Subhas Chandra Bose Biography

Subhash Chandra Bose's birthday is on the 23rd of January 1897, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose was born in Cuttack. In honor of his contribution to the freedom struggle recently it was announced that his birthday is celebrated as “PARAKRAM DIWAS” as “parakram” translates to courage in English thereby recognizing his immense contribution by calling his birthday as the day of courage. The day will now be commemorated each year in memory of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, the unsung hero of the Indian independence struggle! Let us look at the Subhash Chandra Bose Biography and know our hero, in and out!

Subhash Chandra Bose’s Education:

He was the ninth child in a family with fourteen children. He with all his siblings was admitted to the Protestant European School (now called Stewart High School) in Cuttack. He continued his education at this school run by the Baptist Mission up to 1909 and then shifted to the Ravenshaw Collegiate School. Subhash Chandra bose was indeed a bright student, he secured the second position in the matriculation exam held in 1913, and was later admitted into presidency college, where he studied for a short period. was influenced by the teachings of Swami Vivekananda and Ramakrishna after reading their works at the age of 16, he grew a strong influence towards their ideas of religion and considered this to be more important than the formal education provided in his current college.

His thinking and emotions were mainly influenced by the fact that in Calcutta the British treated the Indians in a very condescending manner and would insult them in the public. Also, the breakout of the first world war had a strong impact on the thinking of Bose.

An important turn in the nationalist feelings and mindset of Bose was when he was expelled from his college for assaulting a professor by the name Oaten. Although he appealed for the fact that he didn’t participate in the assault but only was a spectator he was expelled. This ignited a strong sense of rebellious feeling. He later joined the Scottish Church College at the University of Calcutta and received his B.A. in 1918 in philosophy.

Bose had promised his father that he would take the Indian Civil Services (ICS) examination, for which his father reserved Rs 10,000 back then. He prepared for this exam in London staying with his brother Satish. He successfully passed the ICS examination but he had a mixed feeling of happiness for clearing the exam but a bit of guilt for the fact that he would be working under a government set up by the British. In order to boycott the British, bose decided to resign from the Indian civil services in 1921. This was a great sacrifice since, back then a post in the civil services was considered a great privilege!

Subhash Chandra Bose’s Family:

His father was Janaki Nath Bose, his mother Prabhavati Devi and he had 6 sisters

and 7 brothers. His family was a well to do family in financial terms which belonged to the Kayastha caste.

Subhash Chandra Bose’s Wife:

Subhash Chandra Bose married a woman named Emilie Schenkel. Not much is known about the wife of the revolutionary man. However, he does have a daughter who was named Anita bose! He always preferred to keep his private life very private and never talked much in a public forum. He wasn't much of a family man and dedicated all his time and attention to the country. His only aim was to see an independent India someday! He lived for the country and died for it as well!

Subhash Chandra’s Role in Freedom Struggle:

He started his contribution officially with a newspaper called “Swaraj”. He was mentored by Chittaranjan das. In 1923, Bose became the President of All India Youth Congress and also gained the designation of the Secretary of Bengal State Congress. He also became the editor of the newspaper "Forward", founded by Chittaranjan Das. He was also the elected mayor of Calcutta city! Bose had been to prison for a short span of time; when released he was also elected as the general secretary of Congress party and worked with Jawaharlal Nehru for independence. He played a vital role as the General Officer Commanding (G0C) Congress Volunteer Corps.

He again got arrested but now he came out of prison and became the mayor of Calcutta in 1930.

In the middle 1930s, Bose traveled Europe and met Indian students; during this period Bose also started writing his first book “The Indian Struggle”.

Bose clearly stood for unqualified Swaraj which meant complete independence and was ready to go against the British for this complete freedom even though It meant the usage of brute violent measures. There were clear signs of disagreement between Gandhi and Bose, while Bose wanted to clearly maintain unity Gandhi suggested Bose form his own cabinet.

On the 22nd June 1939 Subhash Chandra Bose formed the “All India Forward Bloc” this was a sect within the Indian National Congress, the primary aim of the bloc was consolidating the political left, however, its main strength lay in his home state, West Bengal. Later on, U Muthuramalingam Thevar, an active supporter of Bose, joined the Forward Bloc. Interestingly, as an act of respect, Thevar organized a massive rally on 6th September to commemorate the arrival of Bose to Madurai!

He believed that an independent India needed socialist “authoritarianism ”, on the lines of Turkey's Kemal Atatürk, for at least two decades.

Bose was clearly discontent with the decision of Viceroy Lord Linlithgow’s decision to wage a war on behalf of India without consulting the Congress. Although not getting the consent of Gandhi he organized a protest and consequently got arrested. He was released as there was a hunger strike organized for 7 days after his arrest. This whole episode of arrest and release forced him to escape to Germany via Afghanistan. Bose was extremely skilled at disguise and he used this completely to his advantage during his escape to Germany via Afghanistan and the Soviet Union with other leaders of the forward bloc. As Bose arrived in Russia the NKVD transported Bose to Moscow where he had plans which stood on the fact that Russia's unbiased enmity towards British rule in India would result in support for his plans for a popular uprising in India. However, Bose’s plans and hopes crashed very soon as he found the Soviets' response disappointing and was rapidly passed over to the German Ambassador in Moscow, Count von der Schulenburg.

Once he reached Germany he formed the Indian Legion which also derived considerable support from the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, the members of this Legion swore to fight for Subhash Chandra Bose and his army until his last breath. They declared that the German race shall always remain friendly with the Indians and will help them in all possible means! The German armed forces who belonged to the nazi race swore that they shall forever support India and the leader of the country, Subhash Chandra Bose. This oath taken by the German armed forces clearly demonstrates the control of the Indian legion to the German armed forces and also states Bose's overall leadership of India. However, this alliance was not very fruitful as Bose realized that Hitler was more than interested in using his soldiers to win propaganda victories rather than the military ones; this thereby resulted in no help provided by the Germans on the military front.

It was during the Azad Hind movement that Bose elocutes the lines “Give me blood, and I shall give you freedom! “