Interesting observations about India's national anthem

Just sitting with a colleague at work, someone who enjoys thought provoking 'findings' as much as me! (maybe more actually). He's the man who's got all the dope on the 'supposd' real controversy behind the first man on moon, the attack on world trade center, etc, etc.

We were talking about Panzoni's Merda d'artista and suddenly, dunno from where the topic shifted to 'unknown facts' about India's national anthem and he told me about how it was orignally written in praise of some brit mafa. A little google search and look at what we found (this is not what i subscribe to, but i am not ruling out the possibility of some parts of it being true)

Jana-gana-mana-adhinayaka, jaya he Bharata-bhagya-vidhata
Punjab-Sindh-Gujarata-Maratha- Dravida-Utkala-Banga
Vindhya-Himachala-Yamuna-Ganga Uchchala-Jaladhi-taranga

Tava shubha name jage Tava shubha ashish maange
Gahe tava jaya-gatha

Jana-gana-mangala-dayaka jaya he
Bharata-bhagya-vidhata
Jaya he, jaya he, jaya he
Jaya jaya jaya, jaya he !

Some facts about "Jana Gana Mana" - Our National Anthem
Just a thought for the National Anthem! How well do you know it? I have always wondered who is the "adhinayak" and "bharat bhagyavidhata", whose praise we are singing. I thought might be Motherland -India! Our current National Anthem "Jana Gana Mana" is sung throughout the country. Did you know the following about our national anthem, I didn't.To begin with, India's national anthem, Jana Gana Mana Adhinayaka, was written by Rabindranath Tagore in honor of King George V and the Queenof England when they visited India in 1919. To honor their visit Pandit Motilal Nehru had the five stanzas included, which are inpraise of the King and Queen. (And most of us think it is in thepraise of our great motherland!!!)

In the original Bengali verses only those provinces that were under British rule, i.e. Punjab, Sindh, Gujarat, Maratha etc. were mentioned. None of the princely states were recognized which are integral parts of India now - Kashmir, Rajasthan, Andhra, Mysore & Kerala. Neither the Indian Ocean nor the Arabian Sea was included, since they were directly under Portuguese rule at that time. The Jana Gana Mana Adhinayaka implies that King George V is the lord of the masses and Bharata Bhagya Vidhata is "the bestower of goodfortune".

Following is a translation of the five stanzas that glorify the King:
First stanza: (Indian) People wake up remembering your good name andask for your blessings and they sing your glories. (Tava shubha naamejaage; tava shubha aashish maage, gaaye tava jaya gaatha)

Second stanza: Around your throne people of all religions come andgive their love and anxiously wait to hear your kind words.

Third stanza: Praise to the King for being the charioteer, for leadingthe ancient travel! ers beyond misery.

Fourth stanza: Drowned in the deep ignorance and suffering,poverty-stricken, unconscious country? Waiting for the wink of youreye and your mother's (the Queen's) true protection.Fifth stanza: In your compassionate plans, the sleeping Bharat (India)will wake up. We bow down to your feet O' Queen, and glory toRajeshwara (the King).

This whole poem does not indicate any love for the Motherland but depicts a bleak picture. When you sing Jana Gana Mana Adhinayaka, whom are you glorifying? Certainly not the Motherland. Is it God?

Talk about startin off a controversy? Considering the current political scenario i can almost see politicians latching on to something like this and blaming one or the other party for the same to earn browny points.

Susbcribing to RSS feeds

I subcribed to RSS of a few sites about a couple of months ago! This started with the most basic of my needs of staying informed of what was happening in India, so I subscribed to the feed at ibnlive and I have to say that I was bitterly disappointed with how badly it was managed eventually leading me to delet the feed and switching to ndtv 24x7.

With time i've really got used to this feature and find it extremely useful on a host of things that interest me. I strongly suggest you try this out!

FYI

• A news aggregator or RSS reader is a software application that collects and displays news headlines and summaries from sources that you have designated.
• An RSS feed is an XML document that contains the news headlines and summaries.

I've put together a simple procedure that should help in getting you started.

1. For starters, get yourself an RSS reader, there are tonnes of them available online for free. I havent checked out too many but i'm using something called 'feedreader 3.13' (www.feedreader.com) and install it on your PC

2. Locate the web address (url) of the RSS feed (XML file) that you wish to subscribe. Most sites that interest you would have the options of subscribing to their RSS feeds

3. Use the 'Add Feed' button to insert the url of the news feed

4. Many of the news readers will allow you to set the interval that the software will look for a feed update others simply update daily. Some, auto update the second there is an update on the site u've chosen.

5. Voila! Need more explanation? Buy 'Dummies'