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Was “Jana Gana Mana” written for King or Country?
I belong to a Yahoo Group for East African Indians and recently there was a fascinating communication alleging that the Indian national anthem – “Jana Gana Mana…” (JGM) was written by Rabindranath Tagore in honor of George V and Queen Mary during their visit to India in 1919. I was surprised by this suggestion since I had never heard it before. So I decided to resort to Google but it did not help matters since the very communication that was passed through the Yahoo Group was quoted verbatim on several websites and this sort of consistency usually suggests some sort of chain letter/email that gets circulated. Essentially the allegation goes…
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Christianity in America
One of the striking aspects about religion in the US is the number of churches, denominations and the high level of church attendance among the American populace. At a time when church attendance in the UK and parts of Europe is declining, it continues to remain relatively high in the US. About 40% of Americans attend church regularly and only 15% say that they never attend church at all – the remainder are less frequent attendees. There was a Gallup poll conducted that identified the reason/reasons why Americans attend church and makes for interesting reading: For spiritual growth and guidance 23% Keeps me grounded/inspired 20% It’s my faith 15% To…
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“Birthers”, racism and the “dumbing down” of America
There is a controversy in the US about where Barack Obama was born ie was he born in the US or in Kenya. If it were the latter, under the constitution, Obama would be precluded from the presidency. Obama has provided a birth certificate establishing his birth place as being Hawaii but it has not satisfied his detractors. The term used to denote the people who are challenging Obama’s legitimacy as president, because he was allegedly born outside the US, is “birthers”. There is also a group among the “birthers” who claim that even if Obama was born in the US he is not eligible to be president under the…
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Calling a spade a spade
I received several emails about my last post on China so I thought I’d post again about our trip on a more light-hearted note. The two most challenging aspects of our stay in China were language issues and food. Communication in English is severely limited though we did find that the younger generation were a little more proficient than others. People were invariably very friendly and anxious to help but limited in their ability to do so because even rudimentary English is not spoken. The other, occasionally frustrating aspect, was our lack of familiarity with the food. Chinese food in China does not bear the faintest resemblance to Chinese food…
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“I want my country back”
“I want my country back” is the sometimes plaintive, occasionally frustrated and frequently angry cry of a fringe section of the Republican party. I never fully understood what these people meant until I read a couple of Patrick Buchanan’s columns Pat Buchanan has decidedly right wing views but he is one a handful of conservative columnists I enjoying reading. Although Buchanan is very conservative on many issues he sometimes blazes his own path eg he was outspoken in his opposition to the war in Iraq which he felt was a war being waged by the neo-cons for their own reasons. He is also critical of Israel’s expansionist policies in Palestine…
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“Let China sleep for when she wakes the world will shake”
So said Napoleon Bonaparte presciently two hundred years ago. I am not sure if Napoleon was focused purely on the military aspects or whether he saw China’s potential in broader terms. Napoleon’s admonition came to mind during a recent visit we made to China. We spent close to four weeks there and were truly STUNNED by the progress the country has made. The world saw what China achieved in terms of the Olympics in 2008 and in a sense that event is a microcosm of what they have achieved in other respects. Despite all the new construction, the Chinese have made a concerted attempt to enhance and preserve their numerous…