NATIONAL ANTHEMS ON DEMAND
If the United Nations ever hires an official national anthem singer, the job may go to 12-year-old Yathaarth Murthy of Bangalore. The seventh grader can sing 250 national anthems from around the world—English translations of every anthem in existence.
Yathaarth was in San Francisco recently, giving demonstrations of his rare talent. He has memorized every anthem and can sing them on cue. He told the San Francisco Chronicle that he likes “The Star-Spangled Banner,” despite its mention of rockets and “bombs bursting in air.”
“It’s a motivational anthem,” he said. “It tells a story. It gives you goose bumps.”
When new countries are formed and new anthems created, Yathaarth has to expand his repertoire.
“Everything comes with pressure,” he said. “If there is no pressure, there is no success.”
If Yathaarth has a dream gig, it’s not to perform at the White House or United Nations. It’s to appear on the The Ellen Degeneres Show.
“She’s really great,” he said.
Compiled and partly written by Indian humorist MELVIN DURAI, author of the novel Bala Takes the Plunge.
[Comments? Contributions? We would love to hear from you about Chai Time. If you have contributions, please email us at melvin@melvindurai.com. We welcome jokes, quotes, online clips, and more.]
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