230 LIFE AND WORK OF SIR JAGADIS C. BOSE 



incidents, which need not be dwelt on ; and there were 

 misrepresentations which it was impossible to remove 

 from this isolating distance. Thus no conditions could 

 have been more desperately hopeless than those which 

 confronted me for the next twelve years. It is necessary 

 to make brief reference to this period of my life ; for one 

 who would devote himself to the search for truth must 

 realise that for him there awaits no easy life, but one of 

 unending struggle. It is for him to cast his life as an offering, 

 regarding gain and loss, success and failure, as one. Yet 

 in my case this long persisting gloom was suddenly lifted. 

 My scientific deputation in 1914, from the Government of 

 India, gave the opportunity of giving demonstrations of 

 my discoveries before the leading scientific societies of the 

 world. This led to the acceptance of my results, and the 

 recognition of the importance of the Indian contribution 

 to the advancement of the world's science. My own experi- 

 ence told me how heavy, sometimes even crushing, are the 

 difficulties which confront an inquirer here in India ; yet it 

 made me stronger in my determination, that I should make 

 the path of those who would follow me less arduous, and 

 that India should never relinquish what has been won for 

 her after years of struggle. 



THE Two IDEALS 



What is it that India is to win and maintain ? Can 

 anything small or circumscribed ever satisfy the mind of 

 India ? Has her own history and the teaching of the past 

 prepared her for some temporary and quite subordinate 

 gain ? There are at this moment two complementary and 

 not antagonistic ideals before the country. India is drawn 

 into the vortex of international competition. She has ,to 

 become efficient in every way through the spread of educa- 

 tion, through performance of civic duties and responsibilities, 

 through activities both industrial and commercial. Neglect 

 of these essentials of national duty will imperil her very 



