Kolkata, February 11—If anything really seemed interesting to Zhang Xing, it is being in the places associated with Rabindranath Tagore.
Zhang Xing is another story of a Chinese in love with the Nobel Laureate and his works. So much that she refused to take up medicine, pursued by her parents, and stuck to literature.
What’s more, in order to get the Tagore flavour in its rich language, she even opted to study Bengali. And today, Zhang Xing with a terrific command over Bengali and Tagore’s poems can make even Bengalis feel small.
“I was hooked to Tagore from my childhood. And with my parents busy at Nanjing State Hospital as doctors, I spent my time with Tagore,” said the 25-year-old PhD student from China’s most eminent institution, Peking University.
In her own language, Xing used to gobble up Tagore’s poem in Chinese. And with time, she realised that medicine was not her call of duty. She would rather go for literature. Xing soon decided to read Tagore in Bengali.
“And for that I decided to learn Bengali. The opportunity came when I was doing my graduation in International Communication. I had to opt for two foreign languages and I chose Bengali and English,” Xing said.
Xing’s Bengali can make any non-resident Bengalis jealous. In fact, her competence with the language can be gauged by the fact that she received special appreciation from eminent nonagenarian linguist Ji Xianlin.
“My major in PhD is modern Indian languages and literature with special reference to Bengali literature. “Khub Kam manuser jibaney emon saubhagyo hoy (very few people are fortunate enough to achieve this honour), “ she added.
To know Bengali grammar better, she is studying Sanskrit in Germany and has spent 10 months in Dhaka. “I did the Senior Bengali Certificate from Dhaka’s one of the most prestigious institution Adhunik Bhasa Institution and stood first in among many foreign students. But I longed to come to Kolkata,” she said.
Xing is teaching 12 graduate students in China, who are studying Bengali to know Rabindranath Tagore better. “I was always fond of teaching and writing. And I love teaching Bengali. I write letters to my friends in Bangladesh in Bengali. It gives me immense pleasure,” Xing said.
This Tagore fan will be in the city till March. And after spending the Chinese New Year in the city, she plans to visit Viswa Bharati University in Shantiniketan.
“I wish to spend few days in Shantiniketan where Gurudev Tagore spent many years of his life and gave great literary works to the world,” she added.
Whenever she feels alone, she takes out Tagore’s collection of poems and start reading: “Chitto jetha bhoy sunyo, Uchcha jetha Shir…”or “Jarey tumi nichey phelo, se tomarey bandhibey jey nichey, paschatey felochey jarey, se tomarey paschatey tanibey, agyaner andhakarey…” EOM
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