Our Wants
‘Our Wants – Or a Suggestion for Remedies for the Removal of Moral, Social, Intellectual and Physical Evils of Bengal’ was a booklet written in English by Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura in 1863, when he was just 25 years old.
Our readers should be reminded of the context of this work. At this point in his life, the young Kedarnatha Datta held a high regard for the philanthropic efforts of Christian missionaries in India. Thus, ‘Our Wants’ is an appeal written in the spirit of public welfare and reform, addressed to government officials, missionaries, and the Bengali intelligentsia.
Despite the fact that this tract has little to do with Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism, the reader can appreciate Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s sincere desire to uplift his fellow Bengalis, who were then suffering from widespread poverty, moral decline, inadequate education, unsanitary living conditions, and the devastating effects of chronic epidemic fevers. His essay presents a detailed eyewitness account of the deteriorating sanitary conditions across districts such as Nadia, Hooghly, and Burdwan, and offers practical proposals for drainage, medical assistance, civic organisation, and social cooperation.
In presenting this text, we have retained the original nineteenth-century spelling and punctuation in order to preserve the character of the document. A glossary of terminology and geographical references has been included at the end of the article.
This essay is extremely rare, and we would like to thank the British Library in London for granting us access to this valuable historical document.
On 18th August 2012, on the occasion of his Vyāsa Pūjā, Śrīla Bhakti Gaurava Narasiṅgha Mahārāja announced to the devotees that he had a strong desire to create a website called “Bhaktivinoda Institute” in honour of Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura and his teachings in order to preserve and propagate them. 
