This episode introduces Bharati's writing on the Indian national movement. His perspective as a freedom fighter from India's South is uniquely valuable to us today. Much of the discussion surrounding India's freedom movement in our era focuses on key political figures from the North of the country, while the story of the freedom struggle in other parts of India has been largely neglected. The extraordinary involvement of intellectuals, artists, and educators provides an important counterpart to the political struggle; it is a particularly exciting aspect of the freedom movement that deserves deeper exploration. The period of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries brought together thinkers and creators from all across India, and from Europe, creating the conditions for a modern Renaissance in the country. It was a time of unparalleled excitement and dynamism, and the freedom movement also acted as a crucible for ideas that would provide the moral underpinnings of the post-colonial world order: human rights for all, social justice among nations, and a commitment to peace. 

Music in this episode features one of Bharati's national songs, "Bharata Samudayam Vazhgave," sung by Bharati's family  members as the poet himself sang it, and percussion by tabla maestro Bickram Ghosh and ghatam maestro V. Suresh, in a spectacular "jugalbandhi" that brings together North and South Indian classical traditions.

Executive Producer and Host: Mira T. Sundara Rajan

Engineer: Emma Markowitz

Producer: Bradley W. Vines

Music credits for "Bharata Samudayam Vazhgave:" composed by C. Subramania Bharati and performed by S. Vijaya Bharati, S. Mohan Bharati, Amrita Bharati, and Vidya; recorded by R.A. Shankar in Adelaide, Australia, January 1, 1988.

Music Credits for Ghatam and Tabla Duet: Drums of India, Bickram Ghosh on Tabla and V. Suresh On Ghatam.

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