From Freedom Song to India's Identity

Song of India—a lyrical ode to the National Anthem by Rudrangshu Mukherjee—chronicles the song's poetic origin, its political journey, and the enduring ideals it stands for. Excerpts:

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The pealing anthem swells the note of praise. This line from Thomas Gray's 'Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard' is an excellent definition of an anthem—it invariably is a song in praise. By extension, a national anthem of a nation state is a lyrical and stirring melody extolling the subject nation. Most national anthems have a halo of sacredness associated with the words and music. A national anthem is the identifying call of a nation state.

This last and important point was articulated by India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, when he told the Constituent Assembly (Legislative) on 25 August 1948: The question of having a National Anthem tune to be played by orchestra and bands became an urgent one for us immediately after August 15, 1947. It was as important from the point of view of our Defence Services and our foreign embassies and legations and other establishments. It was obviously not suitable for 'God Save the King' to be played by our army bands, or abroad, after the change-over to independence. We were constantly being asked as to what tune should be played on such occasions. We could not give an answer because the decision could only be made by the Constituent Assembly.

The 'Jana Gana Mana' tune, slightly varied, had been adopted as National Anthem by the Indian National Army in South-East Asia and had subsequently attained a degree of popularity in India also.

The matter came to a head on the occasion of the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1947 in New York.

Our delegation was asked for our National Anthem for the orchestra to play on a particular occasion.