-15_Rrevival of India^s National Spirit.htm 11 REVIVAL OF INDIA'S NATIONAL SPIRIT BEFORE Indian Independence could come within the realm of possibility, it was essential that large sections of the population should really come to desire this deeply and be prepared to make great sacrifices for it. It was also essential that they should feel that if a real effort was made there was a good chance of success. Now that it has been free for over a decade and a half we take it for granted that India is eminently fit for freedom, but at the turn of the century widespread apathy and despair pervaded the country and there were many who thought it was foolishly unpractical even to talk of gettin

PART II SRI AUROBINDO THE PREPARATORY PHASE 3 EARLY LIFE AND YOUTH IN ENGLAND SRI AUROBINDO was born in Calcutta on August 15,1872, the third son of Dr. Krishnadhan Ghose and Shrimati Swaranlata Devi.¹ His father was a Civil Surgeon and had received his advanced medical training in England. He was evidently a man of great ability and strong personality, and after his return from England he refused the demand of the orthodox sections of his village—Konnagar in the Hoogly district of West Bengal—that he should perform prayashchitta or purification for having travelled beyond the seas. This absurd custom, so alien to the true spirit of Hindui