Vande Mataram the novel containing it was banned by the British government, but workers and general public defied the ban, many went to colonial prisons repeatedly for singing it, and the ban was overturned by the Indians after they gained independence from the colonial rule. In 1950 (after India's independence), the first two verses of the song were declared the "national song" of the Republic of India, distinct from the national anthem of India, "Jana Gana Mana". The first two verses of the song are an abstract reference to one's mother and motherland, they do not mention any Hindu deity by name,
Shall the Dust Praise Thee? Shall the Dust Praise Thee? "Shall the Dust Praise Thee?" is a science fiction short story by American writer Damon Knight. It was first published in the anthology "Dangerous Visions" (1967). His agent refused to publish it and suggested the "Atheist Journal" in Moscow might buy, it but no one else would. God arrives on Earth, ready to inflict the Day of Wrath on mankind, but finds that all life has already disappeared. The angels tell God that there has been a great war between England, Russia, China, and America which has wiped out all life on earth, and that