Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Jayanti - Significance & Learning for Every Child

India's Brave Son: Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose

A brave soul was born in Cuttack Bengal Presidency, British India (present-day Odisha, India) on 23rd January of 1897.

He was Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Netaji wasn't just brave; he was a proud rebel. He rebelled to free India from the clutches of British-Raj. From being just a member of a younger wing of Indian National Congress in the 1920s he rose to become Congress president in 1938 only to leave Congress and start his own political party named The All India Forward Bloc.

He led an army called Azaad Hind Fauj for his goal to see India free, for this he had to meet Hitler and ask him to spare the Indian troops Hitler captured as they were fighting for British. Netaji then brought them into his army. He did all this just to free India.

Every year on 23rd January the entire nation of India celebrates Netaji Jayanti to mark his birthday and to celebrate his contribution to the Indian Independence Movement. His role in India's freedom struggle cannot be described in short.

In 1945 he disappeared and nowhere to be found. Official records say he died on a plane crash in an Army Hospital Nanmon Branch, Taihoku, Japanese Taiwan present-day Taipei City Hospital Heping Fuyou Branch, Taipei, Taiwan. Although many followers of Netaji refused to believe that.

After 5 months of his disappearance, people of Rangoon celebrated his birthday in a grand scale. Now, it is observed everywhere in India. West Bengal, Jharkhand, Tripura and Assam have an official holiday on his birthday and the Government of India also pays a tribute.

Mother India and her children will always be grateful to Netaji for his bravery and his unerasable contribution to the freedom movement. He was a man of daring and full of determination. He was disciplined and spiritually inspiring. In the beginning, he was just a follower of Gandhi, soon enough he rose and became the president of All India National Congress.

Subhas Chandra Bose was born to Prabhavati Dutt Bose and Janakinath Bose. His father was an advocate and he was the 9th child in a family of 14 children. He was influenced by the teachings of Swami Vivekananda and Ram Krishna. During those days Britishers used to criticize Indians for their culture and used to mock them and insult them, this behaviour of British sparked the nationalistic and rebellion thinking of him. His nationalistic views seemed clear after he was expelled from Presidency College for assaulting Professor Oaten. The reason behind assaulting Professor Oaten was that he manhandled some of the Indian Students for following Indian Culture.

One of the interesting stories regarding Netaji is that he was in house arrest once under the surveillance of British Intelligence yet, he managed to escape without getting caught. A year later Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose went to meet Adolf Hitler. Netaji went there to seek help from the fuehrer on his crusade against the British Raj. When Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose arrived at Hitler's residence his staff welcomed him and asked him to wait outside Hitler's office. Adolf Hitler's staff informed Netaji that the Fuehrer was in an important meeting and as soon as the meeting ends Fuehrer will meet him.

Netaji agreed to wait. However, it took Hitler a long time to come out and when he did, he did not meet Netaji neither did Netaji tried to meet him. Hitler then left the premise.

After a while Hitler again came back but again, he didn't meet Netaji and Netaji again did the same. This happened multiple times until Hitler came and stopped near Netaji and put his hand at Netaji's shoulder that is when Netaji looked up and said "Hitler". Hitler then asked "How can you be so sure?" to this Netaji replied "No one except the Real Hitler has the audacity to place his arms on my shoulders"

Hitler put many lookalikes of him to confuse his enemies and all this time whoever was passing by they were Hitler's lookalikes but not the real Hitler. Hitler wasn't able to fool and confuse Netaji.

Netaji then took Hitler's help in his goal to free India. Hitler wasn't able to help directly but he did free all the Indian prisoners on Netaji's request so that Netaji can build his own army. Netaji's Army was named Azaad Hind Fauj. In his crusade against British Raj Netaji managed to free a certain portion of India and named it Azaad Hind.

Sadly, this brave soul disappeared after a plane crash in 1945. According to official records, Netaji died on that plane crash, whereas his followers refused to believe that. Many conspiracy theories around his death came into light. Whether he died in 1945 or he lived it is still debatable. But, what's not debatable is his struggle to free India.

Every year on 23rd January Netaji Jayanti is celebrated. This day is also known as Desh Prem Divas. Desh Prem Divas is Hindi for Patriot's Day. His contribution to India's freedom is countless and on Netaji Jayanti India celebrates his cause which gave Indians Freedom.

Netaji's contribution to India's freedom movement could be well placed in the books and minds of young minds in a way of storytelling.

As Bedtime Stories:

Young children like to listen to good stories of heroism and valour. Either you can tell your child the stories of our freedom fighters as the bed-time stories or you can buy some good animated books like Amar Chitra Katha and make a habit to read them with your child in the night.

Concise Biographies:

You may also introduce concise biography and sayings Netaji to your child. You can narrate the story of freedom struggle of all the freedom fighters, especially Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose whose indomitable spirit, courage, and patriotism gave a great challenge to the British.

The reason behind every parent should introduce the legendary Netaji while upbringing his/her child because of -

Good Leadership Skills:

Our society is usually quick to identify a bad leader, but do we know how to identify a good one? What would most people say makes a good leader?

Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose had great leadership skills, which he displayed at the time of the freedom movement of India and sets as an example till date.

Patriotic:

The act of patriotism and feeling patriotic are things which will make for a stronger nation.

Netaji was truly patriotic and believed that freedom is our birthright and we need to fight for it rather than begging for it.

Courageous:

Subhash Chandra Bose was tremendously courageous. His indomitable courage in front of the British army and his faith in Indian soldiers gave a tremendous boost to the freedom movement of India.

Hence in today's world, every child needs to be courageous to face the reality and overcome the obstacles forefront.

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