In the service of Bharat Mata

“Maa ne uniform pehnaya aur kaha hamare baarein mein kabhi mat sochna. Ab tum Bharat Maa ki beti ho (Ma put me in uniform and said, ‘Don’t worry about your parents, now you are India’s daughter’),” recalls 90-year-old Bharti Choudhry. Wearing a cream silk sari in her Gurugram apartment, she tells the story of her part in the Rani Jhansi Regiment in Southeast Asia.

Born in Kobe, Japan, on February 2, 1928 in an influential Indian family, Asha Sahay changed her name to Bharti Choudhry after she got married. She had little in common with her family. She didn’t like the chicken curry her dad liked, she disliked Sundays because that was the time her father would teach her Hindi. Her father Anand Mohan Sahai from Bihar, was secretary to Dr Rajendra Prasad before he went to Japan. Fired by the zeal to contribute to the freedom movement, he started working with Gandhiji.

When all the top leaders were arrested by the British in India, the others were left with no work and no hope. So her father went back to pursue his medical studies. He wanted to go to the US, but he didn’t get the visa.
However, he procured a Japanese visa. “He had no source of income, so he started teaching English to young Japanese boys,” says Choudhry.

Slowly, her father worked to facilitate talks between Indian and Japanese leaders “that the fight for Independence has to be fought together.”

In 1941, her father sent her mother to Kolkata to meet Netaji Subash Chandra Bose and ask him to come to Japan and lead them. “Rash Behari Bose was also there. But he knew that he was too old by then. He was not a mass leader, but a revolutionary.” After he fled the country and reached Japan, he wanted her father to lead the Indian Independence League; however, he did not accept the offer. “He said till Subhash (Netaji) comes, he will manage the thing,” Choudhry says.

She remembers meeting Netaji in 1943 when he came to Tokyo. “We went to meet him at the Imperial Hotel. We were just standing and my mother told me to bow down to him,” says Choudhry. “He got so annoyed when I and my sister bowed down. He said after doing slavery for years, still you’re telling your daughters to bow down. He said no bowing till we get Independence. Then he said, ‘Stay straight and say Jai Hind’.” 

Choudhry had been 16 at the time. She remembers asking Netaji to let her join the freedom movement. He shot back: “You are too fragile right now. Can you shoot the enemy?” Choudhry replied: “Of course we can.” Her mother told Netaji that both Choudhry and her sister were strong from inside and could fight.

Choudhry was told by Netaji, that there was going to be a women’s regiment and he would call her once it’s formed. Subsequently, they gathered 3,000 girls in 1944. This was when her father became a minister in Netaji’s cabinet. “He told my father that you can bring 1-2 girls here to join the Rani Jhansi Regiment in Southeast Asia. I agreed and quit college,” says Choudhry.

She was just 17. She was asked to give a speech on her farewell but hesitated. “I thought: I’m a soldier now. I cannot give a speech.” She underwent rigorous training in Singapore when she joined the regiment, which had two squads. Choudhry chose the fighting squad, not nursing.

“I couldn’t talk loudly. I was told to shout and say ‘Attention’.” She was given a pistol, sent on night marches and imparted guerrilla warfare training. Her Hindi training was continued.

Later, the regiment was disbanded due to the withdrawal of the Azad Hind government. Some troops retreated along with the Japanese forces. “When we were returning from Bangkok to Singapore, our plane faced lots of attack from the ground forces. But we reached safely,” says Choudhry.

“There was no feeling. We lost, we lost,” says Choudhry on the withdrawal of the Azad Hind government.
An avid reader even at the age of 90, she lives in Gurugram with one of her sons.

Rebel at heart

Ninety-eight-year-old Lajpat Rai Yadav is a rebel at heart with a self-proclaimed will to live till 110. Residing in a quaint house in the Army-dominated area of Delhi Cantt, Yadav too is a freedom fighter. “I was in jail for six months. And I saw all these people fighting for the freedom of the country beaten up daily. I cannot explain that feeling in words.”

He was in born in Lukhi village in Rewari, Haryana in 1921. He completed his matriculation studies in Mahendragarh and wanted to do something for the freedom of the country. Since his grandfather was a close aide to Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati, the teachings of Arya Samaj settled deep within his heart. In 1939, he participated in the Satyagraha in Hyderabad. He was 18 and could not have imagined the struggle which awaited them.

“When we were in jail, we were given lots of work to do. It wasn’t good work. People were beaten every day. I was not since I was one of the youngest men there.” He recalls that nine people chosen by his uncle were sent to join the movement. Soon after, they were sentenced to two years of imprisonment. However, all the leaders and the supporters were released on the order of the Nizam of Hyderabad. “It was someone’s birthday so he decided to free us for his happiness,” says Yadav.

Yadav then decided to join the Indian Army. The world was grappling with the World War 2 and Yadav got to travel abroad. “I travelled the world like a villager,” he quips. When the war ended in 1945, he left the Army and decided to stay abroad and travel for six years. Once he returned, he joined the civil defence services, serving . for more than 34 years. He also completed his graduation during this period.

Due to his learning based on the Arya Samaj’s ideology, education felt like the right step for him. He had made a name for himself by this time, and was respected by the people of his village. “I contributed my bit for the state education board in Rewari and also helped people to open more schools.”

His wife Sarla Yadav, when asked about her husband, instantly answers, “Of course I’m proud to be his wife.” Today, he follows an exemplary routine, waking up at 2 am in the morning to do yoga and meditate. At 8.30 am, he eats biscuits with chai, followed by cornflakes and badam. For lunch, there is only one roti-subzi with a bowl of curd. Before sleeping, he drinks amla juice. “You take this, you’ll stay well,” he advises.

Yadav likes to read biographies, and proudly points out his collection in the living room. Being a freedom fighter, he gets ₹90,000 as pension which will double once he turns 100 in June 2020. “Mujhe ek sau das saal jeena hain,” announces Yadav as he sips his tea.

This piece was first published in Patriot.