Book excerpt: Written towards the end of 1937 during his Europe trip, after being nominated the President of the Indian National Congress, An Indian Pilgrim traces Bose's life story from birth till his resignation from the Indian Civil Service. It is an astounding account of his ideological development and his singular focus on India's reconstruction in which Swami Vivekananda played a large part—"I was barely fifteen when Vivekananda entered my life. Then there followed a revolution within and everything was turned upside down." The book recounts the development of the spirit of service, sacrifice and zeal for national liberation, which were the driving forces of his life.We hope this publication will gain wide circulation so that the spirit of Subhas Chandra Bose becomes the guiding light of the country's youth in these disturbing times.