This happens to be my 100th column in this newspaper. By happenstance or deeper design, it coincides with the week containing India’s Independence Day. In this space, week after week, I have tried to speak for India and for the larger humanity of which we are an integral part. It is for the readers to judge the worth of my efforts. This year is special. It marks the 60th anniversary of that immortal day in 1947. More than four-fifths of India’s population was not even born then. Nevertheless, for old and young alike, August 15 is a day that unites us with a common emotion called patriotism. Sixty years from now, no Indian born before India’s independence will be alive. Even then, August 15 will remain special and sacred in our national life, and the same emotion of unity will well up in the minds and hearts of all Indians. What is India and what is it to be an Indian? For argumentative Indians, it is a subject of endless debate. For ordinary people, however, the debate ends and all arguments are suspended when they are in the presence of three inspiring, uniting and revered symbols of nationalism: the national flag, the national anthem, and the national song. Why should this happen and why a certain kind of symbolism subsumes all the substance of a complex entity like the nation is itself a profound matter of study, worthy of being examined by the best students of history, sociology and group psychology. There is something in the colours of our flag — indeed, in the totality of its appearance as it flutters freely in the wind — and something too in the words and tunes of ‘Jana Gana Mana’ and ‘Vande Mataram’ that tells us that we are more than our individual selves, and that we are all a part of this great nation called Bharat, which is at once ancient and modern. All our other sectional identities have their place, but we also have a larger and common identity that unites our diversities and reminds us that we are one indivisible national family. An immediate catalyst for penning these reflections is that I have just received from my good friend Bharatbala a priceless gift: a DVD titled ‘Jana Gana Mana’. It is a collection of 25 music videos on our national anthem, rendered both individually and collectively by some of the greatest names in Indian music — Lata Mangeshkar, Bhimsen Joshi, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Amjad Ali Khan and his two highly gifted sons Amaan Ali and Ayaan Ali, Shiv Kumar Sharma and his prodigious son Rahul Sharma, Bhupen Hazarika, Pandit Jasraj, Jagjit Singh, D.K. Pattammal, Ghulam Mustafa Khan and many others. TV viewers are already familiar with the melodious rendition of ‘Jana Gana Mana’ by a group of these musicians, brought together by Bharatbala and his wife Kanika Myer, working in collaboration with that powerhouse of youthful creativity named A.R. Rahman. Now, for the first time, the trio is presenting individual renditions of the national anthem by these maestros. Starting August 15, these music videos will be telecast for over a week on all channels. Each one of them is a treat to the eyes, ears and that deeper source in us where the emotion of patriotism originates. The music video is a unique tool of artistic self-expression whose usefulness for patriotic communication and public service broadcasting has not been adequately realised yet in India. Many years ago, ‘Mile Sur Mera Tumhara’ appeared on Doordarshan. ‘If you and I sing the same tune, then the tune becomes ours, making it indistinguishable,’ the song said, in different Indian languages. It was so creatively made that the appeal of its message of national integration remains undiminished even today. But, for a long time, it was the lone star in its genre even though the TV space was getting crowded with all kinds of trashy music videos. Then came, like a breath of fresh air, ‘Maa Tujhe Salaam’ by the same trio of Bharatbala, Kanika and Rahman in the late 1990s. To them goes the credit for popularising ‘Vande Mataram’ among the younger generation of Indians. Not only was the national song presented in a contemporary manner but it was also picturised with stunning visuals of the flag and the faces of ordinary people. It became an instant hit. Bharatbala and Kanika followed it up with another enchanting music video called ‘School Chale Hum’, which celebrated the simple joy of children rushing to school every morning all over the country. The song became immensely popular. It also served as a useful tool in spreading the message of the ‘Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan’, a revolutionary scheme to universalise primary education in India. Now the same team is going to enliven our TV screens with ‘Jana Gana Mana’. Our national anthem is intrinsically musical, composed as it is by Rabindranath Tagore. But when you watch it rendered — vocally or instrumentally — by the many giants of Indian music, you cannot but feel mesmerised by the richness of India’s artistic heritage. And feel proud too, of being an Indian. And wish that our TV channels and the rest of the mass media did more, much more, to infuse patriotism and public-spiritedness in all their communication. And here is a suggestion: Bharatbala, why don’t you make a befitting music video on 1857?
