“The Prince among the revolutionaries” was how Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation described Subhashchandra Bose (1897-1945) fondly called Netaji. The struggle for freedom of India was a long one and Netaji was one of the great freedom fighters the country ever produced.

Netaji was a brilliant student and his father wanted him to enter the prestigious Indian Civil Service (ICS). Though Netaji got through the ICS examination with flying colours, he refused to join it. He was soon drawn into the freedom movement which was being led by Mahatma Gandhi. Later in mid 1930s, the two had serious differences of opinion on the conduct of the movement.

Netaji favoured an armed resistance. The British arrested him but he had a sensational escape from Kolkata and made his way through Russia, Germany to Japan. While in the Far East he mobilized what came to be known as the Indian National Army (INA). The INA marched upto the Eastern boundary of India. The military expedition received setback and came to an end with Netaji’s untimely death in an air accident and the fall of Japan in the Second World War.

Netaji gives a close view of the rise of a leader who led an armed resistance against a mighty empire in the decisive stage of the Indian freedom movement. Netaji is as close to the heart of a nationalist Indian as Mahatma Gandhi is. His adage Jai Hind (Victory to India) has become a national slogan.