Thursday, September 07, 2006
Vande or not to Vande, that is the question
Recently, I felt an ephemeral twang of nationalistic pride when someone filed a writ petition in some state high court asking that Vande Mataram should be sung every day at all government-run and government-funded educational institutions. I say ephemeral because it was short-lived. As I started thinking about this petition, I found it a bit too far-fetched. Moreover, it feels wrong to compel someone to sing a song that they don't want to sing. Even if they do sing it, if it's not going to swell their chest with pride, what use is singing it anyway? It would be like making a monkey hit a green button precisely three times. What does the green button do? Nothing with a capital n. What would they think of next? Should everyone have a peacock in their home? Should everyone play field hockey, have a Bengal Tiger as a pet, a Banyan tree in their backyard, and sport a Lotus on their head to be termed a patriot? I think not.
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23 comments:
this is the most fucked up thing I ever read
This is the most fucked up thing I ever read
Very valid points Mike...agree with you on that. Now that u've said it....abt having a Bengal Tiger as pet....well the pet wud've run away from Kateem's house...as Lions and Tigers cannot stand the screeches of a baboon :-)
You are right Mike... Monkeys should not be forced to press the green button if they don't feel like it or they have no clue about whats going on. However, the least I would expect is to show respect when it's being sung.
Wow! Till now, all the comments are in agreement of my views! I was expecting this to be a big debate! VCD!!! DO SOMETHING!
sorry to disappoint you mike, there is no debate. I totally and completely agree with you on this. Unlike Gandhism where we have seperate opinions, maybe you can brew a debate if you write something abt that. ;)
Baba is somebody who might refute ur arguement...BUT....
Baba (now re-christened 'Don' Baba) is too busy now....Usko pakadna mushkil hi nahin namumkin hai.
You are right, only if you want to sing, should you sing the song. But thats because, you have a choice.You know the song, its meaning or what it stands for.
How about kids, who do not know about the song at all, because their educational insitute decided not to sing the song. In my years of schooling, I did not see any text book which had an explanation of the song or the song itself. We had the national anthem but never the national song. But, we used to sing the song. Our principal explained the meaning of the song to us. However, if our principal did not want to sing the song, where would we be getting information about it.
I think educational institutes should sing the song, or the textbooks should have the meanings. Only when we have the knowledge, we will be able to decide whether we want to sing the song or not.
If its not made compulsory, it would depend on either the parents to educate or the textbooks to explain or on whether a particular person would likes to sing the song or not.
No matter how much I loathe your stinking, "my views are better than most" attitude, I got to unconditionally agree with you on this one. No debates on your blog and I doubt there will be any raised on this comment too.
There we are.We have a vacillating , neither here nor there comment from KK.. Quintessential. Third para contradicting the first to the extent of not driving any point..yet again ! Mike you have your debate or maybe not :-))
For clarity,
As an individual, I think its my right to decide whether I want to sing the song or not. I should not be forced to do it.
As an educational institute, they should be singing / explaining the song to the students for them to decide as an individual whether they would choose to sing the song.
What if you are an individual within an educational institute. Should you still sing or just keep quiet when others do?
Depends on how old you are to decide that.
I would say until grade 10 you cannot decide that. After that I feel, the educational institute has done its job of giving you the knowledge, its upto you to decide that after that.
Mike wins. We have a argument over something that everyone ... lets say almost everyone agreed upon. :)
KK - you are correct or as vcd would say " barabar hai"(since he hasnt spoken yet)
(ofcourse, I am being sarcastic)
Aup, you're entitled to your opinion about my opinions (tongue in cheek).
KK, not everything you learn has to come from your educational institution. Moreover, there's a deeper malaise in our society here, where people are thinking that they shouldn't sing the national song. My point was, just making some song mandatory is not going to perpetuate nationalism or patriotism; that has to come from within, not from without. As far as your point of 10th grade being the cutoff, don't you think it's an arbitrary threshold that you have just conjured up?
Question -
Prove that:- Marw = vcd's cheap-ass version of Tyler Durden.
Answer-
Data:-
1. Mike - VCD!!! DO SOMETHING!
Known:-
1.Comment#6
2.Comment#14.
Proof:-
1. In reply to Mike's statement (from data1) Marw replies instead of vcd (from known1): "sorry to disappoint you mike, there is no debate."
2. From known2: KK - you are correct or as vcd would say " barabar hai"(since he hasnt spoken yet)
3. From 1 and 2... LHS = RHS.
vcd (just tongue in ur cheek....slurrpp)
True, grade 10 is a threshold I have conjured with (but my first line in that comment is the criteria of selecting threshold). I feel that is when you are old enough to decide for yourself and have personal convictions to decide what you want to do as an individual. However, thresholds can be different, just that you should have maturity to think for yourself and have knowledge of all pros and cons to decide for yourself, what you want to do. After that point, its not logical to force someone render something which they do not believe in. It could be even lesser, if one deems so.
I agree with you Mike on the point that making something mandatory in educational institute is not going to perpetuate patriotism. But, the argument I am trying to make here is different. The petition is to make it mandatory in educational institutes. Educational Insititutes also contain kids. Kids who havent been touched by anything. They are clean and they need to be given knowledge. But having SGPC or the All India Muslim board say that it should be banned from singing, because they feel it offends their religion is ridiculous. It is part of our national heritage, which the young students have a right to know. It is for me as a student to learn both our religion and our heritage and decide whether I should sing it or not. There was no petition earlier this because, schools sang it on their own. But when politics is involved with education, we need such petitions for kids to atleast know their heritage and then they can decide what they want to do with it.
There is a difference between kids and people. The petition (I feel) is aimed to educate kids of a heritage not washed down by politics of people and religious boards.
I know I am the only one arguing about something which you all agree. But, I trying to put forth a point about the petition itself. I am not sure whether I have conveyed it correctly or not.
actually no comments from me so far because I hadn’t read the blog until now ... anyways I agree with the blog and the point its trying to make ... I have always maintained that nothing should be done unless it really comes from the heart ... because if its forced upon u let aside respect, contempt is the only emotion that will be brewed. On a similar note, what do you think about having the national anthem played in a theater before a movie begins (don’t know if its still in place, it was ~3 years back when I last saw a movie in India) ...
hi buddy,
i think you are right...
we can not occupy anything by force...
we have to create patriotism not fear of it...
VCD: The National Anthem is still played before all movies run. There is a fabulous rendition of it. Very nice!!
Balls: I'm fine with them running away. I just dont wanna be tied to a pole and eaten (i hope yu were referring to GATD). Lekin mere Mini-Me ki cheekhein toh mere chekhoon seh bhi badi hain.
KK: Brilliant comment(s). Only you can bull shit about bull shit (that you have made up) so consistently. But well tried.
Aup: Whats up with the Don stuff man?
Ruud: Kahan hain tu!!!! Spanish classes taking up your time or what!!!!
Mike: Absolutely fabulous attempt at creating controversy.
My Opinion: I agree wholeheartedly with the blog.
Srikant,
Thanks for your "support" :P However, I wasn't trying to generate controversy. My next blog probably will, though.
Sorry man, I assumed that you were.
Waiting for your next article, Mike. This one would have been a controversial one if Freaks had been a bunch of mindless jingoists. There was a valid conclusion to the rhetorical question in your post itself so there wasn't too much left to argue via comments.
But I sure hope the upcoming one sows the seeds for a (nasty) debate!
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