For a Song

My dear sis-in-law forwarded me a mail yesterday. It was some debate about why the national anthem of India "Jana Gana Mana" by Rabindranath Tagore isn't appropriate and does not deserve to be our national anthem. According to the mail (it was an email-chain and had already crossed I wonder how many inboxes), Tagore composed this song in praise of King George V of England when he visited India in 1911.

I was piqued by the suggestion and was reminded of a similar case trying to tamper with the song a year ago.

To me, the issue sounded weirdly interesting. The song may have been written in praise of whoever, though there isn't conclusive proof that it was written in "honour" of the King, but does that warrant renouncing it as our national anthem? Agreed, it was sung for the first time the King visited India by none other than Tagore himself. But it is hard to believe that a poet of Tagore's intellect and calibre would denigrate himself and his country by praising the King over God.

Here's an excerpt from a letter that Tagore wrote to a friend explaining the circumstances:
"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 (God of Destiny) 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."

I'm personally bothered by this pseudo-national awakening that is growing in our people. The British ruled India for centuries. To clean up their acts would mean not only to rename Bombay to Mumbai and Madras to Chennai, but also to undo the Indian Railways and the numerous hospitals and schools they built. Are we prepared for this? There are thousands of roads and buildings in India named after the British; we simply can't afford to waste time, effort and resources renaming all of them. There are a zillion other urgent tasks that need attention all around us.

Don't you think that we'd do better by giving up this quest to undo what the British did (though I'm no great fan of everything they did), and do what we as Indians can do? If something warrants correction, it needs to be corrected; But what's in a name, a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, and so would Bombay!

That said, our national anthem was written by an eminent Indian poet whom all of us hold in very high esteem. Isn't that and the fact that it has been our song for over fifty years not enough to maintain its sanctity? This is the question all of us have to ask ourselves.

Life, Liberty and ...

Last night we were watching a program on TV. It was about the 9/11 commission and the struggle the brave families of those who lost dear ones in one of the most brutal incidents in modern history were going through to get answers. It was quite a graphic story which showed video footage of some extremenly horrible sights of that fateful day. It left her in tears at the end.

Watching the program and her, I could not help but remark - "If there really is something or somebody called God, and He created the world, I'm sure he didn't intend it to be like this. Did he make a mistake by putting Man in the picture? Has His creation gone beyond control? Has He given up on the world and let us fend for ourselves?"

Most certainly yes. We attribute so many good qualities to God, and I'm quite sure sadism isn't one of them. Then what is the purpose of letting all these deadly incidents happen? Is wanting to be happy too much to ask for? Or is it the "want" itself which is the ugly feeling? Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness - wasn't that the goal of the makers of this country? Did they ask for a wee bit too much? Probably they should have left out the "Pursuit of Happiness" thingie, or was it "Life" itself?

Faiths

Man will stand up to defend what he believes in. Religion, ideology, belief, faith - call it what you may. Early man was geographically spread across vast areas of land, separated by natural boundaries like mountains and oceans. The birth of ideologies in these distinct populations was naturally peaceful as all people of one geographical area subscribed to one thought, and there was no reason for conflict. With an increase in population, the urge to explore, conquer and rule swelled. This led to the clash of armies first and religions later on. The former was swift and brutal, but the latter wasn't. Because man will hold on to his faith and die rather than give in to an alien one. Because feelings like hunger and survival are physical, but religion and ideology stem from someplace more fundamental than the physical self.

Aug 15th

I woke up this morning earlier than usual. The first thing I did was to log on to the Times of India website. My only concern/instinct/urgency -- to see if something had happened in India. Why, you may ask. It was the 15th of August, Independence Day in India. And there was this lurking feeling that something bad would have happened.

I came to work. My friend, after a while, remembered that it was August 15th. And said "Kuch hua nahin?" .. As an afterthought, he added, "Happy Independence Day".

I've often pondered these last few months on why we are living amidst a cloud of fear. It seems to be constantly feeding on an unseen dread, and growing within us in the process. Many recent terrorizing acts within the country, compounded by the West's continuous brainwash about the War on Terror, seem to have taken a mighty toll on the Indian psyche, the distressing effects of which are instances like the ones above.

This brings me to a more general concern about the state of affairs we are in today. Why is it that suddenly I feel like I'm in the middle of a battlefield, though in reality I couldn't be farther away from it. Why do I hear "War" everywhere? Is it a war for power? Is it a war for religion/beliefs/faiths? Is it just Big Oil? Is it just a modern reincarnation of the Medieval Crusades?

The answer, I'm yet to find.