Sunday, June 9, 2013

Praise for the Earth Anthem writen, produced by poet-diplomat Abhay K



First of all, my congratulations to you Abhay for this very important step that you have taken for uniting everybody, for them realize what a fragile place we live in, how important it is for us to realize its fragility and ensure its unity and that's really the message that comes through your anthem. I think what you have done today is to take a very big step forward in persuading us to identify with the planet Earth.
--Union Cabinet Minister Kapil Sibal 

Abhay has come up with an anthem for the equator and the planet, that is incredible, for that Abhay, I congratulate you.You walk in illustrious footsteps (of W.H. Auden who wrote the hymn to the UN)) Abhay.
--Dr. Shashi Tharoor

The world and posterity owes you for the Anthem. Sublime even more with that mellifluous  voice of Shreya Sotang.
-- Amb. Rudi Warjiri

Inspiring Earth Anthem.
-- The Himalayan Times 

Truly Remarkable.
-- Amb. Leela K. Ponappa

What a brilliant idea Abhay! You will find a place in history as the author of the Earth Anthem, when it becomes widely sung and established as the song of Mother Earth
-- Amb. T.P. Sreenivasan

Hearty congratulations Abhay! Hope we become more conscious of our responsibilities to the Mother Earth or else the day will not be far when we will be consigned to stone age.
-- Amb. Gauri Shankar Gupta

 
Heartiest congratulations Abhay on a spectacular achievement and a unique contribution to a noble cause  through a popular medium.

-- Amb. Harsh Bhasin

Earth Anthem by Abhay K.


What a superb idea, Abhay- heartiest congratulations on your originality. Indeed, it will serve all the purposes you mention very well, and more.
--Amb. Saurabh Kumar

Many congratulations! I read the Earth Anthem, it is wonderful with pious sentiments for peace, unity and brotherhood. That is the way to go and it is so thoughtful of you! I fully share your ideas and strongly believe in the oneness of this world.
--Anjani Sahai, IFS 2003
 
My congrats to you for your innovative idea and contribution for the preservation of Mother Earth. Hope a collective mindset overtakes individual greed to plunder the earth for personal gains.

--Amb. Paramjit Sahai


 Congrats for this unique achievement.
--Amb. Yogendra Kumar

My warm felicitations to you on your huge contribution.
-- Amb. Surendra Kumar

Bravo dear Abhay.Very impressive indeed.
--Amb. Banashri Bose Harrison

Very good, Abhay. Wish you all success in making an impact with this fine gesture.
--Amb. Kishan S. Rana

This is truly good stuff.  Well done, and congratulations.
--Amb. Manpreet Vohra

Great achievement. Very proud of you Abhay.

--Atul M. Ghotsurve, IFS 2005

Feel proud of you Abhay. Congratulations.
--Rajeev Kumar, IFS 2001

 You have made us proud...Badhai ho!
--Tshering Wangchuk Sherpa IFS 2002 

Friday, June 7, 2013

Remarks of Shri Kapil Sibal at the release of the Earth Anthem written by Abhay K




My colleague in the Council of Ministers, Shashi, Anita, Abhay, Distinguished Colleagues, First of all, my congratulations to you for this very important step that you have taken for uniting everybody, for them realize what a fragile place we live in, how important it is for us to realize its fragility and ensure its unity and that's really the message that comes through your anthem. Way back in 1971, Secretary General of the United Nations U Thant signed the proclamation declaring the Vernal Equinox,I think it was on March 21, 1970, that he made a statement, which is declaring the Earth Day and Earth Day is celebrated every year on that particular day, he said something very important and I have as a quote-"may there be only peaceful and cheerful Earth Days to come for our beautiful spaceship Earth as it continues to spin and circle in frigid space within its warm and fragile cargo of animate life." We share this space with others, by and large we forget this fact that we share this with planet with others, we forget that over the years, despite all the talk of climate change, global warming, the melting of the ice of the Arctic and the melting of the ice of the Antarctic, I don't think the global community is really serious about taking some steps forward in that direction so that we preserve the planet Earth. So I think it is important to have a rallying point, to ensure that all of us come together to realize to maintain the dignity of our planet, we all attempt to maintain our own dignity, but we never realize that there is yet another dignity that we have to maintain but we seldom do. I mean we cant even imagine how pollination takes places, how little squirrels bury acorns in the ground that is the beginning of growing of a tree, we never think of those things, we never think what enormous contributions little things, little animate objects, little life makes to the planet. Our only anthem, if I may say so, even in the Western world, is exploitation. I think we need yet another anthem to deal with the senseless exploitation that is taking over planet earth, so I really think this is something that needs to be done. What is an anthem, anthem is a mode of identifying yourself with a purpose, you have a national anthem because you identify with your country, you have a school anthem because you identify with your school, do Homo Sapiens identify with planet earth? I doubt very much. We have issues of territorial identity, racial identity, religious identity, all kind of identities and Shashi talked about diversity, these are all diversities which have an identity but is there an identity of the planet Earth? I doubt. It is important to have an anthem of the Earth that allows us, persuades us, cajoles us to identify with the planet Earth and I think what you have done today is to take a very big step forward in persuading us to identify with the planet Earth and I am sure that when this goes viral on the net millions around the world, I hope that happens, identify with the need for us to preserve planet Earth better. Thank you.

