jobs). 1/3
Gandhi's views on caste were one of the big reasons that B.R. Ambedkar disliked Gandhi's politics so intensely. Tagore had distinct conceptions of nationalism that are, in my opinion, a bit sui generis. For him, nationalism is an organizing principle that crushes creativity and vitality. Nation is something more cultural, philosophical, spiritual. Again, similar to some thinkers but he combines the elements in a way that makes them unique. 2/3
I would add that I think both Gandhi and Tagore are thinkers that challenge a reader from all sides. I've always thought if you are reading a thinker and you agree with them completely, something is wrong. I can only think of handful of philosophers and writers who can do that type of discourse well. 3/3
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