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A clergyperson who has offered grief counseling to many, author George gained a widened perspective by encountering the works of Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore. She compares Tagore to Jesus. The two differed in their family history: Tagore was born in 1861 to a highly privileged Brahmin family, while Jesus grew up in poverty centuries earlier. Yet both spent their lives conveying to others an all-embracing spiritual knowledge. Tagore had a strong connection with Mahatma Gandhi. He started a spiritually based school that was open to children of all castes. He also won a Nobel Prize for Literature for his exquisite poetry. Since learning of Tagore's life and works, George finds continual comfort in his words and example. Having lost two husbands and having faced other incidents of regret and sorrow, she takes comfort in such messages from Tagore as this: "Now when I am at the end of my pilgrimage I leave in the evening flowers of worship my salutations to you all."
George holds a master's of divinity degree, having worked as both a civilian and military chaplain. Her well-considered tribute to Tagore is offered in tandem with her own memories as a form of outreach to readers who may be seeking solace at a time of grief. She writes with tenderness and solemnity about the losses that we all must experience, relating them to incidents and ideations from Tagore, whose message she clearly wishes to bring to new generations of spiritual seekers. She stresses the holy man's respect for women and his recurring assertion that "everyone is holy" as reasons enough to explore his legacy more deeply. Relating her personal burdens and uplifting moments to Tagore's poetic vision allows her readers to share a sense of reverence and the abiding hopefulness of an all-encompassing view of life.
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