Vande Mataram....

वन्दे मातरम्
सुजलां सुफलां मलयजशीतलाम्
शस्य श्यामलां मातरंम् ॥ वन्दे...

शुभ्र ज्योत्सनाम् पुलकित यामिनीम्
फुल्ल कुसुमित द्रुमदलशोभिनीम्,
सुहासिनीं सुमधुर भाषिणीम् .
सुखदां वरदां मातरम् ॥ वन्दे...

This song, since my childhood has been the "Beloved". On occation of independence day y'day, heard this again from all over Bangalore, from schools, communities and every TV channel chanting this ...

Please join me saluting the spirit of this song, realize it's connection to the heart of every Indian anywhere in the world...

Vande Mataram (in Bangla: বন্দে মাতরম Bônde Matorom) is the national song of India. The song was composed by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in a highly Sanskritized form of the Bengali language. The song first appeared in his book Anandamatha, published in 1882 amid fears of a ban by British Raj, though the song itself was actually written six years prior in 1876. "Vande Mataram" was the national cry for freedom from British oppression during the freedom movement. Large rallies, fermenting initially in West Bengal, in the major metropolis of Calcutta (Kolkata), would work themselves up into a patriotic fever by shouting the slogan "Vande Mataram," or "Hail to the Mother(land)!". The British, fearful of the potential danger of an incited Indian populace, at one point banned the utterance of the motto in public forums and jailed many freedom fighters for disobeying the proscription. To this day, "Vande Mataram" is seen as a national mantra describing the love of patriots for the country of India. Rabindranath Tagore sang 'Vande Mataram' in 1896 at the Calcutta (Kolkata) Congress Session. Poet Sarala Devi Chaudurani sang 'Vande Mataram' in the Benares Congress Session in 1905. Lala Lajpat Rai started a journal called Vande Mataram from Lahore. More >>