Non-fiction
Netaji Bhawan --- symbol of history
The Forum complex on Elgin Road that was renamed Lala Lajpat Rai Sarani remains popularly known by its earlier nomenclature, as gauged by Kolkata's taxi drivers. The Forum attracts droves of visitors. Some head straight for the multi-cinema halls on the top floor. Others head for fast-food feasting at the Food Court. Fewer numbers target the culinary destination 'Oh Calcutta!' Masses crowd the multi-floor space and many indulge in retail therapy. Some make it to the nearby bookshop 'Crossword.' Yet few are even aware of the home of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, the Bengali nationalist leader, Congress Party President and founder of the Indian National Army during the Second World War, that stands at 38/2 Elgin Road right opposite the Forum. An archetypical early twentieth century two-story mansion complete with pillars and porticos and a marble plaque bearing the name of Netaji's father 'J.N. Bose' engraved on the main gate's pillar graces Elgin Road. One's first impression is that of its remarkably well-maintained façade in a city where the few still standing mansions present a forlorn sight of decay and decline. An often pitiable sight is that of a singular tree edging itself out of the brickwork amidst peeling plaster and wooden window shutters askew. In 'A Jaywalker's Guide to Calcutta' (2007), Soumitra Das in his exhaustive work on the city's neighbourhoods remarks: "Unlike most old houses in Elgin Road, Netaji Bhawan looks as good as new. A canopy of neem and other trees keeps it cool even in the height of summer." Subhas Chandra Bose was born into a Bengali family living in Orissa in 1897. His father was a lawyer and a member of the Bengal Legislative Council. The son was educated at a Baptist missionary school and then read philosophy at Presidency College in Calcutta. Cambridge was his next academic affiliation. Subhas Chandra Bose was appointed to the Indian Civil Service, the "heaven-born service", yet resigned within a year to join Mahatma Gandhi's growing civil disobedience movement in India. Chittaranjan Das, a leading Bengali poet, barrister, Mayor of Calcutta and defender of nationalists in court, took Bose under his wing. Both were imprisoned in Mandalay, Burma, by the British authorities on suspected terrorism charges. Once released and Bose's nationalist activism gaining momentum, he was appointed President of the Congress Party in 1938. An ardent Bengali nationalist and given his growing ideological differences with the Congress Party, Netaji resigned from the Congress Party in 1939. Thereafter, Bose sought the immediate transfer of government from the British. 'Chalo Delhi' was his national call. Arrested for sedition on 2nd July 1940, he went on a hunger strike. Sent home to his Elgin Road residence, he devised his escape the night of 17 January 1941. From Calcutta, he drove to Peshawar and then to the Italian Legation in Kabul. He took a train to Moscow and flew to Berlin and sought cooperation from the Germans in his fight against the British in India. In the fast-changing World War II political arena, Netaji worked the dictum 'My enemies' enemy is my friend.' Actively canvassing the German and Italian governments for two years, in 1943 Bose left for Tokyo to secure the crucial support of the Eastern partner in the anti-British axis Japan. With Japan's increasing sweep across Asia, Netaji formed a Provisional Government of Independent India in Singapore and an Indian National Army (INA) composed of volunteers from some 60,000 Indian prisoners of war held by Japan. He was Supreme Commander of the Azad Hind Fauj. Its motto being: 'fighting for the freedom of their Motherland', Bose sought to enlist Indians abroad in the struggle against the colonial power. The Indian National Army and its Japanese ally swept through Burma. It is at Kohima (today, in Nagaland, India) in 1943 that the British India Army under the South East Asia Command of Admiral Louis Mountbatten halted the INA advance into Assam, India. With the Allies' victory in World War II, Netaji embarked on a flight from Singapore to Tokyo on 18 August 1945. The flight crashed soon after take off from Taiwan. And so came to a dramatic end the life of one of India's revolutionary nationalist leaders a man whose rallying call was 'Azad Hind.' The first exhibit at the Netaji Bhawan is dramatic indeed. In the long driveway is displayed the very car 'Wanderer BLA 7169' in which Netaji made his 'Great Escape' from India in January 1941. He was driven by his nephew Sisir Kumar Bose for part of the journey within India. On the first floor, Subash Chandra Bose's office room remains meticulously maintained. A solid dark wood desk dominates the room. Noteworthy are the walls that are painted in the tri-colours of the Indian flag orange, white and green. Down a long open balcony corridor lies his bedroom. Flashback to 17 January 1941: his cot, shoes, personal belongings and furniture remain as on the night he fled. The ornate four-poster bed belonging to his father also forms part of the contents of the bedroom. A line of footprints marks the floor exiting from this bedroom and down the passage, marking the footprints of Netaji as he left the room for the last time. The well displayed and labeled collection of black and white photographs, letters, documents and artifacts belonging to Netaji on the second floor is most impressive. In the presence of a patient and well-informed staff member, we made the rounds of three rooms: first, relating to his childhood years, adulthood and participation in the Indian political scenario. The second room relates to his years in Europe. The third room focuses on his years in Asia, until his death in 1945. In his father's diary, we find the handwritten following entry: 'a son was born at midday. Date: 23rd January, 1897, Saturday.' A handsome portrait of a suited young man at Cambridge in 1919 hangs nearby. A carved rosewood chair and a statue of the Lord Buddha from Mandalay are mementoes from his years of internment in Burma in the 1920s. Photographs with Mohammed Ali Jinnah and Mahatma Gandhi in 1938 grace the walls as do photographs of Jawaharlal Nehru. The same year, the Congress Working Committee met at 38/2 Elgin Road and a photograph documents the occasion. Rabindranath Tagore, who titled Subhas Chandra Bose as 'Deshnayak', appears in a photograph with Tagore ceremoniously receiving Bose in Shantiniketan in 1939. Bose's signature attire of 'khaddar dhoti', kurta and Gandhi cap and his military uniform, including boots and cap, are all on display. The years in Europe are extensively documented. Innumerable photographs depict Netaji in top hat and long overcoat with German officials. His meeting with Adolph Hitler is a momentous visual item. A photograph of his Austrian wife Emilie Schenkl and daughter Anita are also to be seen. His daughter last visited Netaji Bhawan some three years ago. Sepia-coloured letters and newspaper cuttings in English and German abound on the walls and in display cabinets. The last room of our tour highlights his period in Asia in the 1940s. Here too meetings with Japanese civilian and army officials in an effort to garner support dominate the photographs. A number of Japanese artifacts decorate the room. His last letter was written on 14 August 1945. A poignant photograph shows Netaji disembarking from a plane in Saigon on 17 August 1945. This is the last visual of the man whose plane crashed the following day. In a mark of continued respect for his enduring legacy, 'The Traditional Netaji Birthday Assembly' was held on 23 January 2011 at Netaji Bhawan. The honour of delivering this year's Netaji Oration 2011, 'If only Netaji had participated in post-independence India building', was bestowed on N.R. Narayan Murthy, the founder of Infosys, the Indian information technology conglomerate. Our visit to Netaji Bhawan in early July 2011 was timely. Surely this is serendipity? For on 20 July 2011 in Dhaka, Sugata Bose was invited to launch his latest work of scholarship, 'His Majesty's Opponent: Subhas Chandra Bose and India's Struggle Against Empire' (Penguin Books India 2011) at the University of Dhaka. Penguin Books India and The University Press Limited Bangladesh were co-hosts of the event. Professor Sugata Bose is Professor of History at Harvard, with special interest in South Asian and Indian Ocean history. He is the grand nephew of Netaji.
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