Friday, October 19, 2007

Jan Gan Man – Care to stand up?

Jaya hē jaya hē jaya hē, Jaya jaya jaya jaya hē. Tears stream down one more time, my heart swells with pride. My association of long with the anthem at once comes back to mind, the greatness of my dharti gladdens my heart, and my being suddenly is a mirthful-privilege.

Growing up in a small town in Punjab my first encounter with the Indian national anthem was in primary school. The words I did not understand, ‘It’s a poem, sunny boy’, maa affectionately elucidated, ‘written by one of the greatest poets our country has ever produced’. She continued, ‘He’s oozing his love for the motherland’. I was too young then but old enough to notice the twinkle in her eyes. So enchanted was I that I got her to write the whole poem for me, on a piece of paper, so I could memorize. For the next few years, the paper found solace in my school bag, my shirt pocket, and study books in exam days, eventually finding a house for itself on my room wall. It still resides there, moving only when its owner visits it in several months.

Later, in senior school it was a daily ritual at the morning assembly, sung by the music teacher and her band of young, passionate (somewhat shrill) teens who chronically looked towards her for help with the high and low notes. Every one loved it. A strength of 2,500 sang with them, filling the air with clouds of passion. Love for Jan Gan Man was heartwarming and ubiquitous. But things don’t always stay the same.

Once out of school and midst the ‘cool’ generation the opportunities to stand in honor of the anthem only dwindled. And the few opportunities that came were shameful acts of reluctance and disrespect. It’s a great hurt, for an ordinary patriot to see fellow citizens refuse to disseat when the anthem is played in cinema halls and drawing rooms. The obstinacy is quite known, so much so that in a recent movie moments before the national anthem was played the sub-title read, ‘The national anthem will now be played, you are supposed to stand up’
Yet, one saw people looking around to see if indeed they needed to stand up.

I have seen movies where the national anthem was played and a handful of people stood up while the rest look bemused at them. Is it a matter of being ashamed of our own language, our culture, our history? It certainly seems so. While reluctance towards religious rituals is understandable, not because it is fashionable to call oneself an atheist these days, but because religion is a matter of personal choice and best kept in private considering we live in a multi- religious society. But why this indifference towards nationalism? Isn’t it supposed to bind a nation together? Isn’t the national anthem an evoker of nationalism?

Other than a game of cricket that unites this nation of a billion, which too is purely because of sporting reasons and not any other, nationalism is a species that has lost its essence and now borders on extinction.

It is only inane to question the obsession with things un-Indian for then we venture into the devil’s territory which vociferously proclaims freedom of choice. But we need not look anywhere else; citizens of the same countries we obsess ourselves with are perfect examples of patriotic conduct.

While endless surveys might suggest Indians as the happiest people on Earth, they will never quite be able to highlight them as nationalists like the Japanese. I am often reminded of the example cited by our principal in school, Japanese, when posed with the question, Buddha first or Japan, without a blink said Japan.

We go on in our lives, content with fat salaries, branded possessions, cricketing ecstasy, and foreign vacations, contributing little to the nation aside the forced taxes. Least that we can do is respect the national anthem, is that too much to ask for? Perhaps, yes from most!

Oh, Gurudev, cry not you, for we deserve not such a poem!

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2 Comments:

At November 10, 2007 at 5:12 PM , Blogger Saraswati said...

Written from the heart and a noble one at that....!

 
At May 8, 2008 at 11:21 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

BRAVO, I HAVE ALWAYS THOUGHT
ONE MUST DEFEND OUR PRINCIPLES
AND YES BRAVO TOO YOU MY NEW
FRIEND.

THEY ARE YOUR AND ONLY YOURS.
AND TRUTHFULLY WHAT WE FEEL
INSIDE IS THE ONLY THING THAT
IS OURS, AND NO ONE CAN TAKE
THAT AWAY.

BRAVO BRAVO BRAVO!!!!

 

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