Dehradun, Nov. 8 -- Sixteen years before he wrote Jana Gana Mana in 1911, Rabindranath Tagore had sung Vande Mataram - 'Mother, I bow to thee' - at the 1896 Indian National Congress session in Calcutta. The song went on to inspire generations of freedom fighters, becoming the anthem of India's awakening and a symbol of unity during the country's struggle for independence. Vande Mataram had made its first appearance in the literary journal Bangadarshan as part of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay's novel Anandamath on 7 November in 1875. Therefore, yesterday, marked 150 years of this timeless composition which inspired India's freedom movement and continues to evoke national pride and unity.
When Curzon took the unpopular decision to partition B...