Tagore-Ocampo relation, a new dimension

Abstract

The mystic love between the Indian Nobel Laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore and the great Argentine intellectual Victoria Ocampo has been a matter of deep interest among erudite circles all over the world ever since they happened to meet in San Isidro, Argentina in 1924. This meeting was a chance incident – Tagore on way to Peru being held up at Buenos Aires on account of a bad Influenza attack. Although Ocampo had developed a deep spiritual interest in Tagore and his philosophy since she had read in 1914 Andre Gide’s French translation of Gitanjali, the Nobel awarded book of poetry by Tagore, she could hardly imagine that she would ever have any opportunity to meet in real life Tagore, her idol of worship.
As the Argentine physicians advised Tagore full rest till complete recovery, Ocampo prompted to host him along with his honourary secretary Leonard Elmhirst at Villa Miralrio at San Isidro. Here Tagore was held up for two months (November-December, 1924) in course of which the close relation between Tagore and Ocampo developed. They could meet only once more for a short time in Paris, but the relation continued through regular correspondence till Tagore’s demise in 1941.
Various authors writing books or articles on the relation between Tagore and Ocampo have looked upon the relation from various angles, but most of them have failed to grasp the quintessence of the relation as they have overlooked the intellectual heights and spiritual inclinations of Tagore and Ocampo. Therefore, they have looked upon the matter from the standpoint of amorous relation between ordinary male and female. A deeper insight, however, would bring to the fore the fact that, because of their intellectual heights, cosmopolitan world outlook and spiritual inclinations, the relation between Tagore and Ocampo transcended to an extra-mundane spiritual plane. In fact, it cannot be denied that the relation had subterranean binding factor of Freudian passion between man and woman, but at the same time, because of the intellectual heights and depth of their thought process, it ascended to a higher plane and assumed surrealistic dimensions spurring each to over-enthusiastic intellectual activities.This article endeavours to venture into this mystic and surrealistic aspect of love between Tagore and Ocampo, which has not hitherto been explored fully.