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WAKE UP...NATIONAL ANTHEM IS NOT FOR MOTHERLAND........

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Dear Madam, Your article is a surprise and a bombshell. This need to be verified carefully before we clamour for its total omission, because like other countries in the globe, our country's national antheme has also been played several times during the visits of Indian dignitories to foreign countries and vice versa. So to change the national antheme all of a sudden, better we think of a way how to implement the words in the song to safe guard our national integrety. Any how, your research on this is highly commendable. Like wise there are so many problems, focus your thoughts to them also and bring out public. Wish you best of luck in your attempts

Posted by: Mr. VIRABHADRA SASTRI KALANADHABHATTA At: 4, Aug 2003 6:30:32 AM IST

hi my sweet indians,now the time is come to wake up,plzz speard this news to many people..i think there is some meaning in this words...plzzzz support this issue...ALL THE BEST......

Posted by: Mr. manjureddy reddy At: 12, Jul 2003 9:47:34 AM IST

Hello reddy, as u mentioned in this long story to support national anthem as jana gana mana,i had one question...why should we have the peom which used to welcome the KING george n queen as our national anthem...as we have much more peoms written by many patriots....and that too one there (like sun in stars), which all of us even you too like is vandematharam....why don't u support vandhematharam as national anthem...please spread this to many people and support and increase values to our national anthem....Jai bharath...

