Friday, September 24, 2010
CWG ... national shame
Seems Bhanot's "different standard of hygiene" means his bedroom is infested with street dogs and 'labourers' spit 'pan' in his bathroom. Such corrupt and inept Indians potray India in bad light. Likes of Kalmadi usurp millions and we 'forget & forgive'. It's a shame that we elect such people to hold positions of power in our country. They should be confined in a pit with a roof threatening to collapse !
Saturday, September 4, 2010
The mayhem on our National Anthem
The wikipedia article on Jana Gana Mana... sports a controversy on the Indian national anthem which is doing rounds on the net. Some blogs question the timing of the song (the Coronation of George V) where the song actually is a clandestine attack on British Imperialism. It is but natural that Tagore had to be surreptitious writing the song in 1911. There are even lesser mortals who question the absence of names of few states and accuse the poem to regionalistic. This is my attempt to educate such blissfully ignorant brethren.
Its quite common among us Indians to babble on subjects little known to us. People who talk of Nehru in not so favorable terms, especially about his plans for India – have little knowledge of the socio-political situation of India at the time of Independence; his vast knowledge as exemplified by his two epics – ‘Discovery of India’ and ‘Glimpses of World History’(which BTW are one of the most authoritative works of history and regarded worldwide); and are unable to compare the two states – Pakistan and India liberated on the same ‘night’ but our neighbours not having the IITs, SAILs, BHELs and the contributions (of these institutions established by Nehru) to India’s development. Similar is the case with Gandhi and Netaji. People just love to talk.
Without knowing for example, that Tagore was the greatest writer in modern Indian literature, poet, novelist, educator, and an early advocate of Independence for India, was instrumental in setting up Universities (not limited to Santiniketan whose illustrious alumni include the other Nobel laureate of India – Amartya Sen), and gave up his Knighthood to protest the Jalianwalabagh incident. Much of Tagore’s ideology come from the teaching of the Upahishads.
I am not sure how many of the above even understand and appreciate poetry. Have anyone of you even attempted writing one in your chidhood? To imagine that the names of every Indian state should be captured in a poem to express the expanse of our motherland! Crib and question the artistic ability of the only Indian blessed with a Nobel in literature! Its both irritating and amusing at the same time. I wonder who these critics are who have today tried to measure-up Tagore – a name revered by the greatest litterateurs of the world.
Glorifying our pasts seems to be the favorite pastime for us, since we are a frustated with our politicians lacking vision for the future – without a true attempt to research the real history of our civilization, dominated and enslaved by centuries of Muslim and British rule. Today some religious radicals talk of racial conservatism without realizing how open our culture was before these invasions. They would cover the temple architectures with burkhas if they had their way. The best works on Indian history (atleast those easily accessible) are those written by the British – obviously through their looking glasses.
I’d like to draw the attention of of Tagore's critics to the following :
1. http://www.sacw.net/DC/CommunalismCollection/ArticlesArchive/pkDatta092004.html
2. http://www.countercurrents.org/comm-chatterjee310803.htm
3. http://www.lehigh.edu/~amsp/2004/09/national-anthem-throwdown-jana-gana.html
4. Wikipedia entry on Jana gana mana
5. http://rabindranathtagore.quickseek.com/
Let me also repeat those golden words from Geetanjali:
Where the mind is without fear
and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been
broken up into fragments
by narrow domestic walls; …
Where the clear stream of reason
has not lost its way into the
dreary desert sand of dead habit; …
Into that heaven of freedom,
my Father, let my country awake.
Let not your reason and intellect be lost in the dreary desert sands ...
Fellow Indians:
Be proud to be Indian, but please try to know your country first.
Its quite common among us Indians to babble on subjects little known to us. People who talk of Nehru in not so favorable terms, especially about his plans for India – have little knowledge of the socio-political situation of India at the time of Independence; his vast knowledge as exemplified by his two epics – ‘Discovery of India’ and ‘Glimpses of World History’(which BTW are one of the most authoritative works of history and regarded worldwide); and are unable to compare the two states – Pakistan and India liberated on the same ‘night’ but our neighbours not having the IITs, SAILs, BHELs and the contributions (of these institutions established by Nehru) to India’s development. Similar is the case with Gandhi and Netaji. People just love to talk.
Without knowing for example, that Tagore was the greatest writer in modern Indian literature, poet, novelist, educator, and an early advocate of Independence for India, was instrumental in setting up Universities (not limited to Santiniketan whose illustrious alumni include the other Nobel laureate of India – Amartya Sen), and gave up his Knighthood to protest the Jalianwalabagh incident. Much of Tagore’s ideology come from the teaching of the Upahishads.
I am not sure how many of the above even understand and appreciate poetry. Have anyone of you even attempted writing one in your chidhood? To imagine that the names of every Indian state should be captured in a poem to express the expanse of our motherland! Crib and question the artistic ability of the only Indian blessed with a Nobel in literature! Its both irritating and amusing at the same time. I wonder who these critics are who have today tried to measure-up Tagore – a name revered by the greatest litterateurs of the world.
Glorifying our pasts seems to be the favorite pastime for us, since we are a frustated with our politicians lacking vision for the future – without a true attempt to research the real history of our civilization, dominated and enslaved by centuries of Muslim and British rule. Today some religious radicals talk of racial conservatism without realizing how open our culture was before these invasions. They would cover the temple architectures with burkhas if they had their way. The best works on Indian history (atleast those easily accessible) are those written by the British – obviously through their looking glasses.
I’d like to draw the attention of of Tagore's critics to the following :
1. http://www.sacw.net/DC/CommunalismCollection/ArticlesArchive/pkDatta092004.html
2. http://www.countercurrents.org/comm-chatterjee310803.htm
3. http://www.lehigh.edu/~amsp/2004/09/national-anthem-throwdown-jana-gana.html
4. Wikipedia entry on Jana gana mana
5. http://rabindranathtagore.quickseek.com/
Let me also repeat those golden words from Geetanjali:
Where the mind is without fear
and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been
broken up into fragments
by narrow domestic walls; …
Where the clear stream of reason
has not lost its way into the
dreary desert sand of dead habit; …
Into that heaven of freedom,
my Father, let my country awake.
Let not your reason and intellect be lost in the dreary desert sands ...
Fellow Indians:
Be proud to be Indian, but please try to know your country first.
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