Subhas to Netaji – A story of electrifying leadership, inclusivity, purpose, courage & conviction of Jai Hind!

My childhood was always surrounded by stories of the Indian #freedom struggle and I vividly remember devouring amar chitra kathas as if there was no tomorrow to satiate my appetite. A lot of hero figures from Rani of Jhansi, Tilak, Gandhiji, Nehru figured in my read with intense conversations… mind you there was no Google at that time... The figure that captured my imagination was Netaji, his escapades from the British, his disguises and the tragic and sudden death which changed the very course of our Indian history. Today as we remember him on his 125th anniversary, I thought its only apt I pen down my lines…

A few life details of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose - he was born on January 23, 1897 at Cuttack, Odisha to Janakinath Bose (father) and Prabhavati Devi (mother). He was quite well travelled as his education saw him at the Ravenshaw Collegiate School, Cuttack, Presidency College, Calcutta and the University of Cambridge, England. His associations were with the Indian National Congress and he later went on to form the Forward Bloc and the Indian National Army.

I always think of Netaji as a powerful leader. What would have been that conviction and the courage of the man that even after 125 years, his name invokes strong patriotism and an inspiration to serve?

I wanted to dig a little deeper into his personality to understand him. To understand a person, we often look at the decisions they took, to give us an understanding of their outlook and the context of the environment and #culture they were surrounded with. If you look at Netaji, a lot of the decisions he took were not what you would call normal. Daring, risky, crazy, future ready, visionary, unbelievable…? I don’t know, you tell me.  

He did his schooling from the Protestant European School, just like his siblings. He was influenced by the teachings of Swami Vivekananda and Ramakrishna after reading their works at the age of 16. He then was sent by his parents to the University of Cambridge in England to prepare for the Indian Civil Service. In 1920 he passed the civil service examination, but in April 1921, after hearing of the nationalist turmoil in #India, he resigned his candidacy and hurried back to India. Mind you he returned 100 pounds to the British after he came back! It was and still is a lot of money. What makes people give up the fruits of their very own labour to pursue something far more difficult and extremely tedious? Why are people drawn to a life of hardship and sacrifice when they can very well execute on a life path of certainty and comfort? Passing the ICS was no easy task, and he gave up a good career at the age of 24…!

The second instance I write about is when he joined the Non-Cooperation Movement started by Mahatama Gandhi. During the movement, he was advised by Gandhiji to work with Chittaranjan Das who later became his political guru. Netaji started the newspaper 'Swaraj'. In 1927, after being released from prison, Bose became general secretary of the Congress party and worked with Jawaharlal Nehru for independence. In 1938 he was elected president of the Indian National Congress and formed a national planning committee, which formulated a policy of broad industrialization. However, this did not harmonize with Gandhian economic thought, which clung to the notion of cottage industries and benefiting from the use of the country’s own resources. Bose’s vindication came in 1939 when he defeated a Gandhian rival for re-election. But surprisingly he resigned, gave it all up - the volunteers, the sacrifices of jail time, being away from family, winning a hard-fought election simply because he felt the lack of Gandhi’s support.

Now what would you call Gandhiji’s power of influence? Which could sway a winner from resigning a democratically held election or was it the morality of Netaji that he chose to again give it all up. Was there a clash of #purpose, a clash of cultures and #values within the party that Bose decided to leave?

We see this even today around us in political parties, large corporate bodies. What drives these decisions? He was 42 years now, not young anymore and like most of us would say had given up his youth to a cause that he could no longer associate himself with. Tragic.

The third instance I talk about is his life from the age of 45 till his sudden death / (killing?) only a few years later.

All India Forward Bloc became a faction within the India Congress in 1939, led by Subhas Chandra Bose to spread the meaning of complete independence of India with adherence of the application of principles of equality and social justice. An important development in the struggle for India’s freedom was the formation of the Azad Hind Fauj, also known as the Indian National Army, or INA during the Second World War.

On 21 October 1943, Subhas Bose, who was now popularly known as Netaji, proclaimed the formation of the provisional government of independent India (Azad Hind) in Singapore. He went to Andaman which had been occupied by the Japanese and hoisted there the flag of India. In early 1944, three units of the Azad Hind Fauj (INA) took part in the attack on the north-eastern parts of India to oust the British from India. According to Shah Nawaz Khan, one of the most prominent officers of the Azad Hind Fauj, the soldiers who had entered India laid themselves flat on the ground and passionately kissed the sacred soil of their motherland.

This instance is so powerful. Netaji was a leader in the truest sense with people ready to die for a cause visioned by him across religion, caste and creed. His collaborative nature of leadership is well documented. Every single soldier of the INA felt Netaji was them! Such was the personality and the aura he carried.

His #inclusivity shone through the Rani Jhansi regiment, a women’s regiment, which was under the command of Captain Lakshmi Swaminathan (Sahgal). Most of the women were teenage volunteers of Indian descent from Malayan rubber estates. It is notable here how Netaji took up the cause of women troops. He ensured dignity and a harassment free environment for all his women troops inspite of the then chauvinistic attitude of the Japanese army towards women. Their training was rigorous, with guns and camouflage practice. Without exception, all the members of the Rani of Jhansi Regiment had sent a petition to Netaji, signed in their blood, saying that they were willing to die in the battlefield but would not retreat. Such was the trust and loyalty he had nurtured. Well worthy to note that Netaji himself escorted the Malayan contingent of women back to Thailand, and then to Malaysia.

The Azad Hind Fauj became the symbol of unity and heroism to the people of India.

Netaji, was reported killed in an air crash a few days after Japan had surrendered in 1945.

He was only 48years old. A full life of opportunities and possibilities snatched away. By fate. If Gandhiji and Netaji had reached an understanding, would he have lived longer? What about Nehru? Why couldn’t our first government of independent India deal with his death more transparently? The ifs & buts of history…always gives you more questions than answers.

What resonates with me even to this day is his war song "Kadam Kadam Badhaye Ja". His regimental quick march of the Indian National Army. Written by Vanshidhar Shukla and composed by Ram Singh Thakuri, it was banned in India after World War II as seditious, with the ban subsequently being lifted only after we won independence in August 1947. Do listen in as I share here one of my most liked links that carries his voice and the song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKMH3JTgY2w&feature=youtu.be.

What I like is the sheer joy they express while undertaking this dangerous and important mission for their country. The sheer fervour, the march song spreads, is awe inspiring and makes you wonder at the human capability of catalysing change to move mountains.

To make the impossible happen while celebrating the journey with your fellow members. No room for insecurity, no room for jealousy and pettiness, a vision so larger than life that it brings out our absolute best as we prepare to win freedom from the largest empire in the world. A lesson on #leadership for all of us.

An empire where the sun never set was shaken by the INA. The mutiny rising in India, INA at their heels, the costs of WW II, all gave a fillip to hasten India’s independence.  I close my note with his para from the song that resonates so much with our internal struggles and victories as well.

Qadam qadam ba?hāye jā, khushī ke gīt gāye jā, ye zindagī hai qaum kī, tū qaum pe lutāye jā

Himmat terī ba?htī rahe, khudā terī suntā rahe, jo sāmne tere kha?e, tū khāq men milāye jā

Jai Hind! (also coined by Netaji)