Though in pain from a recent car collision, his eyes light up while talking about how the Nobel laureate viewed women and how they appeared in his short stories, novels and plays. To Professor Ahmed -- an actor, theatre director, playwright and educationist -- Tagore literature is more than a passion; works of Kabiguru is a source of inspiration.

"One has to consider the limitations Tagore had to face. His ideas were surprisingly modern, yet not beyond the reach of his times. In Chokher Bali Tagore made a strong feminist statement. Binodini, the protagonist, who is a widow, makes a radical departure from classical Bengali literature. She is an intelligent, educated woman who seduces the man who had rejected her hand in marriage earlier. Strangely she befriends the naïve, adolescent wife of Mahendra, the man she is having an affair with. Mahendra's friend Bihari wants to marry Binodini but does he truly love her or is it his ideology veiled as love?

"Tagore was a staunch supporter of 'Widow Remarriage' movement and had his son marry a widow. However, he didn't want to alienate his readers. Hence, Binodini does not remarry," says Professor Ahmed.

"Prior to Tagore, female characters in Bengali literature were more or less one-dimensional. A woman was either a mother, or a lover or a seductress. Tagore's female characters hold on to their identities, each unique and remarkable. Damini in Chaturango, Chitrangada in Tagore's dance drama, Mrinal in Strir Patro and Aneela in Poila Number -- all stand their ground, not just as companions of men, but as independent, remarkable beings.

"Chitrangada, a character from the epic Mahabharata, gets a bold identity in Tagore's dance-drama. Chitrangada, the princess of Manipur, is not some maiden in distress. She is skilled in warfare. Smitten with the legendary warrior Arjun, she asks the gods for a boon. With a divine intervention Arjun is seduced by Chitrangada's beauty. Soon after, however, she is faced with a predicament and comes to terms with her self-worth. She asks the gods to take back the boon; if Arjun truly loves her, he would do so with or without her shallow appearance," continues the professor.

"Tagore's characters mirror his philosophy, his views. An interesting anecdote can be a demonstration of his rationale: During the Swaraj movement, Mahatma Gandhi came over to Shantiniketan and stayed with Tagore for a few days. Gandhi tried to persuade Tagore to support the use of locally produced Khadi and reject clothing material produced in England altogether. Tagore politely declined saying that the mass production of fabric in England has made it affordable to the common man and undesirable or not, that was the reality. This sense of logic is inherent in many of his characters," he says.

The professor concludes, "Tagore's female characters are like nature. They inspire, nurture and guide. They don't denounce values but boldly point out social anomalies and absurd superstitions. Created decades ago, they remain modern to date."