....the force of the nation
With the "I will sing - I won't sing," controversy going around the National Song, Vande Mataram, I go back to the days when I was chanting the two words as a Mantra. Today,
September 7, they say is the centenary of the song and my way of celebrating it was by singing it all to myself at home and revelling in its lilting music and devotion. This was by the way, my first song on the microphone, when I sang it together with my friend Kavitha Thampi in the sports ground of my school C.S.I. Ewart Matriculation Higher Secondary School, in class VIII. The reverberations of the song on that day, nearly three decades ago, still ring in my ears.
I found a book by Sri Aurobindo on Bankim-Tilak-Dayananda in my collection. There I found a translation of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee's Bande Mataram, original Bengali.
Besides the words that are commonly known to the public, the poem is in praise of Mother India, signified as the powerful voice of millions, the strength and wisdom.
Sapta Koti Kanta Kalakala Ninada Karale
Dwisaptakoti Bhujairdhrutha Kharakaravale
Abala Kena Ma Eta Bale!
Bahubala Dharinim Namami Tarinim
Ripudala Varinim Mataram
Tumi Vidya Tumi Dharma
Tumi Hridi Tumi Marma
Twam Hi Pranah Sharira
Bahute Tumi Ma Shakti
Hrudaya Tumi Ma Bhakti
Tomarayi Pratima Gadi Mandire Mandire
Twam Hi Durga Dashapraharana Dharini
Kamala Kamala Dala Viharini
Vani Vidyadayini Namami Twam
Namami Kamalam Amalam Atulam
Sujalam Suphalam Mataram,
Vande Mataram
Shyamalam Saralam Susmitam Bhushitham
Dharanim Bharanim Mataram!
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I offer my salute to the song that moved millions.
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