Popularity in India
In spite of its creator's disavowal of it, Saare Jahan Se Achcha has remained popular in India for over a century. There is little evidence to prove the original composer of the tune for the lyrics (poem). However, there are many claimants to the original tune. Mahatma Gandhi is said to have sung it over a hundred times when he was imprisoned at Yerawada Jail in Pune in the 1930s. The tune rose to popularity in the 1950s with the Indian Classical version performed by sitar maestro Ravi Shankar and recorded by singer Lata Mangeshkar. It was Mrs Preeti Banedopadhyay, a singer of Indian Peoples' Theatre Association (IPTA), who first learnt the song from Ravishankar's sitar and taught the IPTA singers. IPTA accepted it as their Association's theme song during 1940s. Later, other singers started singing this song and Lata Mungeshkar recorded it. Preeti Bandopadhyay, a nonagenarian, is still alive. Stanzas (1), (3), (4), and (6) of the song became an unofficial national anthem in India, and were also turned into the official quick march of the Indian Armed Forces after being arranged for the Military Band by Prof. Ansher Lobo. Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian cosmonaut, employed the first line of the song in 1984 to describe to then prime minister Indira Gandhi how India appeared from outer space. Current prime minister, Manmohan Singh, quoted the poem at his first press conference.
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