I've been thinking about this for a while but didn't have time to write it before. There's a recurrent theme of the conflict of freedom and restriction (can't find a better word in English) in Rabindranath Tagore's works. Achalayaton, Dakghar, Raktakarabi, Totakahini – there are other themes, but it's there. And I wonder if it's because of his experience with education in his childhood.
He was frustrated with how the system tried to stuff students with Education™ instead of, like, actually teaching anything which I think all students can relate to. And it obviously affected him deeply because it even led him to establish his own school. He believed in freedom of mind. I'm pretty sure that ideal is what inspired Achalayaton and especially Totakahini because they are direct commentaries on education.
And it's there in other plays too, like Dakghar and Raktakarabi. Of course it's not the main theme. Dakghar as I saw it (I'm not sure I perfectly understand it though) is centred on death and the liberation of the soul, which is also a very recurrent theme in Rabindranath. Raktakarabi, again in my interpretation, is about the fetters of civilization and maybe to an extent, capitalism. But the theme of freedom is there.
What I guess I'm trying to say is, he had strong ideologies about education which were obviously influenced by his experience with education, and I wonder if his emphasis on freedom in general was influenced by that as well. Idk if this even makes sense but I have Thoughts so here you go.
