When the freedom fighters were tortured in jail, their call was Vande Mataram. It was this passionate appeal that went up to the highest heavens of freedom from the hearts of the tormented children of the Mother and it was this call that was their constant companion in life, struggle and death. We owe it to Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay for discovering this mantra and I have no hesitation in calling him the Rishi of Indian nationalism. His 'Ananda Math' ignited the fire of nationalism in a million souls and paved the way for future revolutionary activity. Swami Vivekananda is said to have urged Bagha Jatin to study Bankim, especially, 'Ananda Math', when the latter had paid a visit to the seer to seek his blessings.
Bankimchandra proved the power of the written word and set alight the flame of revolution which became a mighty conflagration in due course, consuming an empire and its imperial pride with it. There should be none among us who has not read the novel that changed the course of our national history and set us up on the high road to freedom. Our salutations to the great revolutionary, Bankimchandra, who we, in our justified romanticism over the martyrs of the freedom struggle, unfortunately tend to forget and, so, do ourselves a grave injustice, for the causes being relegated to the waste bin of history, the effects are bound to follow suit. The fruits of freedom to be savoured, the seed that grew into the mighty tree of nationalism must not be lost sight of. This is important and I urge all to be conversant with the writings of the great novelist and nationalist par excellence, Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay, by way of establishing the right connecting link to our revolutionary roots. Vande Mataram!
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