Vande Mataram in the clouds

Every year, I get terribly homesick come August 15th. Its malarum ninaivugal all the time. We had these grand independence day celebrations in the school quadrangle (and I was among the few that would faint regularly because we would stand in the hot sun waiting for the chief guest for over two hours). Finally, the chief guest would arrive, and after singing Janda ooncha, they would finally let us go into the auditorium for the cultural programs (including the mandatory bhangra and speech about national integration). Those were the days.....

I was in BE second year during India's 50th independence day. Even the biggest cynic could not have stayed immune to the all pervasive patriotic fervour that day. My friends and I wore salwars matching the tri-color, and everyone was singing A.R Rahman's Vande mataram (maa tujhe salam).

(image source: www.amazon.com)

I'm not a big Rahman fan, but he truly outdid himself with this song. The lyrics are fantastic -

Tere paas hi main aaraha hoon, apni baahen khol de,
Zor se mujhko gale lagale,mujko phir woh pyar de,
Tuhi zindagi hai, tuhi mere mohabbat hai, tere hi pair mein jannat hai,
tuhi dil, tu jaan, mamaa...

The background music is cleverly understated. Mainly dominated by percussion instruments and Rahman singing "maa", the song conveys the majesty of India and the profoundness of the phrase "Vande Maataram". The song picturization was innovative. The camera captured India's earthy tones and the colors of the flag beautifully. My favorite shot was that of a little baby girl (wearing a rajasthani outfit) and staring into the camera with her big beautiful eyes.

Seven years later, flying back to Chicago on friday morning after a lot of delays and cancelled flights (American airlines), I experienced one of those classic moments.. The sun was shining brilliantly through my window, the clouds were far below, and closing my eyes and listening to Maa tujhe salam on my mp3 player, I was transported...Who needs wings to fly, when music can make your soul soar?

PS: In the same album, check out the track titled "Revival". It is the original Vande Mataram sung by Anuradha Sriram. I do not have any words to describe this composition