History of Kolkata Chandra Pal]]. The early nationalists were inspired by [[Swami Vivekananda]], the foremost disciple of the [[Hindu]] mystic Sri [[Ramakrishna]] and helped by [[Sister Nivedita]], disciple of the former. The rousing cry that awakened India's soul was penned by [[Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay]]. Now the national song of the nation, it is an ode to the land of [[Names of India#Bharat|Bharat]] (India) as the Divine Mother, "[[Vande Mataram]]." The Elgin Road residence of [[Subhas Chandra Bose]] in Calcutta was the place from where he escaped the British to reach Germany during the [[World War II|Second World War]]. He was the co-founder of
Vande Mataram of Calcutta, would work themselves up into a patriotic fervour by shouting the slogan "Vande Mataram", or "I praise the Mother(land)!" The British, fearful of the potential danger of an incited Indian populace, banned the book and made the recital of the song a crime. The British colonial government imprisoned many independence activists for disobeying the order, but workers and general public repeatedly violated the ban many times by gathering together before British officials and singing it. Rabindranath Tagore sang "Vande Mataram" in 1896 at the Calcutta Congress Session held at Beadon Square. Dakhina Charan Sen sang it five years