IN RESPONSE TO COMMENTS MADE BY ARDENT ADMIRERS OF THE HEROES OF THE FREEDOM STRUGGLE WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO THIS WRITER'S ESSAY ENTITLED 'SHAHEED-I-AZAM SARDAR UDHAM SINGH'

Photo : Udham Singh, immediately after being apprehended by the British police, minutes after his assassination of Sir Michael O'Dwyer at Caxton hall, London, 13 March, 1940.

I am neither scholar nor 'professed professor', Subrata Babu, just an ordinary writer, mediocre and without merit. It is your love that prompts you to shower accolades on me for which I feel both grateful and humbled. I am only a servant to the cause of the resurrection of these heroes of the freedom struggle who we, through our lapse of recollection, have allowed to sink into oblivion. But all is not lost as historical traces reignite the flames of patriotic fervour and fresher narratives of the old episodes infuse new life into the dying embers causing a vast conflagration yet again that catches the imagination of a generation far removed from the scene of the original enactment and draws them to the Mother-heart where the past and the present and the unborn future are united in a filial feeling for the motherland.

I am no professor, though, Ashim Babu, just an ordinary writer, insignificant and inconsequential, perhaps, in the broader scheme of things. However, I am glad that you liked the essay and felt enriched reading it for it dates back to the days of our struggle to shake off the monster called British imperialism that sucked the lifeblood of our nation for close to two centuries.

Your deep sense of patriotism, spontaneous love for the nation and abiding adoration of the heroes of the freedom struggle move me. There is a sincerity in your self that is palpable and it quickens in a kindred soul the same passion for the cause of the motherland. Your fluid English makes your writing specially appealing to all for they become at once accessible and appealing to the reader. I exhort you to write more on the freedom fighters of our benighted nation at a time when its sovereignty is threatened by foes foreign and homegrown. When strong souls like you in large numbers take up the cudgels for the cause, our nation will be on the road to recovery of her lost land, ideals and spirit with a citizenry identifying with her essential message to it and to the world at large. With fondest hopes and 'great expectations', Susanta, I remain in eager expectancy, Sugata Bose.