This Tagore essay contrasts the worldview of the Europeans, sometimes called the Northmen, with that of the Indian people.

Tagore states that there are two ways of relating to the world: one, which is the Indian way, is to see and accept the unity and oneness of all things. The second, which is the European way, is to see life and nature as dualistic, in which there is a constant war of good against evil. This battle must end in either the victory or defeat of one side or another.

This dualism, Tagore says, sprang from the Europeans' relationship to the sea, which seemed to be "at constant war" with the land. The sea was a part of nature that the Europeans felt they had to conquer. This developed in them a fighting spirit, which can have its good aspects, such as in the fight against disease or poverty. The dualistic spirit also allowed the European to harness nature through mechanized processes and, therefore, become very wealthy in material goods.

The Indian, however, living in the "level tracts" and forests of Northern India, found no barrier between himself and nature. He was, therefore, able to establish a unity with it. The greatest joy comes to the Indian as he able to celebrate and enjoy his oneness with both nature and the entire universe.