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Remarks of Dr. Shashi Tharoor at the release of the Earth Anthem

Remarks of Dr. Shashi Tharoor at the release of the Earth Anthem at the Indian Council of Cultural Relations, Azad Bhawan, New Delhi, 3 June 2013

Shri Kapil Sibal, my senior colleague on the Council of Ministers, as Minister for Communications and Information Technology, and Minister for Law and Justice,


Mrs. Anita Nayar, Deputy Director-General, ICCR,

Shri Abhay K, intrepid IFS officer, SAARC literature prize awardee, poet and artist,  author of the Earth Anthem,

Distinguished members of the audience, ladies and gentlemen, friends,

It is my pleasure to join you, at the behest of the Indian, Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR), at the Launch of this unique Anthem for Earth. Abhay, when he wrote to me about this initiative,described the need for such an anthem – to pay tribute to our planet, to remind ourselves of our responsibilities as global citizens, and (in conjunction with the many other anthems we sing) to remember that we have a supra-national loyalty alongside the claims of our nation, our state, or our favourite football team.

It is, when you think about it, a simple and elegant idea.We live in an increasingly interconnected world. Whether it is the advent of technology bringing us together, or the common challenges imposed by climate change, a global consciousness has certainly begun to emerge. To tap into this nascent consciousness and give it form and focus, we need to establish a common language and common icons. In time, then, emerging
generations of global citizens would come to rally around these, in realising their debt to and in paying tribute to the planet that sustains us all. What better icon, then, than our planet itself, and what more universal language than music!


So this notion – of finding a rallying point for a global consciousness of Unity in Diversity – is one which will find particular resonance in India as ICCR celebrates. We are, after all, an ongoing and highly successful form of coexistence that encompasses exceptional diversity woven with loyalty to a higher set of ideals, and in doing so finds a unity of thought and purpose that surpasses all our differences. We are, if you will, one model for the kind of unity that would one day seem an Earth Anthem shared and sung by all the peoples of the world.

Remarks of Dr. Shashi Tharoor at the release of the Earth Anthem


In fact I remember quoting Winston Churchill's nasty comments that "India is merely a geographical expression. It is no more a single country than the Equator." Churchill was rarely right about India, this was no exception but Abhay has come up with an anthem for the equator and the planet, that is incredible, for that Abhay, I congratulate you.

There was an illustrious attempt before this  and that was no less than a figure than the poet W.H. Auden who wrote a “Hymn to the United Nations” and also attempting a hymn to the world which then Secretary-General U Thant hoped would become the de facto anthem of the UN but it didn't. But even if the UN might have done that, it was hardly ever played. As we release Abhay's new paean to humanity and our home, the Earth, it might be worth recalling words of Auden's famous lyrics, his hopes for humanity: and this was the UN anthem he wrote-

“Our several voices
Interblending,
Playfully contending,
Not interfering
But co-inhering,
For all within
The cincture of the sound
Is holy ground,
Where all are Brothers,
None faceless Others."


You walk in illustrious footsteps Abhay, I am delighted that you have in the shape of Kapil, a distinguished poet himself, to do this release, I am very privileged to be part of this very special occasion. I wish you, this anthem and ICCR, all the very best, Jai Hind.

Earth Anthem: A Film by Abhay K.