In "Nationalism in India," Tagore tells his readers that the problem India is now facing is forging the unity of its many races. Speaking to an American audience, he tells them that America has a similar problem in dealing with its racial problem and that India can be a leader in finding a route to racial harmony because, unlike America, India has started to face its issue. He writes, "In finding the solution of our problem we shall have helped to solve the world problem as well." In other words, India can be a beacon to other nations and can help the United States with its issues of race.
Tagore says that unlike Europe, America is unfettered by traditions and can forge a new future. He says that America and India must both find national unity and says, "A parallelism exists between America and India—the parallelism of welding together into...
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one body various races." India has long faced disunity because of its geographical and racial diversity, but once India has accepted its political freedom, it still has to do the work of creating racial harmony and a sense of nationalism. He believes that the future of India lies in the direction of creating social cooperation, not conflict and exploitation, which he believes characterize the West.
Like much of Tagore's ideas, he wishes to challenge the fundamental beliefs of the reader in "Nationalism in India." Tagore begins from the position that nationalism is a Western construct. He suggests that the understanding of nationalism might not necessarily apply to India because its particular situation is vastly different from the West, where nationalism had taken its hold:
When our nationalists talk about ideals, they forget that the basis of nationalism is wanting. The very people who are upholding these ideals are themselves the most conservative in their social practice. Nationalists say, for example, look at Switzerland, where, in spite of race differences, the peoples have solidified into a nation. Yet, remember that in Switzerland the races can mingle, they can intermarry, because they are of the same blood. In India there is no common birthright. And when we talk of Western Nationality we forget that the nations there do not have that physical repulsion, one for the other, that we have between different castes.
It is here where Tagore's other primary pint is evident. Part of the
reason why nationalism, in the form being advocated at the time, is not going
to be as successful is because of the presence of the caste system. This
element is not as present in the West. Tagore makes it clear that a
failure to account for this is problematic for those who advocate for
nationalism. For Tagore, the ability to remove the caste system is where
any discussion of national identity must lie: "Then again we must give
full recognition to this fact that our social restrictions are still
tyrannical, so much so as to make men cowards." Tagore's essay on
nationalism makes it clear that if individuals wish to challenge the division
present in India, national identification must become secondary or aligned with
the discussion of the caste system Tagore's point is that this is the
differentiation point of Indian consciousness. Where one lives in the
caste system remarkably changes their perception of what India is. If
individuals seek national unification, the primary focus has to lie in the
caste system and what needs to be done with it.