Its kind of ingrained into us …. and i mean that in a good way.

The video was an initiative to instill a sense of pride and dignity for our country and its diversity in the people. A marketing campaign for the country .

Since it was broadcast for the first time on 15th August 1988, I’ve seen it countless times.

As a kid i remember singing along whenever it came on air, irrespective of the fact that the only three languages that made sense to me were Gujarati, Hindi and Marathi.

I fumbled the words to the rest of the languages and my volume would rise high for a language i could sing along with and it would turn down to a murmur for those that i couldn’t. With my …. ummm …. “glorious” voice i am sure i must’ve bought tears of suffering to my mother who would be around whenever i burst into impromptu singing.

Eventually i mastered the art of singing it even without having a clue as to what i was singing. There was something about the tune and how it would fade out into the notes of the national anthem. Something quite uplifting and joyous about it.

It made me, a kid, sing along at the top of my voice although i had no idea why and i loved it.

I came across it today and had a bout of nostalgia …. here’s the video.

Soumyadip has put up a version of this video with subtitles for the lyrics which is great to sing along with. Head over to his blog for that version – Cutting the Chai: Mile Sur Mera Tumhara (With Subtitles and Credits)