When you think of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, various facets of his living and persona come to mind. For me there are at least two significant aspects that have always stood out and perhaps may well be lesser known, amongst his substantial achievements. One was his ability to inspire people and forge key people to people connections in view of the Indian Independence movement. Two, his ideas for building cultural bridges between countries to reaffirm the cultural linkages that unites across geographical boundaries.
As the famous line of the movie, ‘Last Samurai’ goes, when Emperor Meji asks, ‘Tell me how he died’, to which Algren responds, ‘I will tell you how he lived’. As an observer one can learn so much just by merely observing how Bose lived.
It is not easy to forge key people to people partnerships and build an army of more than 83,000 soldiers outside of India all by oneself given the circumstances that Bose faced. If one were to ever achieve this, not only should one be single minded in focus but also necessarily be armed with the soft and subtle touch of being spiritually rooted and firm in one’s purpose. Netaji was full of this and more. He was able to effectively communicate what he stood for, what he sought and what lay ahead. There was never any ambiguity, dishonesty, duplicity in his approach.
I have had the privilege and honour of meeting some of those who worked for him and the cause he espoused in and through the Indian National Army (INA) that he set up.
Tamil Nadu in India has contributed some of the most dedicated workers of the INA, and all of them have had the fortune of meeting him may be just once only in their lifetime. Yet the profound impact he has had on them can be discerned through the sharp and indelible memories they have of him that catapulted their sojourn and resolve in committing themselves to him and his vision.
Words are inadequate to describe Saraswathi Rajamani’s contribution to the Indian Freedom Movement. A living example of Netaji’s words, she was a ninety-two-year-old inspiration who risked her entire life to make India free and survived to experience that free India, every single day, with humility and pride. Saraswati Rajamani hailed from an illustrious family in then Burma, today’s Myanmar, before coming in touch with him. For her his words had an instant impact in the way she decidedly gave up literally everything to be a spy for almost 3 years. She performed her task as a spy by disguising herself as a man. She passed away in 2018, but when I met her in 2017 and asked her what she liked the most about Netaji Subash Chandra Bose, her roaring response was, “He was strong and spiritual. That inspired us.”
Su Pa Narayanaswamy is another incredible example from Malaysia, who is currently a leading Tamil intellectual in Malaysia. He was part of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s INA’s children’s wing. Presently he runs the Netaji Service Centre in Kuala Lumpur, which caters to the veterans of INA. In 2018, when I asked him about his first impression of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, he said, “Merely by listening to him, we were inspired. His very presence was contagious. He could single-handedly inspire families to commit to the cause of the Indian freedom struggle.”
Be it those in Burma or Malaysia, Netaji was able to inspire individuals and their families with his words. He was able to forge those instant connections and sow the seeds of a vision which was both uplifting and meaningful for individuals to commit themselves and have their entire soul in it. Bose united people. A rare quality.
A perfect of example of such a quality can be seen in another tall Bengali legend and leader Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangladesh who was tremendously inspired by Bose. Both are icons in both India and Bangladesh, respectively. There are no records as such to suggest Bangabandhu and Bose ever met, but the former was instrumental in giving his brethren an important cause to fight and live for of seeing a fully independent Bangladesh like what Bose championed for India in his lifetime. In fact, Bangabandhu is also popularly referred to as Netaji of Bangladesh by some commentators. Their life and the adversities that they encountered were similar.
In addition to the INA, Netaji was keen on building key cultural bridges between countries. He wanted the Madras Literary Society (MLS) to play a key role in building cultural links with Europe through the Indian Central European Society. As per the MLS, this society aimed to improve ties between the two regions on the cultural front. The Indian Central European Society was started by Netaji himself and it is because he was a member of the MLS in 1932, a letter is evidence to the fact that he had sought stronger cultural and people to people ties between India and Europe through these two organizations.
A visionary who thought ahead of his time, an individual who brought people together for a common cause and a leader who believed that culture is not a one-way street but a two-way phenomenon. His 125th birth anniversary is marked by India and the world this year.
(Views expressed are the author’s own)
