Chap 4 - Sense of Collective Belonging
Nationalism or Collective Belonging
This feeling came partly through united struggles
Cultural factors also contributed to Nationalism - eg: History & fiction, Folktales & songs, Popular symbols etc
Symbols
The identity of a nation is often symbolized by a figure or image
The identity of India came to be associated with Bharat Mata
The image was first created by Bamkim Chandra Chatterjee
He also wrote " Vande Mataram" a hymn to the motherland
It was later included in his novel Anandamath & widely sung during swadeshi movement in Bengal
Moved by the Swadeshi movement, Abanindranath Tagore painted the famous image of Bharat Mata
He painted Bharat Mata as an ascetic figure - she is calm, composed, divine & spiritual
In later years Bharat Mata took many forms painted by different artists
Devotion to Mother India was seen as evidence of Nationalism
Revival Of Folklore/Folktale
Nationalists tried to revive Indian folklore
They recorded folk tales sung by bards & they toured villages to collect folk songs & ballads
They felt that these tales gave a true picture of traditional India that had been corrupted by outside forces
It was a nation's identity & had to be preserved
In Bengal, Rabindrnath Tagore led the movement for folk revival - he collected ballads, nursery rhymes, myths
In Madras, Natesha Sastri published a four volume collection of Tamil folk tales called " The Folklore of Southern India"
He believed that folklore was national literature - an expression of peole's real thought & characteristics
Flags
During the Swadeshi movement in Bengal, a tricolur flag - red, green, yellow was designed
Reinterpretation of History
It had eight lotuses representing the eight provinces of British India & a crescent moon representing Hindus & Muslims
The Swaraj flag designed by Gandhiji was a tricolor - red, green & white- & it had a spinning wheel at the centre representing Gandhiji's idea of self help
Carrying flags during marches were a sign of defiance /resistance
Many leaders felt Indian history had to be thought of differently to instill a sense of pride in Indians
The British depicted Indians as backward, primitive, incapable of governing themselves
So Historians wrote about glorious developments in India in the past in art & architecture, science & Mathematics, religion & culture, law & philosophy, crafts & trade
They felt the glorious time was followed by decline due to colonisation
Problems
When the past being glorified was Hindu, when the images celebrated were drawn from Hinduism, people from other communities felt alienated