www.BPODigest.com i-Vortal

Now this is what i call ignorance

They could very well have not sung it rather than do it all wrong. I regret it but i must state this is not a secluded instance. Most indian don't even know the difference between our national song and anthem. Yet i am not ashamed for being an indian because being indian goes beyond a piece of cloth or a a song.
Jay Hind.

Mr. Yadev, I am Kumkum Jain and I beg to differ from your opinions. First of all there is nothing wrong with "50 year old ladies" singing the National Anthem. Secondly - we did sing it correclty with 3 Jay Hey's. We cannot be responsible for your judgemental attitude.

If you do not like what you see - you should participate more actively and fix it - instead of complaining. I invite you to become a member and participate actively to fix what is wrong - instead of being critical of others efforts.

What should be more embarrasing to Indians is people like you who are putting down the efforts of those of us who are working hard to maintain our heritage. I am sure you have family members who are 50 years old - does age have anything to do with this. You are insulting the experience and maturity that comes with age.

Lastly, in the USA it is customary to sing the National Anthem first and it behooves us Indians to honor the traditions of our adopted country.

Ms. Kumkum Jain,

With due respect, I extend my apology for the confusion created by mentioning the '50 years'. I have deep admiration for the all the elder Indians. Without the efforts of the previous generations we will not be in such a good shape now and probably I might not be here in dallas today. The only reason why I mentioned the age was to express my astonishment that even though they have seen India becoming independent they failed to sing the National Anthem in proper manner.

Next, I still stand by the the experience I had at GDIACC meeting. (It is not an opinion or judgemental attitude, its a pure experience.) I do think that I am a good Indian and I sing national anthem whenever I hear it and I did experience getting out of sync with "two Jaya hey's" coming out of the speakers. I did observe the rest of the attendees in the hall also going out of sync for a brief moment. I don't have a recorded proof with me and so I cannot prove it to you, but believe me I went through a lot of distress that day when I heard the 'Jaya hey' being said(or atleast coming out of the speakers) only twice. There could be various reasons why this happened such as it is sung only twice or the speaker system went wrong and did not emit the third 'Jaya hey' or my brain might have gone blank and lost the memory of that second. But it did happen on that day.

I am not complaining about what happened but I am certainly critical about what happened and I would appreciate if you can invite criticism with an open mind. I wanted to confront you on that day itself, but I wanted to make sure that I have the script with me before I can confront you and so I maintained restraint that day. After coming home I checked for the written format of the National Anthem and then posted it on my blog. I tried going arround GDIACC site and also googled for your contact, but could not find any and so was not able to inform you immediately.

I beg to differ you criticizing me that I am trying to put down the efforts made by people like you in maintaining indian heritage. I have deep respect for all individuals like you who go out of their way to make a difference and make this world a better place to live. I have come here all the way from remostest part of India and I do remeber the kind of encouragement and helping hand I received from various people time after time in journey. I admire the achievements and the difference that people like you make to the community, society, country and the world. I have been personally involved with various organizations and recently BBC World Radio has interviewed me about the efforts I have made to raise funds on line for tsunami relief.

I am truly not aware of the US custom of singing National Anthem first and I agree with your opinion of adopting the local custom.

Lastly I appreciate your invition asking me to become a member of GDIACC and contribute.

thank you,
Note: My name is spelled as 'Yadav' not 'Yadev'

Hi Yadav,

I really appreciate you for raising this question and worte in in your blog and I am also happy that the concerned person answered to you,though the way she answered was really wrong and she should have been soft in her response and should have tried to clarify your doubts,etc.
Untill today honestly I never knew how many times Jaya hey repeats and I know most of the Indians too dont know much about Nation Anthema and National Song. Even the Indian government doesn't show much interest to educate its people to know these things and they are always look for their posts etc.
I am really happy today that atleast i learnt something about our national anthem and i am really thankfull to you.
keep it up.