Netaji

 In the Post-Independence India, the term "Netaji" is often viewed suspiciously. No, no, I have nothing to do with petty party politicking here. No, I am certainly NOT referring to any SP leader from the U.P. 

Often hereabouts, the term, honorable exceptions obviously excluded, means a corrupt power monger. Time was when in the 1940's, the term, Netaji, was the highest honour because it referred to a brilliant, committed leader who had an alternative vision of the process of gaining freedom.

In his lifetime, and even in (despite the suspicions regarding) his death, Netaji was a tall ideal, hero-worshipped by many. He is indeed an alluring figure. Born in a rich family, he was exceptionally intelligent. With a Tripod from Cambridge, standing fourth in the ICS exam, he could have led a comfy life.

The Jallianwala Bagh massacre disturbed him deeply, and he chose the radical way to get freedom. His incognito escape, almost on foot, to Europe, his attempt to corner the colonising British via the German-Japanese alliance, his INA, all these efforts for Independence have made him in to such a myth that people refuse to believe that he died in an air crash. The Gumnami Baba versions are aplenty, right?

May be, a true tribute to him would be to accept the composite legacy of the Independence Movement, sift his real legacy from the swirling mythologies, and inculcate these in our present day policies. His differing route to freedom could, for instance, teach us a lot regarding asserting our sovereignty  in today's complex, multi-polar world of international politics where many a country insists on flexing its (h)arms (in all the senses of this term)! Hence the sneaking suspicion that the current Indian Foreign Minister, S. Jayashankar, might be one of the ardent admirers of the noble Netaji.

Pratima@"When the will defies fear, when duty throws the gauntlet down to fate, when honour scorns to compromise with death,  that is heroism," states Robert Green Ingersoll.