“The time has come when I must divest Bimala of all the ideal decorations with which I decked her. It was owing to my own weakness that I indulged in such idolatry. I was too greedy. I created an angel of Bimala, in order to exaggerate my own enjoyment. But Bimala is what she is. It is preposterous to expect that she should assume the role of an angel for my pleasure. The Creator is under no obligation to supply me with angels, just because I have an avidity for imaginary perfection.”

Bengali poet and polymath

Rabindranath Tagore was a Bengali poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter. He lived from 1861 to 1941, and was one of the leading figures of the Bengal Renaissance. He shaped modern Bengali culture through a wide body of work that joined literature, music, and public thought. In 1913, he became the first Indian and the first non-European to win a Nobel Prize in any category, and the first lyricist to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature. He also wrote and composed the national anthems of India and Bangladesh.