#605 - The Story of India’s National Anthem

by Kavitha Mandana and illustrated by Dhwani Ved

“The Story of India’s National Anthem” by Kavitha Mandana and illustrated by Dhwani Ved. Published by Talking Cub, the children’s imprint of Speaking Tiger. A fascinating book chronicling the lesser known facts about how India’s national anthem evolved.

Singing our national anthem instils a sense of pride in us about our country. A nation’s participation in important events is usually accompanied by a rendition of its national anthem. Children sing it in schools every day. No flag hoisting event is complete without the national anthem being played. How did India get its national anthem? What is the story behind the immortal words “Jana Gana Mana”? Written by Rabindranath Tagore in Bengali originally as “Bharata Bhagya Bidhata”, it later got translated into Hindi. Tagore did not live to see the first five stanzas of his song being adopted as the national anthem of independent India in 1950. When Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was looking for an anthem for the soldiers of the Indian National Army (INA), he chose a Hindustani translation of “Jana Gana Mana” called “Shubh Sukh Chain” at the advice of Captain Lakshmi Sehgal.

Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s best selling novel “Anandamath” had the song “Vande Mataram” in it which became so popular that it was banned by the British. Music and protest songs did have a key role in our freedom movement. Songs such as “Sare Jahan Se Achcha” and “Jhanda Uncha Rahe Hamara” were sung with patriotic fervour by the braveheart freedom fighters. There was an underground radio network playing speeches and protest songs run by the young freedom fighters that kept the independence struggle alive when senior leaders were arrested. Read the book to find out more about these chapters from the Indian freedom movement and know unusual stories about national anthems of other countries as well.

My eleven year old son and I found the book very interesting and engaging. While we knew some parts of the stories, the book provided us with the overall picture. We realised while reading the book that this week was the birth anniversary of Tagore which is observed as Rabindra Jayanti. What a coincidence that we chose to read it during this time! Complemented with pictures and photographs, the illustrations helped us learn about how our anthem came into being. From anthems being composed in prison to running a competition to choose an anthem and an anthem being updated a couple of years ago to be inclusive, we got to know it all thanks to this book. Having read the books on the stories of India’s national flag and emblem by the author recently, this was a good addition to the series to know about another national symbol.

Recommended Age

The book is apt for children aged 10 and above.

Where to buy from?

The publishers Talking Cub here.

Disclaimer - We received this book from the publisher, Talking Cub, for review. Thank you to the folks at Talking Cub, for sending across the book!