RABINDRANATH TAGORE'S

GITANJALI
"Song Offerings"
Translations made by the author from the original Bengali.
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Mind Without Fear
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up
into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason
has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action---
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

Little Flute
Thou hast made me endless, such is thy pleasure. This frail
vessel thou emptiest again and again, and fillest it ever with fresh life.
This little flute of a reed thou hast carried over hills and dales,
and hast breathed through it melodies eternally new.
At the immortal touch of thy hands my little heart loses its limits in
joy and gives birth to utterance ineffable.
Thy infinite gifts come to me only on these very small hands of mine.
Ages pass, and still thou pourest, and still there is room to fill.

Purity
Life of my life, I shall ever try to keep my body pure, knowing
that thy living touch is upon all my limbs.
I shall ever try to keep all untruths out from my thoughts, knowing
that thou art that truth which has kindled the light of reason in my mind.
I shall ever try to drive all evils away from my heart and keep my
love in flower, knowing that thou hast thy seat in the inmost shrine of my heart.
And it shall be my endeavour to reveal thee in my actions, knowing it
is thy power gives me strength to act.
Moment's Indulgence
I ask for a moment's indulgence to sit by thy side. The works
that I have in hand I will finish afterwards.
Away from the sight of thy face my heart knows no rest nor respite,
and my work becomes an endless toil in a shoreless sea of toil.
Today the summer has come at my window with its sighs and murmurs; and
the bees are plying their minstrelsy at the court of the flowering grove.
Now it is time to sit quite, face to face with thee, and to sing
dedication of life in this silent and overflowing leisure.

Flower
Pluck this little flower and take it, delay not! I fear lest it
droop and drop into the dust.
I may not find a place in thy garland, but honour it with a touch of
pain from thy hand and pluck it. I fear lest the day end before I am
aware, and the time of offering go by.
Though its colour be not deep and its smell be faint, use this flower
in thy service and pluck it while there is time.

Fool
O Fool, try to carry thyself upon thy own shoulders!
O beggar, to come beg at thy own door!
Leave all thy burdens on his hands who can bear all,
and never look behind in regret.
Thy desire at once puts out the light from the lamp it touches with its breath.
It is unholy---take not thy gifts through its unclean hands.
Accept only what is offered by sacred love.

Leave This
Leave this chanting and singing and telling of beads!
Whom dost thou worship in this lonely dark corner of a temple with doors all shut?
Open thine eyes and see thy God is not before thee!
He is there where the tiller is tilling the hard ground
and where the pathmaker is breaking stones.
He is with them in sun and in shower,
and his garment is covered with dust.
Put off thy holy mantle and even like him come down on the dusty soil!
Deliverance?
Where is this deliverance to be found?
Our master himself has joyfully taken upon him the bonds of creation;
he is bound with us all for ever.
Come out of thy meditations and leave aside thy flowers and incense!
What harm is there if thy clothes become tattered and stained?
Meet him and stand by him in toil and in sweat of thy brow.

Journey Home
The time that my journey takes is long and the way of it long.
I came out on the chariot of the first gleam of light, and pursued my
voyage through the wildernesses of worlds leaving my track on many a star and planet.
It is the most distant course that comes nearest to thyself,
and that training is the most intricate which leads to the utter simplicity of a tune.
The traveler has to knock at every alien door to come to his own,
and one has to wander through all the outer worlds to reach the innermost shrine at the end.
My eyes strayed far and wide before I shut them and said `Here art thou!'
The question and the cry `Oh, where?' melt into tears of a thousand
streams and deluge the world with the flood of the assurance `I am!'
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GLOBAL WARMING
&
GREEN HOUSE EFFECT
Our planet Earth is warming up. Its global temperature has risen. During the 20th century, the average global temperature has risen to0.6 degrees Celsius.

Using computer climate models the scientists have estimated that the year 2100 the average global temperature will be 1.4 degrees to 5.8 degrees Celsius.

The glaciers are melting causing floods and tsunami. The whole climate around the planet earth is changing causing earthquakes and volcanic eruptions..

The deforestation contributes to global warming considerably. Trees use carbon dioxide and give off oxygen in its place, this helps to create a balance of gases in the atmosphere.

Life on earth depends on energy from the sun. About 30% of the sunlight that beams towards the earth is deflected in the outer space . The rest reaches the planets surface and is reflected upwards as a type of slow moving energy called infrared radiation. As it rises the infrared radiation is absorbed by the “greenhouse gases” such as water vapour carbon dioxide ozone methane and nitrous oxide which slows the escape of heat from the atmosphere.

Although green house gases make up only 1% of the total earth atmosphere. they regulate our climate trapping heat and holding it in a kind of warm air blanket that surrounds the planet. This phenomenon the scientists term as ‘ green house effect.’without it there would be no life on earth.
Venus is too hot, Mars is too cold and Earth is just right.

The problem begins when the humans disturb the Nature, by their activities producing more green- house gases which trap more heat than necessary to warm the planet to an ideal temperature.

The gross activities producing greenhouse effect are:
Burning Natural Gas coal and Oil…. It raises the level of carbon in the atmosphere.
Some Farming practices and land use change increases the level of Methane and Nitrous Oxide in the atmosphere.
Factories produce industrial gases which are responsible for global warming.
Deforestation
Population growth.. means more food output, more farming more supplies for each individual produces green house gases and adds to global warming subsequently.

A lot of damage has already done to our planet. But due to awareness to further check this global warming nations are holding talks. The rich countries are mainly responsible for emission of greenhouse gases. It’s essential to save Our Planet.
(Enviormental issues.About.com)