In this excerpt from the book ‘Tagore and Gandhi: Walking alone, Walking together’ by Rudrangshu Mukherjee is Tagore’s deliberated affirmation to Gandhi on the laters views to use ‘passive resistance’ in a large scale. In Tagores response you sense a premonition of the things unfolding – the immediate ghastly violence which if braved through can elevate the discourse of humanity.

Below is the sequence of events around the days when these 2 exchanged letters:

5th April 1919 – Gandhi writes to Tagore seeking his opinion on organising a Nation wide ‘Satyagraha’ opposing the Rowlatt Act

6th April 1919 – The nation wide Satyagraha takes place and is a massive success

12th April 1919 – Tagore pens his reply back to Gandhi, which is the excerpt that I have read here.

13th April 1919 – The massacre at Jallianwala Bagh happens, the nightmares of which are felt to even this day.

Not sure when Gandhi received Tagore’s letter. But I assume it must have been a Lighthouse guiding him in responding to the barbaric violence. Gandhi did not say anything relating to the Jallianwala Bagh, inciting deep criticism from his close compatriots. Even Tagore wanted Gandhi to defy his detention orders and go to Punjab – and if he does get arrested, that would be his protest. Gandhi did nothing of that sort….Tagore could not just be a mute spectator and renounced his Knighthood.

As of me, I have been in awe of this particular exchange between these two men. Gurudev in his letter mentions “…such a fight is for heroes and not for men led by impulses of the moment.” Yet was angry with Gandhi for his immediate silence. But Gandhi did go back in Oct 1919 when his detention was removed and gathered primary source of the massacre for many months and was more resolute than ever before to rid the nation of the brute force of imperialism!