As Ranjana Gauhar takes you through the story of Tagore's Chitrangada with her moves today

For many, Rabindranath Tagore remains the writer of our national anthem (and neighbour Bangladesh's too). But few outside West Bengal have cared to remember that the Nobel laureate is so much more than a poet.
The story of Chitrangada reminds one of that. Tagore picked up the Manipuri princess' story from The Mahabharata. It is the story of acceptance, of heartbreak, of truth that elucidates that love is timeless. It is a story of love to its truest meanings. And Tagore turned it into a dance drama where the characters act out the parts in the form of dance.

Going beyond literature
Few know that the Tagore family's contribution in the field of fashion, too, is immense. Says Suresh K Goel, Director General of ICCR, which is celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of Tagore: "When we talk about Tagore, we have a one dimensional view of him as a Nobel Laureate only. But there are many dimensions to him. We have recently done a fashion show on the sartorial fashion sense of the Tagore family," he says. It's a little-known fact that the sari that we wear today has evolved from the experiments by the ladies of the Tagore family.