Den 8 maj firas den indiska nationalskalden Rabindranath Tagores hundrafemtioårsjubileum. Jag läste en artikel i The Times of India där artikelförfattaren försökt få ihop ett par gemensamma nämnare mellan Einstein, Tagore och Gandhi. Inte helt enkelt kanske. Den förste var fysiker, den andre poet och kompositör och den tredje advokat och politiker. Jag tror egentligen att det bara finns en och den beskriver Tagore bäst själv i sin sång Ekla Cholo Re, som Gandhi också berättat var en av hans absoluta favoriter.

Ekla Cholo Re (Walk alone)

If they answer not to thy call walk alone,
If they are afraid and cower mutely facing the wall,
O thou unlucky one,
open thy mind and speak out alone.

If they turn away, and desert you when crossing the wilderness,
O thou unlucky one,
trample the thorns under thy tread,
and along the blood-lined track travel alone.

If they do not hold up the light when the night is troubled with storm,
O thou unlucky one,
with the thunder flame of pain ignite thy own heart
and let it burn alone.

Do not all charms fly
At the mere touch of cold philosophy?
There was an awful rainbow once in heaven:
We know her woof, her texture; she is given
In the dull catalogue of common things.
Philosophy will clip an Angel’s wings,
Conquer all mysteries by rule and line,
Empty the haunted air, and gnomed mine –
Unweave a rainbow

[John Keats, Lamia 1820]

It is said that the Newton’s deconstruction of the rainbow inspired Keats to write this poem. This short poem capture the absolute essence of the human ambiguity towards science. Too much knowledge is a threatening concept. But matter is only dead when scratching a little on the surface, underneath a Universe more unbelievable and magic than ever before shortly appears. But the human mind is constructed in such a way that we can only see a slice of the truth at a time, never the whole picture at once. We will never be able conquer all the mysteries.

As a matter of fact everything is possible in the Universe, it’s only a question of time. Every fantasy, no matter how intricate the thought might be, that a human being can ever create is possible in the Universe. But while it takes the human one minute to come up with the thought it might take the universe four billion years to make it happen. Time is only important for us short lived beings. Miracles happen all the time around us. If there is light there will be eyes that can experience it. If there is sound there will be some kind of hearing equipment. The rainbow is still the heavenly flower garden it has always been, even though we know the texture of her appearance.

[Edith Södergran]

Försök till räddning genom tankeflykt
och överglidningar från dröm till dröm
blev ofta vår metod.
Med ena benet dränkt i känslosvall
det andra med sitt stöd i känslodöd
vi ofta stod.
Jag frågade mig själv men glömde svara.
Jag drömde mig ett liv men glömde vara.
Jag reste alltet runt men glömde fara –
ty jag satt fånge här i Aniara.

Harry Martinson, Aniara

Surrounded by darkness
Flickering flashlight baby face
Slowly dancing away

/stg