Wanted: A more inspiring anthem than Jana Gana Mana

by Vishnu Vasudev : FP :16 Aug 2013

The great thing about the Indian national anthem is that it is relatively easy to learn, and to sing, the only tricky part being the sudden rise in the first of the “Jaya He“s, but you can get away with a mini lip-synch or lowering your octave.

The not so great thing about the anthem is that it does not particularly say a whole lot, and what it does say is not remotely inspiring, once you actually think about it. The official translation (as attributed to Rabindranath Tagore himself) is as follows:

Thou art the ruler of the minds of all people,
Dispenser of India’s destiny.
Thy name rouses the hearts of Punjab, Sindh province/Sindh,
Gujarat and Maratha,
Of the Dravida and Odisha and Bengal;
It echoes in the hills of the Vindhyas and Himalayas,
mingles in the music of Yamuna and Ganga and is
chanted by the waves of the Indian Ocean.
They pray for thy blessings and sing thy praise.
The saving of all people waits in thy hand,
Thou dispenser of India’s destiny.
Victory, victory, victory to thee.
One widespread criticism of the anthem is of course that it is a geographical listing of the regions of India, and not a very comprehensive or accurate one at that. The northeast is completely unrepresented (Tagore probably thought of it as a part of Banga) and of course Sindh is no longer a part of India. I actually do not mind the mangled geography lesson too much – one of the points of an anthem is to highlight the uniqueness of your nation. Our variety is certainly unique, and if you do want an anthem that can be sung under a minute, Tagore has not done a bad job of enumerating India’s peoples. And to be fair to Tagore, when he wrote it, it was not intended as an anthem, it was, and remains a prayer.

My issue with the anthem is that it is not at all clear who “Thou” is and why a land of a billion people should be hanging around waiting for salvation from the elusive Dispenser of India’s destiny, and that to through prayer. This is an utterly passive song absolving ourselves of all responsibility for who we are or our nation. And as our child, this is one of our first introductions to nationhood.

Reuters

So, who is Thou? Tagore dismissed out of hand the suggestion that it was King George V. But his suggestion of who it actually is, is vague with a sheen of specificity, perhaps because he couldn’t figure it out, or intentionally. The choices according to Tagore (and as reported by Wikipedia) are the Lord of Destiny, The Reader of the Collective Mind of India or the Perennial Guide, presumably all the same entity. But whoever or whatever this entity is, it is above the People who are bowed in abject prayer.

Writing an anthem is a tricky business. There are a couple of choices. The first is whether to make it descriptive, or addressed to an entity (a prayer or sorts). Each has its advantages. Making the anthem descriptive has the danger of becoming benign, uninspiring or clichéd unless there is something truly unique and majestic about the country. If we chose this path for India, my vote would be to highlight India’s geographical riches and uniqueness – the mountains, the seas, the coasts, the rich alluvial soil, the ancient Deccan, the great rivers, the monsoons, the ghats. It would be a timely reminder of all that is in our precarious care. “Saare Jahan Se Accha” is closest to this ideal, but I do not like the first line – my pride in India is not at the expense of others.

If we choose the prayer or exhortation route, there are a couple of choices – some sort of higher being or “God”,”Lord”,”Reader” or Guide”, the People, or the Mind (same as the People, but introspective). The problem with higher beings is that we are back to square one – we are putting our destiny in the hands of another. Addressing ourselves, as the People is ideal, but in the wrong hands can easily turn fascist – a unique People (or unique mix of peoples) can be rallied too easily as a superior People. So how do we find the right balance? Maybe it remains a prayer or exhortation to a “higher” being to focus ourselves on working toward and ideal, to make India a better.

And what would be this ideal? Our current national anthem does not specify this ideal, it only asks for saving. The Star Spangled Banner wants America to be the land of the free and the home of the brave. The British anthem, much like ours, is also a prayer but for the victory, glory and happiness of the Queen (and presumably the country as well).

Actually, another of Tagore’s poems, perhaps with a few tweaks, fits the bill on all counts – it is a prayer, but in the final analysis, self-directed, and sets out a powerful ideal:

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 words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father Indians, let my our country awake.

Of course, it would have to be set to music and translated first. Jana Gana Mana has a distinct advantage in this regard – since it is largely an enumeration of regions, it remains reasonably accessible to everyone and language is not a major issue. “Where the mind is without fear” in Hindi could be a challenge to learn for non-Hindi natives.
Jana Gana Mana despite its shortcomings is a beautifully tuned song, capable of raising more than a few goosebumps. And of course it is not going to be replaced soon. In the meantime, let’s ease 52-second timeline so that it can be sung a little more soulfully (gamakas are also an India treasure!).