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Kim
Yang-shik’s eyes sparkled behind those stylish glasses while talking about the
letter she received from Shantiniketan’s Visva-Bharati university earlier this
year. The university, according to her, had finally in principle given the green
signal to her opening a Korea Bhawan in the town synonymous with Rabindranath
Tagore.
It
was “no answer, no answer, no answer” for years, she said.
Tagore,
of course, has been Kim’s “mentor” and her “spirit”.
“Through
Tagore’s poetry, I saw the world,” she told me while we sat chatting in the
Indian Art Museum in a trendy Seoul neighourhood.
Kim
heads both the museum and the Tagore Society of Korea; she set up the society in
1981 following years of reading Tagore’s works and translating some including
the Gitanjali from English to Korean.
Her
elder brother urged her to read Tagore, handing her copy of The Crescent Moon;
there was no looking back after that, only turning more pages.
She
did her MA in Indian philosophy, eventually becoming a poet and essayist
herself, and devoted time to translating Tagore.
Currently,
Kim is translating Tagore’s entire collection of poetry.
“Around
20 percent is left. I have been translating the poems for years,” Kim said,
carefully wrapping her 30-year-old favourite embroidered Kashmiri shawl around
her shoulders.
Tagore
never visited South Korea. But four lines he uttered about the country calling
it the “lamp of the east” still remains lit in hearts like that of Kim’s. The
city has Tagore statue in an university area as well.
Tagore
isn’t her only passion in life; India is a huge part of it.
She’s
travelled to India 30 times since 1975 and, over the years, collected Indian
nearly 2000 artefacts – ranging from wood and stone carvings, musical
instruments, paintings, furniture, fabric and handicraft – from across the
country.
The
artefacts are displayed twice a year for a few months at the Museum, the
curator, Kim Kyu-Won said. Kim also sponsors a scholarship at the Korean
language course at JNU.
She
took me downstairs for a quick cup of coffee before rushing off for a meeting
with lawyers and a visit to the National Museum of Korea. Looking at the chic,
young Korean girls at the café, she grinned: “Very busy, these girls. Quick
coffee after lunch”.
At
a sprightly 83, the Padma Shri awardee, Kim Yang-shik isn’t doing too badly
either, I’d say.
Source:Embassy of India,Seoul
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कोरियाई प्रायद्वीप पर उत्तर और दक्षिण कोरिया के संबंधों की वर्तमान स्थिति एक नए युग की भू-राजनीतिक प्रतिस्पर्धा का प्रतीक है। यह बदलाव वैश्विक स्तर पर अमेरिका-चीन के बीच बढ़ती प्रतिद्वंद्विता का नतीजा है। कूटनीति के कई असफल प्रयासों , खासकर 2019 के हनोई शिखर सम्मेलन के बाद , उत्तर कोरिया ने यह निष्कर्ष निकाला है कि अमेरिका के साथ संबंध सुधार उसकी सुरक्षा चिंताओं का हल नहीं है। इसके फलस्वरूप , प्योंगयांग ने अपनी संप्रभुता की रक्षा और बाहरी खतरों को रोकने के लिए अपनी परमाणु शक्ति को मजबूत किया है , जिससे उसकी स्थिति और प्रभाव कोरियाई प्रायद्वीप पर सुदृढ़ हो गया है। इस बदलते भू-राजनीतिक माहौल में , उत्तर कोरिया का नजरिया "नई शीत युद्ध" की व्यवस्था के अंतर्गत और भी सशक्त हुआ है , जहाँ अमेरिका , दक्षिण कोरिया और जापान एक ओर और रूस , चीन तथा उत्तर कोरिया दूसरी ओर गठबंधन के रूप में उभर रहे हैं। रूस और चीन जैसे प्रभावशाली राष्ट्र उत्तर कोरिया को प्रतिबंधों के आर्थिक दबाव से कुछ हद तक बचाने में सहायक हैं , लेकिन चीन के साथ इसके आंतरिक तनाव बने हुए हैं। चीन का पूर्वी एशिया में संतुलन ...
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