11.
Tagore’s song ‘Jana Gana Mana’ is composed in a Sanskrit metre. This meter is called laghu guru — laghu means ‘short’, guru means ‘long’. You cannot scan this song using any of the regular Bengali metres — matrabritta, akkharbritta, swarabritta and so forth — because here he has used a very difficult metre.29In the very first poem of Tagore’s Gitanjali — ‘Amar Matba Nato Rare’ — everybody challenged the metre.30 They told Tagore, “This is a mistake.” But on that occasion, Tagore said, “Who cares for metre?”
He has written a particular word because he loves the word so much. Tagore is the supreme authority, so who is going to challenge him? If anybody says that Tagore does not know metre, it is absurd. He is making an exception because he likes the word so much. He could have used another word, true. But for him, his joy was infinitely more important than the metre. Those who know metre will always agree that this word is not correct, but he was above it. That poem has such feeling, such sentiment, such an intimate connection with God, with Divinity.31
My two most favourite songs by Tagore are ‘Gagane Gagane’ and then this one, ‘Amar Matha Nato Kare’.32
RTM 113,1. January 25th, 2004. Previously unpublished.↩
RTM 113,2. Modern editions of Gitanjali show ‘Amare Tumi Ashesh Korecho' as the first song. This song, in fact, is from Geeti- malya. When Tagore was preparing the English translation of Gitanjali, he made it the first song. — Ed.↩
RTM 113,3. December 12th, 1997. Previously unpublished.↩
RTM 113,4. November 26th, 2005. Previously unpublished.↩
