Madhusudan_Das

166 Madhusudan Das:
Madhusudan denounced the attempt to utilise the platform of Provincial-
Nationalism for personal careerism and for camouflaging personal disputes
under the guise of Provincial-Patriotism.
IDEALS OF ORIYA NATIONALISM
Having thus defined the contents of provincial Nationalism and
its universe of discourse, Madhusudan indicated the directions to which
it may be directed. Use of Swadeshi products and wearing the cloth woven
by our own village-weaver is the sine-qua-non of our Nationalism, To
ameliorate the condition of the village peasants, agriculturists, artisans
are the other indispensable conditions of an Oriya being a Nationalist. In
the field of education the question of higher education in schools,
colleges, and universities to fulfil personal or family-ambition are all
secondary. The real problem is to educate your hand, your eyes, your legs
and your muscles for undertaking monotonous manual labour which alone
is the foundation of National wealth. He declared: "All human beings
have their hands, eyes, cars, noses and tongues. Efficiency of the different
physical faculties is as import as the cultivation of the mind. It is the user
of these faculties that increases National wealth and the progress of the
different European Nations illustrates this truth" (Ibid p.35). He said :-
"We have to remember that ultimately We have to compete with Europe
and We have to produce all the articles which are now produced in Europe".
The first step is therefore to work hard for the amelioration of the conditions
of the artisans and the industrial labour. Madhusudan's appeal for
industrial renaissance in Orissa is rather pathetic. He said— "Consider
industry as your child and nurture it from its infancy. Later on you will
find that industry will not only benefit Orissa but make her famous in the
wider field of "world Industry" (Ibid p.41).
MADHUSUDAN, A POLITICAL PHILOSOPHER
It is needless to emphasize the spiritual background of
Madhusudan's leadership. He abhored the idea of personal gain through
national service. In one of his English writings he said:
Life is a race the world is a race course. Birth is the starting
point, death the goal, and duty the fence to keep us straight in
the way to that goal. It should be the aim of our young men to
realise the presence of a soul within them, to feel that life is a
mission, the object of life is not pursuit of pleasure for one's self,
but to seek opportunity and means to make them happy!! (Utkal
GourabaMadhusudan- N.K.Das p.219).