National Anthem

I recently watched a video of a very nice composition of our National Anthem by the children of a school. The children have not only sung it beautifully but also explained the meaning through charts.

My 3 year old son started watching it repeatedly. I am proud to say that he started singing it in few days time. Not just that, he started asking me the meaning of each line. If you are the Parent of a curious child, be prepared. :-) I leaked the question paper for you.

This reminds me of a viewpoint that spread through the minds of many Indians like a virus. The viewpoint is that Tagore had written The Anthem in praise of a British Ruler and not really his Motherland and hence he had received the Noble prize. We Indians blindly sing it without knowing this secret and that Jawahar Lal Nehru had a role in all this. The viewpoint has all the necessary elements to draw the attention of the crowd and the listeners would be in a state of confusion not able to accept it or reject it, for it is the lovable Anthem that they had been singing right from their childhood.

Fortunately, the viewpoint is only a virus. Let me explain. The Anthem opens with lines which mean "Oh, the ruler of all minds, victory to you. You are the dispenser of destiny of India." This beautiful praise can go to no one other than God himself. No British ruler or King or Queen can rule the minds of India. In fact, people that time fighting for Independence did not want a Britisher to rule their mind. So by no means the Praise is attributed to the British. If you are one of the confused, relax and proudly sing the Anthem as usual. If you get to hear the virus, kill it right in the bud by explaining the meaning.

Lastly, here is the translation of The Anthem for your reference:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jana_Gana_Mana

Here is the full version of Jana Gana Mana, consisting of five stanzas:

We usually sing the first stanza as Our National Anthem.