<P> "A certain high official in His Majesty's service, who was also my friend, had requested that I write a song of felicitation towards the Emperor . The request simply amazed me . It caused a great stir in my heart . In response to that great mental turmoil, I pronounced the victory in Jana Gana Mana of that Bhagya Bidhata (ed . God of Destiny) of India who has from age after age held steadfast the reins of India's chariot through rise and fall, through the straight path and the curved . That Lord of Destiny, that Reader of the Collective Mind of India, that Perennial Guide, could never be George V, George VI, or any other George . Even my official friend understood this about the song . After all, even if his admiration for the crown was excessive, he was not lacking in simple common sense ." </P> <P> Again in his letter of 19 March 1939 Tagore writes: </P> <P> "I should only insult myself if I cared to answer those who consider me capable of such unbounded stupidity as to sing in praise of George the Fourth or George the Fifth as the Eternal Charioteer leading the pilgrims on their journey through countless ages of the timeless history of mankind ." (Purvasa, Phalgun, 1354, p. 738 .) </P> <P> Moreover, Tagore was hailed as a patriot who wrote other songs too apart from "Jana Gana Mana" lionising the Indian independence movement . He renounced his knighthood in protest against the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh Massacre . The Knighthood (i.e. the title of' Sir') was conferred on him by the same King George V after receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature for "Gitanjali" from the government of Sweden . Two of Tagore's more politically charged compositions, "Chitto Jetha Bhayshunyo" ("Where the Mind is Without Fear", Gitanjali Poem #35) and "Ekla Chalo Re" ("If They Answer Not to Thy Call, Walk Alone"), gained mass appeal, with the latter favoured by Gandhi and Netaji . </P>

When was the national anthem adopted by the government