ABSTRACT
In 1932, when Mahatma Gandhi-in jail for the seventh time in his life-fasted in protest at the governments ‘Communal Award’ (separate electorates for untouchables that he thought would be decisive), Tagore rushed to Yerwada Central Jail to be at the Mahatma’s bedside. Gandhi was particularly fond of song no. 39 of the English Gitanjali that Tagore had translated as ‘When the heart is hard and parched up, come upon me with a shower of mercy.’ When Gandhi asked Tagore to sing the song, he had to make up a new tune on the spot, because he had forgotten the original melody.
