Yesterday after dinner my friend and I, were strolling in the college campus. We discussed about different things that ranged from placements to the current Group Discussion Topics. In course of our discussion the topic drifted towards something that was rather controversial.
“The Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore sang a song composed by him specially to welcome the Emperor.” (Statesman, Dec. 28, 1911)
He showed me the reports as published in British Newspaper in 1911 and said:
“The national anthem that we sing now was written to eulogize King George the Fifth of England. How can Rabindranath Tagore do so? It shows the slave mentality of the so called elite Indians.”
To this my reply to him was:
“What you are saying I will come to that later but first answer me what does the fair skin obsession of the Indians denote? You don’t believe what Rabindranath Tagore had written in his letter to Mr. Pulin BihariSen, rather you believe what has been published in the daily newspaper of England in 1911”.
And I showed him the letter of 19 March 1939 as it was there in Wikipedia:
A certain high official in His Majesty’s service, who was also my friend, had requested that I write a song of felicitation towards the Emperor. The request simply amazed me. It caused a great stir in my heart. In response to that great mental turmoil, I pronounced the victory in Jana GanaMana of that BhagyaVidhata [ed. God of Destiny] of India who has from age after age held steadfast the reins of India’s chariot through rise and fall, through the straight path and the curved. That Lord of Destiny, that Reader of the Collective Mind of India, that Perennial Guide, could never be George V, George VI, or any other George. Even my official friend understood this about the song. After all, even if his admiration for the crown was excessive, he was not lacking in simple common sense.I should only insult myself if I cared to answer those who consider me capable of such unbounded stupidity as to sing in praise of George the Fourth or George the Fifth as the Eternal Charioteer leading the pilgrims on their journey through countless ages of the timeless history of mankind.” (Purvasa, Phalgun, 1354, p738.)
On seeing the argument turning a little aggressive, my friend resorted to a tactic that he always use to pacify me, and offered me a cigarette.
“Regular or Menthol?”
I picked up a regular, lit it up and then he continued:
“But how would you justify the word ‘Adhinayaka’ that is there in our anthem? Who is the Adhinayaka or Hero of the hearts of the Jana Gana (public), and you cannot deny this fact either, that the song was sung in December 1911, on the second day of Calcutta Conference of the Indian National Congress, which was organized to welcome King George the Fifth.”
I finished the cigarette quickly and said,
“True! The facts that you have provided are undeniable.”
I saw a sense of exaltation on his face, which disappeared in a jiffy when I continued by saying this:
“Congress started Home Rule Movement in 1916,under which they wanted Dominion Status, under the Queen’s Jack as was exercised by Australia, Canada and New Zealand until the PoornaSwaraj Movement started in 1930.
So under that circumstance in 1911 it is obvious that the moderate leaders of Congress had organized a conference to welcome King George. Why do you have to personify the song, and conclude that Adhinayaka refers to a person? Jana Gana Mana Adhinayakacan also be comprehended from another perspective which means refers the souls of the Jana Gana (commoners).
Let me also inform you that Rabindranath Tagore was a true patriot which can be substantiated from the following sets of events and circumstances.”
- Rabindranath Tagore renounced the knighthood in 1919 after the JallianwalaBaug massacre.
- He composed patriotic verses in Bangla like AamarDesherMati(Soil of my Motherland) and EklaChalo Rey that instilled courage and patriotism in the hearts of our freedom fighters.
- In his literary collection of Gitanjali, published in 1910 the following lines from the poem, ‘Where the Mind is without fear and head is held high’, proves his utmost devotion towards India and how much he wanted to see the upliftment of his fellow Indians.
“My father, strike the sleeping India without mercy, so that she may awaken into such a heaven”
There are many more and the list will continue if I start counting his contribution to India. Do you still think a person with such immense love and devotion for his motherland be called a stooge by his own people? This is the mentality of people with low self-esteem who believes whatever is published in the English Newspapers back in 1911 is true and the claims of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore as he stated in his letters as false.
With this justification, I could see a sense of satisfaction in my friend’s face and he was convinced with what I said.
I write this to enlighten the minds of the readers to stop believing hoax claims and start using their brains before they reach to a conclusion. Don’t let the others hurt our self-esteem by destroying our strong cultural background with claims like this. Always keep your head held high and mind without fear.
