Tagore's travels gave him the opportunity to talk with many notable persons of his time. They included Henri Bergson, Albert Einstein, Robert Frost, Mahatma Gandhi, Thomas Mann, George Bernard Shaw, H.G. Wells, Subhas Chandra Bose, and Romain Rolland.
Tagore's last trips abroad were his visits to Iran and Iraq in 1932, and to Ceylon in 1933. He visited Iran as a personal guest of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
Tagore was mainly a poet, but his other writing includes essays, short stories, travelogues, dramas, and thousands of songs. He was also an expert painter.
Many movies also have soundtracks featuring selections from Tagore's songs, the "Rabindra Sangeet".
Tagore also wrote many non-fiction books. These covered many subjects, including the history of India, linguistics, essays and lectures, details of his travels, and other autobiographical things.
One of his famous dramas is 2 plays by Tagore and Dipashri
In 1917, Tagore published a book called "My Reminiscences". In this book, Tagore gives credit to his friend and mentor, Akshay Chowdhury, for influencing him in literature since he was a child. Akshay was the youngest son of Mihir Chandra Chowdhury, whose ancestry was linked with the Dutta Chowdhury (Chowdhuries) family of Andul. Rabindranath used to call Akshay "Akshay Babu".
Akshay Chowdhury, Romesh Chandra Dutt, and Jyotiridranath Tagore were classmates at Hindu School in Kolkata. Because of this, Akshay developed a strong, friendly relationship with the Tagore family.
Rabindranath wrote that he loved to discuss high-level literature in detail with "Akshay Babu". At times, Akshay and his wife, Sarat Kumari Chaudhurani, used to participate in long talks about literature in a garden at "Thakur Bari".
Tagore was also a musician and painter. He wrote around 2,230 songs. People call these songs "Rabindra Sangeet" (which means "Tagore Song" in English). These songs are now a part of modern Bengali culture. Tagore's many poems and songs are parts of his novels and stories.
His songs and music cover many aspects of human emotion, devotional hymns, and love songs. In most Bengali-speaking families, people sing "Rabindra Sangeet"'.
Music critic Arther Strangeways of "The Observer" first introduced Tagore's songs to non-Bengalis through his book "The Music of Hindustan". The book describes Tagore Song as a "vehicle of a personality ... [that goes] behind this or that system of music to that beauty of sound which all systems put out their hands to seize." Rabindra Sangeet has two great works, which are now national anthems of two countries: India and Bangladesh. This makes Tagore the only person in the world to have written the national anthems of two nations. They are Bangladesh's "Amar Sonaar Baanglaa" and India's "Jana Gana Mana". "Rabindrasangit". They are also influenced by musicians like Vilayat Khan, Buddhadev Dasgupta, and composer Amjad Ali Khan.
At age 60, Tagore took an interest in drawing and painting. He used many styles from different parts of the world. His styles included craftwork by the Malanggan people of northern New Ireland, Haida carvings from the Pacific Northwest region of North America, and woodcuts by Max Pechstein. Sometimes, Tagore used his handwriting in artistic styles on his manuscripts. His drawings and paintings were displayed in France and London.
When he was 16 years old, he performed in a drama organized by his brother, Jyotirindranath Tagore. When Tagore was 20 years old, he wrote a drama named "Valmiki Pratibha" ("The Genius of Valmiki"). This described the life of Valmiki, a man who stopped being a robber and became a learned person, his blessing from the goddess Saraswati, and his writing of the Ramayana.
Another notable play by him is "Dak Ghar" ("The Post Office"), which describes how a child tries to escape from his confinement and falls asleep. This sleeping is suggestive of death. This play received reviews in many parts of Europe. In 1890, he wrote "Visarjan" ("Sacrifice"). Many scholars believe this to be his finest drama. The Bangla-language original versions included intricate sub-plots and extended monologues. He wrote many other dramas on a variety of themes. In Tagore's own words, he wrote them as "the play of feeling and not of action". Rabindra Nritya Natya means dance dramas based on Tagore's plays.
Tagore wrote many stories. "Galpaguchchha" (Bunch of Stories) is a three-volume collection of eighty-four of his stories. Tagore wrote about half of these stories during the period from 1891 to 1895. This collection continues to be very popular work of Bangla literature. These stories have been used for many movies and theatrical plays.
Tagore drew inspiration and ideas for writing his stories from his surroundings, from the village life of India. He saw the poor people very closely during travels to manage his family's large landholdings. Sometimes he used different themes to test the depth of his intellect.
Tagore's poetry is very varied and covers many styles. He drew inspiration from 15th and 16th century poets and from ancient writers like Vasa. Bengal's Baul folk singers were also influenced by his style of poetry. He wrote many poems when he was at Shelidah managing his family's estates. Many of his poems have a lyrical quality. These poems tell about the "man within the heart" and the "living God within". Over the next 70 years, he repeatedly revised his style of writing poetry. In 1930s, he wrote many experimental works of poetry, and also used modernism and realism in his works.
One of his poems reads "all I had achieved was carried off on the golden boat; only I was left behind". Tagore is known around the world for his "Gitanjali" ("Song Offerings"), his best-known collection, which won him his Nobel Prize. A freeverse translation by Tagore of a verse of "Gitanjali" reads as follows:
Tagore is the only person to have written anthems for three countries.
Tagore's political views were complicated. He criticized European colonialism and supported Indian nationalists. But he also criticized the Swadeshi movement that many nationalist leaders in India liked. He liked self-help and learning. He asked Indians to accept "there can be no question of blind revolution, but of steady and purposeful education". Many people did not like his thinking. In late 1916, some Indians plotted to kill him when he was staying in a hotel in San Francisco, USA. When they saw him face-to-face, however, they instead started arguing with Tagore and changed their minds about killing him. Tagore also wrote many songs praising the Indian independence movement. He also returned the British honor of Knighthood as a protest against the 1919 Amritsar massacre. In Amritsar, troops of the British Raj had opened fire on unarmed civilians, killing many. Despite his unfriendly relations with Gandhi, Tagore played a key role in resolving a Gandhi-B. R. Ambedkar dispute which was about separate electorates for untouchables. Untouchables were people considered lowest in the social order. Rabindranath Tagore helped the freedom of India. He was first to identify the theme of ""Globalization"".
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