The annual Republic Day parade is the perfect stage for the Indian state to display its power and glory. But this beautiful classical guitar rendition of the National Anthem by Goan amateur musician Nigel Britto is a plea for a gentler, more sensitive country.
Britto's motivations are also aesthetic. "In Goa, we are forced to listen to a really annoying version of the National Anthem before every movie," he said. "I wanted to show that there are many ways to play it."
The young musician said that 'Jana Gana Mana' is only one of several national anthems he performs. Because he's a football fan, he often hears the national tunes of other countries being sung during the telecasts of international matches. But unlike the anthems of England, France or Portugal, which "were meant to inspire troops into battle", Jana Gana Mana is much quieter, he said.
There's another thing that sets the Indian anthem apart. Because the lyrics are in Sanskritised Bengali, "it's probably the only anthem that 90 per cent of the people who sing it don't know what it means". Said Britto, "I think an instrumental anthem makes more sense in a country as linguistically diverse as India."
