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Born and brought up in Odisha\u2019s Cuttack, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose is a pride of our history. His association with the oldest town and the then capital of Odisha is clearly evident with him reminiscing about his days at Ravenshaw Collegiate School in his unfinished autobiography, \u2018an Indian Pilgrim\u2019.<\/p>\n
Bose writes, \u201cThough at that time a comparatively small town with a population of 20,000, Cuttack had an importance of its own owing to a variety of factors. It had an unbroken tradition since the days of the early Hindu kings of Kalinga. It was de facto capital of Orissa which could boast of such a famous place of pilgrimage as Puri and glorious art relics as those of Konarka, Bhubaneswar and Khandagiri-Udayagiri. It was the headquarters not only for the British administration in Orissa, but also for the numerous ruling chiefs in that province. Although Cuttack afforded a healthy environment for the growing child, it had some of the virtues of both city and country life.\u201d<\/p>\n
He was born on January 23, 1897 to Prabhavati Devi and Janakinath Bose, who had migrated to Cuttack in 1880s and established himself there as a lawyer. They stayed at Odia Bazar and their home has now been converted into a museum.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn 1902, he joined Protestant European School and then in 1909, he shifted to the Ravenshaw Collegiate School where he completed his matriculation. The headmaster, Beni Madhav Das, was pleased to see the brilliance of Bose. Beni Madhav had a great impact on young Bose. He has, in fact, mentioned in his autobiography, \u2018I secretly said to myself that if I wanted an ideal for my life it should be to emulate him\u2019. In 1913, Bose shifted to Calcutta and studied at Presidency College. Janakinath Bose stayed in Cuttack though, so Bose would visit Odisha frequently,\u201d said retired History professor Ashok Patnaik.<\/p>\n
Bose left for Calcutta (Kolkata) but always had a deep affection for Odisha. Even after being away from the state, he was part of all the awakening and protests for the Odia identity. In a meeting of \u2018Prabasi Odia Sabha\u2019, an organization formed to unite all Odia workers and labourers in Calcutta and led by Gopabandhu Das, on August 15, 1924, Bose gave a speech in Odia expressing his love for Odisha and appreciation for Das.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn August 5, 1939, Bose visited Odisha and addressed a meeting at Ravenshaw College and later in the evening, joined the youths\u2019 conference held within the Cuttack Municipal compound,\u201d Ashok said.<\/p>\n
He had addressed this meeting after deciding to form a new group within the Congress, \u2018Forward Bloc\u2019, that aimed at rallying all radical and anti-imperialist progressive elements in the country. He announced this decision as a Indian National Congress Committee president, on May 3, 1939. While leaders like Harekrushna Mahtab and Biswanath Das asked Bose to give up this rebel stance, Pandit Nilakantha Das and his son Ashoka supported him through and through.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen he formed his own army, the Indian National Army (INA) or the\u00a0Azad\u00a0Hind Fauj<\/em>, people from Odisha\u2019s Ganjam and Puri were a part of it. Among 100 Indian civilians detained in Burma, 55 Odia soldiers of the INA were imprisoned in Central Jail of Rangoon,\u201d Ashok added.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n