Tagore lived around the turn of the 1900's, and was a writer--poetry, short stories, etc. Back in 1913 or so, he won a Nobel Prize in Literature for his book of songs, called the Gitanjali. I guess part of it was the fact that he had not only written the songs in Bengali, but he had created English translations for them as well. The translations are not entirely similar, and other English translations are out there, but that's beside the point.
Anyway, in his lifetime he wrote over 2,000 songs. This guy was prolific. And here's the kicker--everyone around here knows and can sing many of these songs. They're just that ingrained into life around here.
Jarrod and I have been meaning to take voice lessons or something, but last night I just decided that I wanted to learn right then, so I sat down at YouTube to teach myself. Jarrod caught on to what I was doing and came over to learn with me, so, thanks to our efforts, we can now sing about half of this song:
We're very excited. It's like a whole world has opened itself up to us.
This is truly one of the most amazing musical styles I have ever come across. While you are fortunate enough to be in Kolkata, find a Rabindrasangeet teacher and learn some basics. Some nice and simple songs to learn are "Bhalobasi Bhalobasi" and "Fule Fule Dhole Dhole" - that last one is actually based on a Scottish melody!
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