The great Tamil nationalist poet
Subramania Bharati, who met Nivedita only once,
considered her his guru, writing that she“showed me the form of Bharat Mata in its completeness and taught me to love my country.".
It is said that the main character, Gora, who gives the novel its title,
was suggested by the personality of Sister Nivedita, the Irish lady,
nee Margaret Noble, who became a disciple of Swami Vivekananda, the eloquent apostle of neo- Hinduism.