Tuesday, October 28, 2008

A Strange coincidence

There is a famous Shakespeare quote on greatness which goes like "Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em." There are many things in life which end up in some places where they were not originally intended to be just by chance ..

I read this interesting article in Wikisource about our national anthem in light of the above. This is apparently a response from Jawaharlal Nehru for a question on the national anthem in Parliament.

http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_National_Anthem

I have seen articles else where that our national anthem was actually sung by Tagore in praise of King George V. The counter argument goes that Tagore referred to God, though it seems more appropriate for a King. The above reply from Nehru tells us why Jana gana mana ended up as our national anthem.

Following is the translation of our national anthem in english.

O! Dispenser of India's destiny, thou art the ruler of the minds of all people Thy name rouses the hearts of Punjab, Sindh, Gujarat, the Maratha country,in the Dravida country, Utkala and Bengal; It echoes in the hills of the Vindhyas and Himalayas,it mingles in the rhapsodies of the pure waters of Yamuna and the Ganges. They chant only thy name.They seek only thy auspicious blessings. They sing only the glory of thy victory. The salvation of all people waits in thy hands, O! Dispenser of India's destiny, thou art the ruler of the minds of all peopleVictory to thee, Victory to thee, Victory to thee,Victory, Victory, Victory, Victory to thee!

Isn't it a bit strange that the song which has become a part and parcel of our lives and one that has been asociated with India by people all over the world ended up there only by some coincidence!

1 comment:

Janani Srikanth said...

Nice article. Goes to say that coincidences govern things more often!