Posted by: Mrs. Sneha sarma At: 11, Jul 2003 4:44:06 PM IST

PLEASE READ THIS BELOW ARTICLE PATIENTLY.... IN THIS TAGORE CLEARLY EXPLAINED THAT 'BAGYAVIDHATHA' MENAS ALMIGHTY NOT THE GEROGE WHOM YOU ARE MENTIONING..... WE CAN MAKE SO MANY MEANING OF A WORD.... Tagore and Jana Gana Mana -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- by Monish R. Chatterjee Binghamton, New York -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This article is written in response to the frequently perpetuated myth that Rabindranath Tagore wrote the song Jana Gana Mana for the British monarch. For as long as one can remember, in fact, from the very early decades of this century, there has been a stubborn mythology vis-a-vis the circumstances surrounding the writing of Jana Gana Mana by India's greatest cultural figure, Rabindranath Tagore. Such stubborn mythologies often arise out of extremely limited knowledge of, or familiarity with, the life and works of a great man (a mahapurusha, to coin a more appropriate Indian term). Understandably, those not familiar with the Bengali language have the Herculean task of turning themselves into Tagore scholars in order to get a wider glimpse of the man and the scope of his accomplishments. This limitation, in many cases, leads them to narrow perspectives and hearsay, rather than the type of direct examination necessary to draw objective conclusions. Anyone even moderately informed about the life and works of Rabindranath Tagore cannot have the slightest doubt about the greatness of this towering figure of human civilization, measured by any standard anywhere in the world. As the great Indian saint Sri Ramakrishna would say metaphorically, "The vulture flies high in the sky, yet his sight is set upon the garbage heap upon the ground." True to this aphorism, there is often a concerted effort to measure a man of Tagore's magnitude by unjustifiable and contrived means which apparently make him more life-size and flawed, and therefore more everyday and run-of-the-mill. To critics who only sample certain minuscule outer trappings of this astonishing creative genius and extraordinary humanitarian, such forced finitude perhaps brings a measure of parity and comprehension against which one can safely stack everyday events and human tendencies in all their glorious mediocrity. I write this not as an apologist for flawed heroes, or the frailties imbedded within human greatness. I am quite aware of these realities, and feel as strongly as most about the need to not deify a great human being and in the process lose sight of his or her humanity (with its associated limitations) and its inspirational values. However, there is a rather meager "catch" when it comes to finding holes in the gigantic canvas of Tagore's life (in this case, I am not considering scholarly evaluation of his literary works), and I have observed time after time recurrence of the same tired allegations, or even worse, presumptions applied to aspects of it observed through low-aperture eyepieces and tunnel vision. The Jana Gana Mana controversy, involving the time and circumstances of Tagore's writing of the verse poem and song later chosen to be independent India's national anthem, is one such rare, albeit convenient, "catch". The mythology surrounds the 1911 visit to India by King George V. To commemorate the occasion, the Indian National Congress (INC) approached Tagore for a poem of welcome. As Yeats (his Irish admirer of many years) recalled later, Tagore was deeply troubled by the assignment. Early one morning, he composed a very beautiful poem and handed it over to his colleagues. He suggested that it was a poem addressed to God, and that they should give it to the Congress people. At the Calcutta Congress session which began on December 16, 1911, the second day was apparently devoted entirely to welcoming King George V. Jana Gana Mana was sung on this occasion. Thereafter, the newspaper reports maintained that it was sung as a salute to the King Emperor (George V). Since Tagore did not immediately refute the allegation, the perception spread that the song was a eulogy to the monarchy. Obviously nothing could be farther from the truth. As with many of his puja or devotional songs, if there was a divine entity to whom Tagore addressed many of his heartfelt yearnings for communion and eternal play, it was a Monarch infinitely greater than any mortal King Emperor could ever aspire to be. The Lord of India's Destiny, to whom Jana Gana Mana is officially addressed, is the perennial Bhagya Vidhata of India who has, from the very dawn of civilization, guided India through great triumphs and tragedies. The Lord of India is therefore India's eternal guiding spirit, and could never be merely the king of a colonial empire. It is hardly necessary to point out that if Tagore had the slightest weakness towards, or preference for the British monarchy, his staunch and steadfast opposition to British rule would seriously contradict any such deeply guarded fantasy. His relinquishing of the Knighthood honor (received at the hands of the very same monarch to whom, according to the detractors, he supposedly offered such unabashed tributes) in protest against the Amritsar (Jallianwallah Bagh) massacre in 1919, is likewise a study in stark contrast. To the copious writing and data that are extant with regards to this grossly over-amplified issue, I need hardly add any more information of my own. The fact that despite an extensive personal reflection on this matter by Tagore himself, whereby he has refuted beyond any controversy the "charge" that he had written the song to felicitate the King Emperor of England and her colonial empire, the gnawing doubts in certain quarters persist, only goes to show the severe problem associated with tunnel vision and the age-old problem of a blind person visualizing an elephant using vanishingly minuscule data. In Tagore's collected works, it is mentioned that the INC requested that Tagore write a felicitation to the King Emperor as an appeasement gesture to the British monarchy in response to the annulment of the Bengal Partition Act. Not only was Tagore troubled by the request, he was downright offended by it. It is said that Jana Gana Mana was written more out of protest and rebellion than adoration towards the monarchy. An objective reading of the song should make it eminently clear as to whom the poet decided to offer his worship. In a letter to Pulin Behari Sen, Tagore later wrote, "A certain high official in His Majesty's service, who was also my friend, had requested that I write a song of felicitation towards the Emperor. The request simply amazed me. It caused a great stir in my heart. In response to that great mental turmoil, I pronounced the victory in Jana Gana Mana of that Bhagya Vidhata of India who has from age after age held steadfast the reins of India's chariot through rise and fall, through the straight path and the curved. That Lord of Destiny, that Reader of the Collective Mind of India, that Perennial Guide, could never be George V, George VI, or any other George. Even my official friend understood this about the song. After all, even if his admiration for the crown was excessive, he was not lacking in simple common sense." Not only as an inveterate admirer of Tagore, but also as someone who believes strongly that allegations against extraordinary human beings deserve extraordinary care and a scrupulous contextual examination, I can only urge those who choose to join