‘Today I shall see within’: An Analysis of the Character of the Blind Baul in Tagore’s Phālguni

Abstract

In his play Phālguni (1915), a paean to spring, rejuvenation and youth, Tagore through the delineation of the character of the blind Baul engages in a unique discourse of spirituality, disability, music and theatre. Interestingly, in this image, Tagore conflates two identities—one physical and the other religious—both of which occupy marginal positions in society in such a way that they function as complementary metaphors. In the present paper, through the analysis of the figure of the blind Baul, I shall explore how the blindness of the Baul and the Baul beliefs of the blind man negotiate with/substantiate each other in order to endorse Tagore’s brand of humanism and spirituality, and his ideas of theatre and dramaturgy. I shall also attempt to establish a connection between these vertices by placing them in the larger context of Tagore’s ocular/visual politics.

Keywords

• baul
• blindness
• ocular politics
• disability
• music