NATIONAL MOVEMENT IN ORISSA 41 An intellectual might be born in any class or c^ste, but his thinking is governed bv the level of consciousness he has attained., not by petty interests. It would, of course, be wrong to presume that an intellectual is independent of any class in society. Rather, he plays his role as the organic intellectual of a definite class in any given society. The thought of any individual can be studied only within a specific framework. In what follows, we first consider the historical milieu in which Gopabandhu lived. Secondly, we reconstruct the process of his intellectual development to identify the dominant tendency in his thought. Thirdly, we trace his "own thought" as essential to the whole process of his intellectual development, to the process known as the ^structure of individual mediation." One's thought is properly part of a historically dynamic, complex, structured totality. Ideas are not just a reflection of social reality; they are also part of historical reality. Nonetheless it is important to remember that intellectual development is not parallel to historical development. How far did Gopabandhu as a ^functional intellectual" succeed in understanding his society, economy, and polity?7 Emergence of a New Class Different nationalities entered the Indian national movement for different reasons and at different times.8 This was the result of uneven social development under colonial rule. In any society, education is an important means of political mobilization. Under British rule in Indian uneven economic development was coupled with regional variations in educational development. Because of the nature of the colonial system a new class arose in the urban areas.9 This new class was the result of the economic and educational changes brought about by the colonial State. It was not a product of the change from a feudal to a capitalist society. The feudal elite and the traditional intellectual elite were compelled by socio-economic changes to transform ihemselves. This meant going in for an English education, which was an important prerequisite for social mobility. This development in its turn led to an adjustment of the pre-capitalist ideological structure with English liberalism. In other words, the traditional intellectual developed a mental outlook which was a product of the impact of Western education on his old, traditional elitist environment.10 This intellectual class did not develop an outlook characterized in Western society as possessive individualism."11 On the contrary it betrayed distorted intellectual development. Members of this class were generally incapable of thinking clearly, because of want of harmony between head and heart. There was no organic unity between their consciousness and their emotional life. On the plane of consciousness they were liberals or nationalists, but on the emotional plane traditional. They liked their old social status and respectability. They would participate in liberal discussion in the urban