India’s national pledge : Height of honesty

Immediately after the war with China during 1960s, there was this patriotic fervour through out our beloved country. I distinctly remember there were many patriotic songs penned by famous poets through out the country and each one of us was so enthused with the entire environment prevalent at that time in the country. A national pledge was also introduced in schools and the schools used to start the daily work after reciting the national pledge during school assembly. I do not know the origins of the national pledge and its author. I believe it is embedded in our constitution. During 1964-68, I was studying in Sri Ramakrishna Higher Secondary School in Cuddapah (now it is Kadapa). If my memory does not fail me, it was in that school we started reciting the national pledge during school assembly.

The words of the National Pledge are:

India is my country and all Indians are my brothers and sisters.
I love my country and I am proud of its rich and varied heritage.
I shall always strive to be worthy of it.
I shall give my parents, teachers and all elders, respect, and treat everyone with courtesy.
To my country and my people, I pledge my devotion.
In their well being and prosperity alone, lies my happiness.

Jayaram was also in my class. He was a very good cricket and ball badminton (not shuttle cock) player. During evenings, it was either cricket or ball badminton. We also used to do combined studies. On alternate weekends we used to meet at his house or mine for doing Maths. He used to call his mother as “vone”. Later he told me that that word was a short form for another Telugu word “vadina” meaning sister-in-law. We were surprised hearing this. Who would call his mother as vadina? He confessed that during his childhood, Jayaram‘s uncle (younger brother of his father) used to stay with them. On hearing his uncle calling vadina, Jayaram also picked it up to call his mother! That habit was continued.

During the school assembly all the students in a class were made to stand according to their heights starting from short students in the front to the tall students in the rear. Jayaram was tall and naturally his place was in the last row and I used to stand in the front line. Our drillmaster was the coordinator during school assembly. He used to be very strict and invariably we were always on time to the school assembly. One day I was late and after due punishment (two spankings on the palm) I was made to stand in the rear line beside Jayaram. He clucked sympathetically. I was massaging my hurting palms and suddenly recitation of the pledge started. I also joined the chorus of voices. After the first line of the pledge, Jayaram mumbled something under his breath before taking up the second line of the pledge. I could not get him and I looked at him quizzically but he avoided my looks. I was curious and next two or three days I managed to be close to him during school assembly. Every time, during the recitation, after the first line of the pledge he always mumbled something.

My curiosity became unbearable and I forced Jayaram to come out clean of his mumblings. He sheepishly told that there was something wrong in the wordings of the first line of the pledge and he was trying in his own way to recite the correct version! I was astounded that none of us including the teachers were in the know of this mistake and wondered as to how Jayaram could find out the mistake and what was the mistake any way?

At first Jayaram was very reluctant to open up. On persistent nagging he coyly told this: “you see the first line of the pledge is All Indians are my brothers and sisters. Don’t you see there is something wrong there? How can that be true? All of us are going to get married in future and my future wife and her relatives will never be my brothers and sisters. So I was always mumbling ‘except a few ’ after the first line to take care of the gaffe in the phrase”