This town cherishes Tagore

P Neelima / TNN / Aug 15, 2006, 02:13 IST

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Madanapalle was whereTagore wrote the English version of the Jana Gana Mana.

MADANAPALLE: The ravages of drought have left their scars on Madanapalle, once the favourite hill station of the British. But this little town, where Annie Besant and Jiddu Krishnamurthy set up their seat of learning, holds dear to its heart a piece of history bequeathed to it by India's national poet, Rabindranath Tagore.
For it was here that Tagore wrote the English version of the Jana Gana Mana, India's national anthem.

It's difficult to imagine that this drought-prone region once inspired the Nobel laureate to translate his hymn in praise of India for the benefit of the world at large.
But then, when Tagore visited this place in 1919, Madanapalle was famed for its scenic beauty and served as a getaway for British collectors. Annie Besant chose this town for founding the Theosophical College in 1915.
Tagore was the chancellor of the college, which had the status of a national university then. He visited it but once. It was a week-long sojourn in 1919, a stopover during his tour of south India. He had fallen ill and was recommended a stay in Madanapalle to recuperate.

The poet became so enchanted by the dreamy hills of Madanapalle that he sat down to translate the Jana Gana Mana, which he had written in Bengali in 1911.
Late one evening on February 28, 1919, during an interlude between an interaction with students of the college, sitting under a peepal tree in the backyard of the residence of principal James H Cousins, Tagore rendered his vision of India into English, extolling to God the virtues of the country's contours, people and faiths.

Little did Cousins know that the hymn would become the very song of India, sung by a million lips every morning. Fittingly, Tagore called it the Morning Song of India.
The handwritten rendition, signed by the poet, is proudly preserved by the college and was published in its platinum jubilee souvenir.
Cousins records that Tagore, although ill, spent the week interacting with students of the college. He encouraged them to stage his play Bisarjan (Sacrifice) and the eager pupils gathered the props and costumes with great enthusiasm.
But alas, the command performance was not to be. For just as the actors were to ascend the stage came the news that a great fire had broken out in the nearby village of Chippli. The play was abandoned and the cast and its director hastened to the aid of stricken families.
Tagore was greatly moved by the plight of the homeless villagers and donated to them the royalties he had received from a Japanese publication. The villagers of Chippli remember him to this day.
Tagore seemed to have held dear his association with the Theosophical College, which he called the Shantiniketan of the South. He once sent a tender poem to be published in the college magazine, submitting it to the 'Dear Young Editor'. It begins "I'm like the night to you, little flower..."

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