Talk about India, from India with you

Good morning/Good afternoon/Good evening my friends, wherever you are! This 8:00pm. 23rd January, 2013, Wednesday in India. Today is especial day for Indians because 116 years ago, a great Indian (some reckon as the greatest), Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was born. With a great respect to him, I want to say something about the great leader and our ultimate National Hero.

Subhas Chandra Bose also known as Netaji was one of the most prominent Indian nationalist leaders who attempted to gain India's independence from British rule by force during the waning years of World War II with the help of the Axis powers.

Subhas Chandra Bose was born on January 23, 1897 in Cuttack, Orissa. His father Janaki Nath Bose was a famous lawyer and his mother Prabhavati Devi was a pious and religious lady. Subhas Chandra Bose was the ninth child among fourteen siblings. Subhas Chandra Bose was a brilliant student right from his childhood days. He topped the matriculation examination from Calcutta University and graduated with a First Class in Philosophy from the Scottish Churches College in Calcutta. He was strongly influenced by Swami Vivekananda's teachings and was known for his patriotic zeal as a student. To fulfill his parents wishes he went to England in 1919 to compete for Indian Civil Services. In England he appeared for the Indian Civil Service competitive examination in 1920, and came out fourth in order of merit. However, Subhas Chandra Bose was deeply disturbed by the Jallianwalla Bagh massacre, and left his Civil Services apprenticeship midway to return to India in 1921.

After returning to India Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose came under the influence of Mahatma Gandhi and joined the Indian National Congress. On Gandhiji's instructions, he started working under Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das, whom he later acknowledged his political guru. Soon he showed his leadership mettle and gained his way up in the Congress' hierarchy. In 1928 the Motilal Nehru Committee appointed by the Congress declared in favor of Domination Status, but Subhas Chandra Bose along with Jawaharlal Nehru opposed it, and both asserted that they would be satisfied with nothing short of complete independence for India. Subhas also announced the formation of the Independence League. Subhas Chandra Bose was jailed during Civil Disobedience movement in 1930. He was released in 1931 after Gandhi-Irwin pact was signed. He protested against the Gandhi-Irwin pact and opposed the suspension of Civil Disobedience movement especially when Bhagat Singh and his associates were hanged.

Bose, who had been ousted from the Indian National Congress in 1939 following differences with the more conservative high command and subsequently placed under house arrest by the British, escaped from India in early 1941. He turned to the Axis powers for help in gaining India's independence by force. With Japanese support, he organized the Indian National Army, composed largely of Indian soldiers of the British Indian army who had been captured in the Battle of Singapore by the Japanese. As the war turned against them the Japanese came to support a number of countries to form provisional governments in the captured regions, including those in Burma, the Philippines and Vietnam, and in addition, the Provisional Government of Azad Hind, presided by Bose. Bose's effort, however, was short lived; in 1945 the British army first halted and then reversed the Japanese U Go offensive, beginning the successful part of the Burma Campaign. Bose's Indian National Army was driven down the Malay Peninsula, and surrendered with the recapture of Singapore. It was reported that Bose died soon thereafter from third degree burns received after attempting to escape in an overloaded Japanese plane which crashed in Taiwan, which is disputed. The trials of the INA soldiers at Red Fort, Delhi, in late 1945 caused huge public response in India.

However, defeat of Japan and Germany in the Second World War forced INA to retreat and it could not achieve its objective. Subhas Chandra Bose was reportedly killed in an air crash over Taipeh, Taiwan (Formosa) on August 18, 1945. Though it is widely believed that he was still alive after the air crash not much information could be found about him.

That’s all! Before signing off once again I wish to pay homage to Netaji from the deepest core of my heart! Good bye to you all for today! Take very care of your health! Have a good day/ afternoon/evening/night! Namaskar.