Tagore's poem resonates in RS on Nobel Laureate's birthday

Paying homage to Asia's first Nobel Prize winner, Sukhendu Sekhar Roy (TMC) recited one of Gurudev's famous Rabindra Sangeet poems.

Paying homage to him, Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari said he had composed over 2,000 songs and was an integral part of the Indian culture. He said the poet stood for international brotherhood.

Taking part in the discussion, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the 151 years of his birth anniversary were celebrated by both India and Bangladesh.

Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley said Tagore was a great thinker, poet, artist and a great patriot and whatever he said in his times is still being borrowed by people here.

He said his act to reject knighthood by the British government in protest against the Jalianwala Bagh massacre helped create awareness among people in the country.

Chandan Mitra (BJP), D Raja (CPI), Bhalchandra Mungekar (Cong) and Avtar Singh Karimpuri (BSP) also paid homage to the great poet.

The Lok Sabha also remembered Tagore on the occasion of his birth anniversary.

Speaker Meira Kumar said Tagore was a versatile figure whose novels and poetry enthralled the freedom fighters.

"He was the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in literature in 1913 for his work 'Gitanjali'. On this occasion, the House fondly remembers this great son of India and poet par-excellence," she said.