.jpg)
He had the audacity to swim against the tide and the guts to chase impossible dreams. Over 67 years after his purported death in a plane crash, subhash chandra bose retains his unending enigma, writes Sutanu Guru with Dhrutikam Mohanty
Everything changes, and then it looks as if nothing has changed in an ancient land like India. Just a few kilometers away, people have been vehemently protesting the scheduled arrival of the Pakistani women cricket team to practice and play a World Cup match. Just about a month and a half ago, thousands gathered nearby in the shadows of a majestic fort to celebrate what is called the Bali Yatra. This festival goes back at least two thousand years when brave traders ventured into the Bay of Bengal to travel to lands called Bali, Java and Sumatra (modern day Indonesia).
But for the motley crowd gathered in a neighborhood called Odia Bazaar in Cuttack (Odisha) on January 23, 2012 – the sense of history is neither as recent, nor as ancient. They have gathered to celebrate the birth anniversary of one of the most loved, most mysterious, most talked about and perhaps most tragically flawed heroes of 20th century India. Yes, we are talking about Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, who was born in this very locality in 1897. Typical of how the state works in India, the government of Odisha has declared January 23 as a public holiday. And the sprawling L-shaped house in Odia Bazaar is now a museum that commemorates and celebrates Subhash Bose and his legacy. You can tread gently and gape at the bed in which he slept when he was a student of Stewart School. You can watch the uniform he wore as the Commander of the Indian National Army. You also look at sepia tinted impressions of women soldiers of the Rani of Jhansi Regiment of the INA. A self appointed guide points out how the swords carried by the women soldiers were smaller than those carried by the males. "You see, it was already difficult for the women to carry the heavy .303 Enfield rifles," he says. The people running the museum have identified five surviving soldiers of the INA belonging to Odisha who actually fought along with the likes of Subhash Bose and Captain Lakhsmi Sehgal in Burma, which is now Myanmar. All are in their nineties and all five will be felicitated during a special function that will be held some days after the birth anniversary.
These men have grown frail and their memories are failing. But some still have the fire smoldering in their eyes when they recall those 'heroic' days of battle against the British forces. Just a short distance away from the now sprawling capital city of Bhubaneswar, with its malls and Infosys offices is a village called Chimpello. This village is known in local folklore as the village of INA soldiers. Hear it from Bramhachari Uttaray, who says he is about 90 years old, "Due to poverty, a group of youths from our village had gone to Rangoon to work as labourers. At Rangoon, we came to know that Netaji had given a call to all Indians to join INA to fight against the British. Under the leadership of Biswanath Samant, 23 of us from the same village joined the INA at Rangoon. We all signed on a paper with our own blood in front of Netaji in a meeting at Mangla in Rangoon to fight for the country. Netaji also put 'blood tilak' on our foreheads and told us that it is impossible to get freedom without blood. We all joined the war and fought against the British between 1943 and 1945... my memory fails me now but I can never forget the fiery speeches of Netaji till I die." These facts become folklore and then mythology with a hop, skip and jump of our collective imaginations!
If nostalgia were a currency, you could be running a mint near this museum. The men and the women appear suitably awestruck, and some men whisper about how Netaji has always been given a raw deal by the Congress. Some of the louder ones talk of Rahul Gandhi being anointed the heir apparent ready to rule India. They talk of how the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty has always been insecure about the power and influence of Subhash Bose and his so called ability to mesmerise people. Wild conspiracy theories, as is wont with anything to do with Subhash Bose, fly thick and fast as nods and murmurs of encouragement lead to further criticism of dynastic politics practiced by the Nehru- Gandhi family. Incidentally, but for a five year spell when the Congress had won a surprise victory, the father-son duo of the late Biju Patnaik and Naveen Patnaik have ruled Odisha as chief ministers since 1990.
Everything changes, and then it looks as if nothing has changed in an ancient land like India. Just a few kilometers away, people have been vehemently protesting the scheduled arrival of the Pakistani women cricket team to practice and play a World Cup match. Just about a month and a half ago, thousands gathered nearby in the shadows of a majestic fort to celebrate what is called the Bali Yatra. This festival goes back at least two thousand years when brave traders ventured into the Bay of Bengal to travel to lands called Bali, Java and Sumatra (modern day Indonesia).
But for the motley crowd gathered in a neighborhood called Odia Bazaar in Cuttack (Odisha) on January 23, 2012 – the sense of history is neither as recent, nor as ancient. They have gathered to celebrate the birth anniversary of one of the most loved, most mysterious, most talked about and perhaps most tragically flawed heroes of 20th century India. Yes, we are talking about Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, who was born in this very locality in 1897. Typical of how the state works in India, the government of Odisha has declared January 23 as a public holiday. And the sprawling L-shaped house in Odia Bazaar is now a museum that commemorates and celebrates Subhash Bose and his legacy. You can tread gently and gape at the bed in which he slept when he was a student of Stewart School. You can watch the uniform he wore as the Commander of the Indian National Army. You also look at sepia tinted impressions of women soldiers of the Rani of Jhansi Regiment of the INA. A self appointed guide points out how the swords carried by the women soldiers were smaller than those carried by the males. "You see, it was already difficult for the women to carry the heavy .303 Enfield rifles," he says. The people running the museum have identified five surviving soldiers of the INA belonging to Odisha who actually fought along with the likes of Subhash Bose and Captain Lakhsmi Sehgal in Burma, which is now Myanmar. All are in their nineties and all five will be felicitated during a special function that will be held some days after the birth anniversary.
These men have grown frail and their memories are failing. But some still have the fire smoldering in their eyes when they recall those 'heroic' days of battle against the British forces. Just a short distance away from the now sprawling capital city of Bhubaneswar, with its malls and Infosys offices is a village called Chimpello. This village is known in local folklore as the village of INA soldiers. Hear it from Bramhachari Uttaray, who says he is about 90 years old, "Due to poverty, a group of youths from our village had gone to Rangoon to work as labourers. At Rangoon, we came to know that Netaji had given a call to all Indians to join INA to fight against the British. Under the leadership of Biswanath Samant, 23 of us from the same village joined the INA at Rangoon. We all signed on a paper with our own blood in front of Netaji in a meeting at Mangla in Rangoon to fight for the country. Netaji also put 'blood tilak' on our foreheads and told us that it is impossible to get freedom without blood. We all joined the war and fought against the British between 1943 and 1945... my memory fails me now but I can never forget the fiery speeches of Netaji till I die." These facts become folklore and then mythology with a hop, skip and jump of our collective imaginations!
If nostalgia were a currency, you could be running a mint near this museum. The men and the women appear suitably awestruck, and some men whisper about how Netaji has always been given a raw deal by the Congress. Some of the louder ones talk of Rahul Gandhi being anointed the heir apparent ready to rule India. They talk of how the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty has always been insecure about the power and influence of Subhash Bose and his so called ability to mesmerise people. Wild conspiracy theories, as is wont with anything to do with Subhash Bose, fly thick and fast as nods and murmurs of encouragement lead to further criticism of dynastic politics practiced by the Nehru- Gandhi family. Incidentally, but for a five year spell when the Congress had won a surprise victory, the father-son duo of the late Biju Patnaik and Naveen Patnaik have ruled Odisha as chief ministers since 1990.
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
| ExecutiveMBA |
