Let's switch topics: from gender identity to cultural identity. How many national anthems does the average person know? This is a question I'm honestly curious about. I know that here in Canada, a lot people know two... ours and America's. When I was in grade 6, I was in the choir and we were applying to sing the national anthem at a Blue Jays game. I think Toronto was playing Boston, so we had to learn the American national anthem for our demo tape. And the eventual performance, of course. And the writers of The Simpsons were right: the US national anthem is quite the battle-cry compared to our anthem. But I digress...
I can sing two national anthems with confidence. But as a small kid I often wondered if I should have learned the Indian national anthem as well. I can still remember when we as a family would attend these cultural functions with the singing and plays and music, and before each event started everyone would sing Jana Gana Mana. Well, all the adults would sing, at least. Us second generation kids, most of us no more than eight or nine years old, would look around sheepishly and try to blend in with our surroundings.
But I can hum the Indian national anthem! Does that count for anything? There are only three parts I know the words to: the beginning ("Jana Gana Mana", obviously), the part somewhere in the middle about the Yamuna and Ganga, and the "Jaya Hai" part at the end. Somewhere in the back of mind I can remember my dad telling me that there was no need for any of us kids to learn the Indian national anthem, because we lived in Canada.
As a parting thought, I do believe my favourite national anthem is the Bangladeshi anthem. It's beautiful and lyrical and picturesque. Then again, it was written by Rabindranath Tagore (the famed Indian poet), so it's no surprise that it sounds so poetic. Also, China most definately beats America out in the "battle-cry anthem" category.
2 comments:
I learned the indian national anthem at Bal Vikas...I am Canadian, but I am Indian too. Itt still makes me proud when I hear it. The Indian national anthem is a special case though, because India has a very strong cultural identity, probably because of the way it finally became a free nation. I would even argue India has a stronger sense of national identity than Canada. The Canadian national identity seems to stem from being 'different from the States." India's identity, by contrast, stems from being India.
I identify as Canadian and Indian too, maybe more Canadian than Indian though. I now feel that I remember and practice my heritage and cultural ties to a good degree despite not knowing the national anthem. I wish I could speak Kannada better, but that's about it.
Interesting fact: "Only a handful of non-European countries have anthems rooted in indigenous traditions" which includes Japan, Costa Rica, and Sri Lanka.
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