Vande Mataram...1 day 'late' Mataram.....

vande maataram, vande maataram
sujalam suphalam malayaja sheetalam
shasyashyamalam maataram, vande mataram

shubhra jyotsna pulakitayaaminim
phulla kusumita drumadalashobhinim
suhaasinim sumadhurabhaashhinim
sukhadaam varadaam maataram

sapta koti kantha kalakalaninaada
karalenisapta koti bhujaidhruta
karakarvaleabalakeno maa eto bale
bahubaladhaarinim namaami tarinim
ripudalavarinim maataram, vande maataram
tvam hi durga dashapraharanadhaarini kamala kamaladala vihaarini
vaani vidyaadaayini, namaami tvam namaami kamalam amalam atulam
sujalam suphalam maataram
shyamalam saralam susmitam bhooshhitam
dharinim bharanim maataram, vande maataram

I posted this not because some of our politicians forced us to sing the song yesterday. I posted this because some fundamentalists asked some of our indian brothers and sisters not to sing this song. But y did i do this one day late? Because I wanted to defy the orders of the Hindu fundamentalists who were hell bent on forcing us to sing this song. I pity those poor unlearned souls, who think that this song is against the laws of a particular religion. How can the national song of a secular country be like that? Our great leaders, foreseeing communal problems in the future, left out the lines referring to goddess durga , when they made this our national song. And we were left with 8 lines of pure magic and melody, praising our beloved motherland. And the fundamentalists, whose minds are narrower than the narrowest drainages in our country, finds a problem with that too. They object to the word 'vande', which means to bow or salute. But they think that this means to worship. According to their bloody laws from stoneage, they can't worship anyone other than their god, not even their own motherland. Shame on them.

Religion is a thing which is stamped on you by the soceity u live in. But U were first born as an Indian, then only u were classified into a religion. Do these guys know that the devotional songs sung by Yesudas are played at temples all over? Have these guys ever heard of the umpteen hindu devotional songs that the great Mohammed Rafi sang? Or what about music maestro A.R.Rahman? He poured his soul into a full musical album dedicated to our national song. Are these blessed souls any less religious than these so called leaders of the community? As far as i know, these personalities are pious and god fearing to the core. But they got a mind clear enough to think that singing a particular song would never mean disrespect to their own religion. Will God ever frame such outdated laws for his believers? Will a true God become angry with his believers for respecting their country? For Him, believers and non believers are alike. For Him, we are all just human beings, whether we believe in Rama, Allah, Budha or Jesus, because these are all just various forms of the one and only God. So by singing a hymn of lord krishna, you are also praising Jesus. By singing 'nuur-e- mohammad sallallah, haq laa ilaahaa illallaah'(Light of Mohammad, may peace be upon him, There is no other god except Allaah), you are also praying to Lord Shiva. Its when one forgets this oneness of God that one turns a religious fanatic.

And to the guys from the other side, the political fundamentalists, who were playing to the gallery by forcing everybody to sing the song, shame on you too. Anything forced on someone will never produce the desired result. Its the same with patriotism. It has to come from within your heart. Its another matter that these politicians never truly intended to instill some patriotism in all Indians. They just played petty vote bank politics as usual. They wanted to amass all the hindu votes by showing how non patriotic certain sections of the muslims are. These two extremes of people, the politicians and the religious leaders, could have led our country to some very serious communal riots. But thankfully their designs failed miserably, as most of the proud Indians, irrespective of religion sang this song, without being forced. Thus they proved that the country is above any religion or caste or language. Afterall, we r all INDIANS.... proud 2 be an INDIAN

Here is the English translation of VANDE MATARAM......
Mother, I bow to thee!

Rich with thy hurrying streams,

bright with orchard gleams,

Cool with thy winds of delight,

Dark fields waving

Mother of might,Mother free.

Glory of moonlight dreams,

Over thy branches and lordly streams,

Clad in thy blossoming trees,

Mother, giver of ease

Laughing low and sweet!

Mother I kiss thy feet,

Speaker sweet and low!

Mother, to thee I bow.

Who hath said thou art weak in thy lands

When the sword flesh out in the seventy million hands

And seventy million voices roar

Thy dreadful name from shore to shore?

With many strengths who art mighty and stored,

To thee I call Mother and Lord!

Though who savest, arise and save!

To her I cry who ever her foeman drove

Back from plain and Sea

And shook herself free.

Thou art wisdom, thou art law,

Thou art heart, our soul, our breath

Though art love divine, the awe

In our hearts that conquers death.

Thine the strength that nervs the arm,

Thine the beauty, thine the charm.

Every image made divine

In our temples is but thine.

Thou art Durga, Lady and Queen,

With her hands that strike and herswords of sheen,

Thou art Lakshmi lotus-throned,

And the Muse a hundred-toned,

Pure and perfect without peer,

Mother lend thine ear,

Rich with thy hurrying streams,

Bright with thy orchard gleems,

Dark of hue O candid-fair

In thy soul, with jewelled hair

And thy glorious smile divine,

Lovilest of all earthly lands,

Showering wealth from well-stored hands!

Mother, mother mine!

Mother sweet, I bow to thee,

Mother great and free!

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Because i got a very poor voice, I played vande mataram on my guitar... that is my way of paying tribute to our
motherland...
VANDE MATARAMMM....Maa tuhe salaam....

with love,your crusader Praveen