Message from Dr Krishna Bose
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose had said: "I believe in God. I also believe in prayer." He also said that for him, spirituality consisted in two kinds of practices.The first of these was the practice of self-assertion. He told himself that he had overcome the human frailties such as lust, anger, temptation and fear. "This practice gives me a lot of strength and through it I have overcome many weaknesses," he said.
The other practice was self-surrender. In his words: "I am but an instrument in the hands of the Divine…. I try to repeat in my mind 'Thy Will be done' in a spirit of self-surrender."
Is it not wonderful that India's only warrior-statesman was also a deeply spiritual person? On the occasion of his hundredth birth anniversary let us remember what he once said: "Let us dream of an India for which it would be worthwhile to give all that we have…." We must dedicate ourselves to this ideal once again.
Krishna Bose
Calcutta, India
31 December 1996
