Exile in Europe 125tional slogan, many noble friends had made immense, unforgettable
sac ri fices while uttering it as a mantra. At the same time, the entire
song and the literary his tory with which it was entwined were sure to
offend Muslims. Tagore argued that the first verse of the song stood on
its own and had an inspirational quality that was not offensive to any
religious community.^118 The Congress accepted Tagore’s sage advice
and resolved that only the first part of the song would be performed
from now on at national gatherings. Bengal’s two luminaries, Rabin-
dranath Tagore and Subhas Chandra Bose, courted a great deal of un-
popularity in Bengali Hindu literary and po lit i cal circles for their deci-
sion to abridge the song. Bose did his best to shield Gandhi from this
controversy and protected the Mahatma from the ire of Bengali Hindu
zealots. “Bande Mataram” lived on as a slogan, but Bankim Chandra
Chattopadhyay’s equation of mother- nation with mother- goddess was
banished from the platform of India’s premier nationalist or ga ni za-
tion.^119
In late October 1937, the Bose brothers were the cynosure of the
anticolonial movement, as the top leadership of the Indian National
Congress gathered in Calcutta. At his mother’s insistence, Subhas lived
at 38/2 Elgin Road, in his late father’s room; but he entertained his
guests at Sarat’s home, 1 Woodburn Park, where Nehru was lodged in
his usual room on the ground floor of the three- story house. He and
Sarat were exact contemporaries and had developed a good rapport:
Sarat had served on the Congress Working Committee during Nehru’s
presidency in 1936 and 1937 and the two had campaigned together
during the 1937 elections. Nehru was an easy guest, though he was
heard to complain half in jest: “Sarat Bose’s dinners are a nuisance—
they never end.” A spare eater, he shared his small portions with the
children of the family. The entire top floor of the house was given over
to Mahatma Gandhi and his entourage. The choicest fruits and vegeta-
bles were garnered from Calcutta’s markets for the Mahatma’s diet, and
a large number of goats with jingling bells around their necks were
brought to the house ev ery morning so that his secretary could choose
the one which would provide Gandhi’s milk for the day. The large ter-
race was used for Gandhi’s prayer meetings. In Calcutta, the music was
not restricted to his favorite hymns to the god- king Rama, but had a