Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Vande Mataram : Our national song

Our national song written by Bankim Chandra Chaterjee:-

वन्दे मातरम्
सुजलां सुफलां मलयजशीतलाम्
सस्यश्यामलां मातरम्॥
शुभ्रज्योत्स्ना पुलकितयामिनीम्
पुल्लकुसुमित द्रुमदलशोभिनीम्
सुहासिनीं सुमधुर भाषिणीम्
सुखदां वरदां मातरम्॥


कोटि कोटि कन्ठ कलकलनिनाद कराले
कोटि कोटि भुजैर्धृतखरकरवाले
के बोले मा तुमी अबले
बहुबलधारिणीं नमामि तारिणीम्
रिपुदलवारिणीं मातरम्॥

And it's interpretaion in English by Aurobindo goes like this:

Mother, I bow to thee!
Rich with thy hurrying streams,
bright with orchard gleams,
Cool with thy winds of delight,
Dark fields waving Mother of might,
Mother free.

Glory of moonlight dreams,
Over thy branches and lordly streams,
Clad in thy blossoming trees,
Mother, giver of ease
Laughing low and sweet!
Mother I kiss thy feet,
Speaker sweet and low!
Mother, to thee I bow.

Who hath said thou art weak in thy lands
When the sword flesh out in the seventy million hands
And seventy million voices roar
Thy dreadful name from shore to shore?
With many strengths who art mighty and stored,
To thee I call Mother and Lord!
Though who savest, arise and save!
To her I cry who ever her foeman drove
Back from plain and Sea
And shook herself free.

Now our government wants to make it compulsory for everyone to sing it. Why? If somebody finds something that he does not like in it then why he should be forced to it. Don't our constitution give us freedom of speech?

http://www.ibnlive.com/news/if-vande-means-salutation-muslims-to-sing-along/20762-3.html

Now as in the above report, it is said that Islam does not allow to bow to any power other than Allah, why Muslims should be forced to sing this song. Does only singing this song make them patriotic or refusing to sing makes them anti-national. I agree all Muslims may not be refusing to sing it as we have a good pop-version of Vande-Mataram by A. R. Rehman who is also Muslim and the lyrics was written by Mehboob again a Muslim but they didn't have any problem in saying Vande-Mataram. But if somebody has a problem, he should not be forced. There are other national things also that we are not looking at like national bird, national game, national animal etc. I hope they are not going to make it compulsory for everyone to play Hockey, or to have a tiger or to grow a lotus in home just to show that we are patrioitic enough.

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