Anandamath Abbey of Bliss" (literally Anand=Bliss and Math=Abbey). "Vande Mataram", "Hail to the Mother", first song to represent Bengal - or India, which is almost synonymous at that time as far as nationalism is concerned - as the Mother (the goddess Durga) was published in this novel. The book is set in the years during the famine in Bengal in 1770 CE. It starts with introduction to a couple, Mahendra and Kalyani, who are stuck at their village "Padachina" without food and water in the times of famine. They decide to leave their village and move to the next closest city
Vande Mataram (album) better. In May, at a Sony conference in Manila, where the bigger the name you can drop means the more attention you get, they got 20 minutes. When the songs from the album were played, pre-release, at the Sony Music conference in Manila, Sony Music executives representing various Sony Music sub-labels reportedly went berserk and clamoured for the international rights of the album. They played the song; pandemonium reigned. The head of Columbia records (a Sony label) said, "It's unbelievable, I want it." The head of Epic records (another Sony label) said, "I don't care, I want it." Says Subramaniam: