West Bengal CM Mamata wants to acquire Tagore’s UK home

London: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee wants to acquire the London house where the Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore had lived, and convert it into a museum-cum-memorial to the world-famous poet and writer.

Tagore had lived at No 3, Heath Villas in Hampstead Heath, north London, for a few months in 1912 while he translated his collection of poems ‘Gitanjali’.

During a meeting with acting Indian High Commissioner to the UK, Dinesh Patnaik, on arriving in London for a week-long tour of the UK on Saturday, Ms Banerjee expressed her state’s desire to buy the privately-owned lodgings.

“The home has great historical significance and the chief minister is keen that it be turned into a memorial to Tagore,” a person close to the discussions said.

The property, valued at an estimated 2.7 million pounds a few years ago, had also featured in discussions during the West Bengal chief minister’s last visit to London in 2015. 

The chief minister has revived her request this time with the hope of some movement on the plans. 

The home already has a blue plaque commemorating its famous former Indian resident. “Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) Indian poet stayed here in 1912,” 
reads the inscription.

Tagore had set sail for England from India in 1912 and was known to have translated many of his works while in London.  His company included famous British artists and poets, including W.B. Yeats who also wrote the introduction to ‘Gitanjali’ — the 
collection of Tagore’s 103 translations.