Did Bengal Forget To Celebrate Rabindranath Tagore's Birthday Yesterday?

Kolkata: What Bengal thinks today, India thinks tomorrow -- Bengalis love that adulatory line. But today, May 8, the bhadralok is confounded -- India has gone and done yesterday what Bengalis are doing today: Celebrating the birth anniversary of Nobel laureate son-of-the-soil Rabindranath Tagore.

They were led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who tweeted:
 

I bow to Gurudev Tagore on his birth anniversary. He was a versatile personality whose profound thoughts & writings continue to inspire.

- Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 7, 2016

The Office of RG was no less flowery:
 

A man of letters, a thinker & a philosopher his immense contribution to our cultural & political life will always be remembered

- Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) May 7, 2016

Given the political weather in Bengal, it was hardly surprising that Shashi Tharoor and Sitaram Yechuri thought alike. Both quoted the same Tagore line - "Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high."

But why did they get the date wrong, which for any good Bengali, is a sacrilege?

Scholars say Tagore was born on the Pochishe Baisakh -- the 25th day of Baisakh, first month of the Bengali calendar. The corresponding date on the western calendar could be May 7 or 8 or sometimes even 9. In his lifetime, Tagore celebrated his birthday on 25th of Boishakh. And Bengal has stuck to that. But Wikipedia puts the date at May 7.

The solution to the conundrum? Why not declare Tagore's birth anniversary a national holiday and fix the date once and for all? After all he was India's first Nobel Laureate and so much more.

But Tagore aficionados say a fixed national holiday is not important. What is important is that it has to be celebrated on Pochishe Boishakh -- the Gregorian calendar can wait.