Subhash Chandra Bose

Reginald was born in Lahore before Partition. He writes books on various subjects pertaining to South Asia. A former London journalist, he now lives in Mid Wales with his actor wife Jamila. His latest book is INDIA: Definitions and Clarifications (Hansib, London). A member of the Society of Authors, he is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Editor's note: This story is an expanded version of an excerpt from the author's book Azaadi!: stories and histories of the Indian subcontinent after Independence, Abhinav, Delhi 2005. It is reproduced here with the author's permission.

The Second World War ended in 1945 when I was a teenager, although I'm not sure whether the term `teenager' was invented then.

Anyway, the question often discussed in our home was: Were the Indian officers who went over to Subhash Chandra Bose's Indian National Army (INA) heroes or traitors? The arguments and counter-arguments got very heated because my father was a King's Commissioned Officer in the Royal Indian Air Force, and was loyal to his commission. Further, he had served on the Burma front and did not approve of the Japanese army because he was aware of the brutality meted out by the Japanese army to its prisoners of war. (Editor's note: The INA was working closely with the Japanese army.)

Editor's note: This originally appeared online at http://www.subhaschandrabose.org/index.php. This speech was delivered on 10 March 1939. Subhas Bose resigned from the Indian National Congress later in 1939.

Comrade Chairman, sister and brother delegates! I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the great honour you have done me by re-electing me to the Presidential chair of the Indian National Congress and also for the warm and cordial welcome you have given me here at Tripuri. It is true that at my request you have had to dispense with some of the pomp that is usual on such occasions\; but I feel that enforced step has not taken away one iota of the warmth and cordiality of your reception and I hope that nobody will regret the curtailment of it on this occasion.

Friends, before I proceed any further, I shall voice your feelings by expressing our joy at the success of Mahatma Gandhi's mission to Rajkot and the termination of his fast in consequence thereof. The whole country now feels happy and tremendously relieved.

Editor's note: These articles appeared online at http://www.subhaschandrabose.org/. They first appeared in print in Netaji: His Life and Work, edited by Shri Ram Sharma, published in 1948 by Shiva Lal Agarwala &amp\; Co. Ltd., Agra

Some Intimate Recollections

Hari Vishnu Kamath resigned from the Indian Civil Service, and entered politics. Later, he was a member of the Constituent Assembly, representing the Forward Bloc, and later became a member of Parliament.

From his early boyhood when Subhas Chandra Bose journeyed alone to the Himalayas in search of personal salvation, up to the years of his mature manhood when he travelled to distant lands in search of national salvation, his life was all of one pattern: the life of a Grand Rebel whom the pathetic subjection of this ancient land turned into an uncompromising political revolutionary.

He was not a mere political\; he regarded his life as a complete dedication to a sublime Cause rooted in spiritual reality. This was clearly brought out in the title “An Indian Pilgrim” which he had adopted for his unfinished autobiography.