HVK Archives: Arafat, Mandela, Gorbachev, others chant ande_Mataram
Arafat, Mandela, Gorbachev, others chant ande_Mataram - The Observer
Alokparna Das
()
May 23, 1998
Title: Arafat, Mandela, Gorbachev, others chant ande Mataram
Author: Alokparna Das
Publication: The Observer
Date: May 23, 1998
To see an emotionally charge Palestinian supremo Yasser Arafat
hailing Mother India with Vande Mataram is touching indeed. And
he is not alone in doing so, there am nine other Nobel laureates
- from across the globe, belonging to various religions - who
join him in chanting this hymn.
Can you imagine Nelson Mandela, Mikhail Gorbachev, Desmond Tutu,
Lech Walesa, Shimon Peres, F W de Clarke and the Dalai Lam say
Vande Mataram?
Well, all these leaders am pledging for world peace through the
slogan of Vande Mataram in one-minute spots produced by
Bharatbala Productions.
It was the mules mantra for those who fought against colonialism
and slavery. Today, shunned by pseudo-secularists and
resurrected by the rest, Vande Mataram is not only a
nationalistic slogan, but also a global motto.
So we have 10 giants of our times chanting this mantra with
varied accents, yet with the same fervour and passion.
Literally meaning other I bow to thee, Vande Mataram - our
national song - represents a sentiment that can be shared by all,
not only by the Indians but by people all over the world.
Thus, we have not just Kapil Dev, Kiran Bedi, Bhimsen Joshi and
Bhabesh Sanyal, but also several world leaders who bow to this
mantra. or Mother is just Motherland: it is also Mother Earth,
says Bharatbala Productions director G Bharat Bala.
Mr Bala is the man behind the one-minute spots, some of which the
Doordarshan had aired last year. Featuring both freedom fighters
and the idols of today, these spots had Vande Mataram as the
slogan for the nation celebrating its 50th years of independence.
The golden jubilee of independence provided a perfect setting to
recreate the nationalistic fervour and resurrect the slogan of
Vande Mataram for nation-building.
Composed in the 19th-century by father figure of Bangla novel
Bankimchandra Chatterjee, and partly set to tune by Nobel
laureate Rabindranath Tagore, Vande Mataram was the war-cry of
the oppressed Indians against the British rule.
In fact, when the song first appeared in print - precisely six
years before it was incorporated in Bankim's pathbreaking novel
Anandamath - Vande Mataram represented the urge of the subjugated
Indians to retrace their cultural identity in all its glory.
Today, though it is reduced to a mere signet tune of the
Akashvani, Vande Mataram evokes the same feeling of national
pride amongst us Indians, as it did during the freedom struggle.
Politicians, artists, musicians, cine stars, sportsmen, all
featured in the first series of one-minutes spots. They shared
with the telly viewers their moments of pride of being an Indian
and at the end of the each of these messages, they gave the
mantra of Vande Mataram to the masses.
Packaged effectively with A R Rahman's music, Thota Tharani's
theme visual and shot at picturesque locales all over the
country, Vande Mataram was an instant hit, though critics viewed
Rahman's music as a distortion of the original composition.
However, this year when Bharatiya Productions is ready with a
fresh series featuring as many as 10 Nobel laureates across the
globe, who have associated with Vande Mataram a the slogan for
world peace and prosperity, Doordarshan has refused to spared
that precious one-minute during prime time for airing this
slogan.
What a pity, the television viewers are missing an opportunity to
hear Lech Walesa, Nelson Mandela, Shimon Peres, F W de Clarke and
other such dignitaries say Vande Mataram. Each of these leaders,
claims Mr Bala, was approached by the company on its own, without
the Government's help.
Only two of these spots featuring the Dalai Lama and President
Yasser Arafat have been aired on the national network. A tri-
colour representation conceived by Tharani has been signed by
these world leaders as a sign of their commitment to world peace
and ahimsa.
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