the Jana Gana Mana controversy to study Tagore more extensively before jumping on the bandwagon or making unsubstantiated pronouncements. Despite his noble birth and lineage, Rabindranath Tagore used every fruitful moment of his long creative life to understand, empathize with, and defend the history, culture, and people of India. His sincere belief in India's crying need to be freed of colonial oppression has been expressed profoundly and eloquently in vast and profuse areas of his writings, some of which can be traced back to his late teens and early twenties. I cannot even begin to cite examples of his wise and deeply insightful proclamations and pronouncements in this regard; suffice it to say that in each well-known episodic event, Tagore's attempts and desire to align himself with the oppressed, the downtrodden and the diverse people of his beloved Motherland have a degree of consistency which is simply mind-boggling. Tagore was nurtured in the musical and mystical traditions of Vaishnavism and the Bengali Baul, and was close to the enlightened reformist views of Brahmo society. Yet, at no time in his life was he narrowly religious. His family initiated a tradition of Swadeshi Melas (National Fairs) as early as the late 1800s, and Tagore's contributions to the cultural expositions at these Melas are legendary. We cannot forget his early dramatic work, Valmiki-Pratibha (The Genius of Valmiki), or his colloquial verse collection, Bhanusimher Padavali (The Verses of Bhanusimha Thakur). In these, as in others, Tagore shows signs of his deep understanding of India's cultural treasures and literary heritage. Building upon these, and growing from strength to strength, Tagore became one of the most exceptional vehicles of Indian culture, perhaps in all of Indian history, in the subsequent decades of his life. Not too long ago, I had occasion to listen to a moving collection of his songs, interspersed with short narratives. In this collection, a fresh new light has been cast upon one of his well-known songs, Amaye Bolo Na Gahite Bolo Na. The story narrated therein simply bears testimony to Tagore's deep and abiding compassion for India and everything Indian. Since the genesis of this song takes us to the very early years of the 20th century, I feel impelled to briefly recount it here with the hope that it will exemplify Tagore's exalted stature as an illustrious son of India who devoted all his creative energies to promote her cause before the world throughout his life. As the story goes, at the end of several days of what may best be described as "blow hot" political speeches (or copious dissipation of what may unflatteringly be called hot air) during a national convention of the then young Indian National Congress around 1908, the Bengali scholar and socialite Taraknath Palit had arranged a reception of the prominent leaders of the INC at his home. It needs to be mentioned that from its very early years, the INC had close connections to Bengal, and Tagore, though not a politician by choice or temperament, was nevertheless associated with it. This should come as no surprise, since the INC in the first four or five decades of its existence had a significant Bengali presence right up to its highest ranks. In later years, especially since the repeal of Lord Curzon's infamous Partition of Bengal proposition, and definitely after around 1915 or so, Tagore dissociated himself from any political affiliation. In matters of national politics and the freedom movement, he took on the mantle of a preeminent commentator and penetrating observer and advisor. Returning to the matter of Taraknath Palit's reception, it turns out that Mr. Palit had invited Tagore, and specifically requested that the already well-regarded poet and composer present an original piece of work for the amusement of his political guests. As Tagore's son Rathindranath reminisced later, Tagore was greatly dismayed by the hollow and pompous speechmaking that had preceded the event for several days, and mulled over the impossible "entertainment" role that had been tossed in his lap. Needless to say, the great composer wrote a poignant song for the occasion, and much to the dismay of the merry political crowd which was more interested in pursuing narrowly zealous creeds, he sang this sad yet uplifting song, filled with gentle admonition, at Palit's home the next day. I present below a prose translation by myself of this song, which, as with hundreds of others, bears testimony to Tagore's incorruptible love for India. (Copyright (c), Monish Chatterjee, Nov. 14, 2000) From the Bengali song by Rabindranath Tagore: Ask me not to sing tonight, please ask me not. Is this mere laughter and play, is it mere reveling in pleasure, No more than a parade of refined falsehoods and deception? Ask me not to sing tonight, please ask me not. It is unremitting tears, heart-rending blights, the hopeless sighs and prayers of the poor, It is the deepest anguish within bursting hearts languishing in coils of sorrow. Is this mere laughter and play, is it mere reveling in pleasure, No more than a parade of refined falsehoods and deception? Are we arrived here destitute for fame, to spin words and collect applause- To utter falsehoods, garner false distinctions, and while away nights in ignoble pursuits! Who will awaken today, who will offer service, Who will give the utmost to restore Mother's tarnished honor- Who, indeed, will shed tears of empathy, and dedicate the prayers of a nation at Mother's feet? Is this mere laughter and play, is it mere reveling in pleasure, No more than a parade of refined falsehoods and deception? Ask me not to sing tonight, please ask me not. Let me cite just one more instance of Tagore's undying allegiance to India. In the very last week of his life, from what eventually became his deathbed, this noblest of souls learned of a vicious attack against India by an English journalist a la Katherine Mayo, named Miss Rathbone. Physically too feeble to write, he dictated a letter of protest to this columnist, which was later published. I would invite anyone to read this letter (which is extant), and judge for himself the extent of Tagore's faith in India and her people (and by extension, in all humanity, which too he spelled out in his last significant piece of writing, "Crisis in Civilization", at a time when the bloodfest known as the Second World War was in its second year). To perpetuate a baseless canard such as Tagore's having written Jana Gana Mana for the British monarch (despite his own vigorous pronouncements to the contrary) is an immeasurable disservice and a mark of extreme ingratitude towards one of the greatest figures India has ever been blessed with (of which, thankfully, there are many). It is tantamount to asking Garibaldi to prove his devotion to Italy, Joan of Arc to France, or Mirabai to the Lord Krishna. And Tagore was far more than a patriotic figure- he would be the first to protest any claim to patriotism, which, like nationalism, he opposed as an ethical or moral principle. He was a universalist, one of the first perhaps to truly dedicate his life to that cause; yet, as he himself wrote late in his life (I am re-phrasing in my own words), "I have traveled far and wide, and seen the many great splendors of people and places around the world. Yet, when all is said and done, I truly love India best." I rest my case.

Posted by: Mr. M.S.Reddy At: 11, Jul 2003 7:48:05 AM IST

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