Page:The Pilgrims' March.djvu/61

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C. R. DAS
39

dents of Calcutta nothing to say? Is this the time for study? Art and Literature, Science and Mathematics: O—! the shame of it all when the Mother calls and these have not the heart to hear.

I feel so desolate in this great City. I see thousands and thousands of youngmen all around me wherever I go, but their faces are old with wordly wisdom and their hearts are cold and dead. I wish God had given me the strength to rekindle the fire of life in their hearts so that the youngmen of Calcutta may be young again. It is the young who fought the battle of freedom in every age and in every clime. It is the young who are purer in spirit and are ever ready for sacrifice.

I am growing old and infirm and the battle has just commenced. They have not taken me yet but I feel the handcuffs on my wrist and the weight of iron chains on my body. It is the agony of bondage. The whole of India is a vast prison. What matters it whether I am taken or left.

One thing is certain. The work of the Congress must be carried on whether I am dead or alive. Only five thousand in this great City and the work of the Congress about to be