A fire that blazed in the Ocean

de Surendra Bhana

The poems in this book appeared in Indian Opinion from 1909 to 1911, a newspaper edited by Mohandas K. Gandhi while he was in South Africa. Most of the poem were composed by Indians in South Africa who took part in the satyagraha movement (1906-1914) or were close observers. The two leading poets are Sheik Mehtab and Ambaram Mangalji Thaker. They had a performative function since they were recited or sing in public. They helped to sustain the movement.