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Seven Crore Throats and One "I Bow" — How Vande Mātaram counts its singers, arms them, and never says "we bow"
Vande Mātaram has no word for "we". At its loudest moment, counting seven crore throats, its verb is still "I bow". The many are added, never merged. But the same stanza puts a sword in every hand, and only the singer can lay it down.
Oct 1624 min read
The Ten Gifts in Vande Mātaram — What the two stanzas every Indian knows praise, and what they ask of the person who sings them
The two stanzas of Vande Mātaram every Indian knows are one sentence with ten gifts in it. Water, fruit, a wind from Kerala's hills, crops, moonlight, flowers, a smile, a kind voice, joy, a giving hand. Not one weapon. Not one god.
Oct 1615 min read
Vande Mātaram in Plain English — The whole song, line by line, and the two words it begins with
Most Indians know two stanzas of Vande Mātaram and four of its words. Read the whole song and it surprises both sides. It never names India, never says "we bow", and in its novel was first sung to a man walking through a famine.
Oct 1617 min read
The Philosophy of Everything: On the Pursuit of Happiness — Conclusion
← Previous: Chapter 16: A Meaningful Life · Series hub
Oct 1612 min read
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