A strange national anthem

Well, there is demand for changing the national anthem altogeather. One more song called 'Vande Mataram' was the favoured sond for the anthem at the time of independence. However, the demand is very weak. Let me take this oppotunity to explain a little more about India. 70% of Indians live in rural area. Rural India seldom participates in such matters. They depend on agriculture and are consumed with making ends meet. In urban India too, most people are unconcerned. I would like to mention something hfere, which will make things clear. In the past few years names of several cities and landmarks have been changed. For instance, Bombay to Mumbai, Madras to Chennai, Bangalore to Bangaluru, Calcutta to Kolkata. The raison d'etre being these name were given by British and were not 'Indian'. However, these decisions were politically motivated and the public in general did not care one way or the other. Coming back to the anthem, basically we are unconcerned. This issue will reamin alive for hundreds of yefars to come, but I dont see it being changed. We talk about it, but dont feel strongly enough to change it. Could very possibly be an example of the legendary capacity of Indians to tolerate!

The meaning of 'Jana gana mana' makes sence only when applied to God. Maybe we need to pen a new song alltogeather.

Vande Mataram is a very patriotic song with a great patriotic history. It is written in Sanskrit and Bengali. It glorifies the mother land, but there is a subtle problem. It has reference to Durga and Lakshmi, giving it a religious hue. This is one of the reasons why only the first two stanzas are permitted by the Muslim community to be sung and some Christians also have a problem. Even though high on popularity, it falls short of universal approval. Change is the only constant thing. There will come a time when it will become important to keep every body united in mind, body and spirit by a new national anthem. The Indian democracy with all its nuances may never allow such a time to come, but as of now things are contrary to this.

He did clarify that the song was written in praise of God. People seem to forget that. However, bande mataram would have been a better choice. Even if we accept the fact that Jana Gana Mana is dedicated to God, it will be inappropriate because in principle the state of Inidia is a secular state. One more story often makes rounds; Nehru rejected Bande mataram because it did not sound good when played by a band!

Yes, Jana Gana Mana was chosen probably because it is easier to play by the band. There was a obvious bias towards Tagore. I do not know the meaning of the song Bande Mataram but it is patriotic and inspiring.