The War Diary of Asha-san: From Tokyo to Netaji’s Indian National Army (Das)

BOOK REVIEWThe War Diary of Asha-san:From Tokyo to Netaji’s Indian National Army
Lt. Bharati “Asha” Sahay Choudhry (Author), Tanvi Srivastava(Translator), India, HarperCollins, October 28, 2022*
Sudipta Das**
This book is composed and arranged in an interesting manner. It becomes evident whilelooking at the “Contents” page that the Diary of Lt. Bharati “Asha” Sahay Choudhury follows thesection called “The Setting” in three parts. The translator’s notes on the text, which usually comebefore the translation are placed after the main text itself, in a separate segment that contains
sections entitled Character Sketches, Songs, Notes, Bibliography, as well as “Proclamation of theProvisional Government of Azad India.” This way of arranging the content signals the novelty ofthe text right from the beginning.
The section named “The Setting” begins with the experience of Anand Mohan Sahay,
who was the father of Asha Sahay. Anand Mohan Sahay, originally a student of Patna’s Temple
medical school, gave up his studies and dedicated his life to the Independence Movement after hewas inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, who at that time was preparing to unleash the Non-violence
movement across India. While the Movement raged all over India in the form of peaceful protests
and boycotts, the violence that took place in Chauri Chaura of Bihar in February 1922 madeGandhi halt and call off the movement, which was a pivotal point in leaving the youth and theentire Independence movement temporarily directionless. Anand Mohan Sahay met Sati Senat the 37th annual session of the Indian National Congress in Bihar in 1922, but left for Japanin 1923 and then returned in 1927 to marry Sati Sen who was also a patriot like him, as well as
one of the early students of Visa-Bharati in Shantiniketan founded by Rabindranath Tagore. His
wife traveled back to Japan with him, and Asha Sahay was born in 1928, followed by four moresiblings in quick succession over the next decade. The Sahay spouses worked with renowned
Independence Movement workers like Rash Behari Bose, and Raja Mahendra Pratap. They weresupporters of the Indian National Congress for a long time, and they sided with Subhas Chandra
Bose when the historic rift between the Indian National Congress took place in 1939. The portion* 248 Pages, ISBN-10: 9356291403, ISBN-13: 978-9356291409** Assistant Professor, Department of Japanese, Visva-Bharati; JSPS postdoctoral Fellow (Tokyo University ofForeign Studies)
Email: bukunsan@gmail.com
Published online: May 21, 2024
©Asia-Japan Research Institute of Ritsumeikan University:
Asia-Japan Research Academic Bulletin, 2024
ONLINE ISSN 2435-306X, Vol.5, 72
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Asia-Japan Research Academic Bulletin

Volume 5, 72. May 2024

named “The Setting” ends with the mention of Asha Sahay meeting Netaji Subhas Chandra Bosefor the first time in 1943 when she was fifteen years old. Asha’s diary has a note about it. She
begins by expressing how they had heard about Netaji as the ideal hero whom India and India’s
Independence Struggle needed. Asha’s father Anand Mohan Sahay was absent from home whileworking with Netaji and they grew up under the strict supervision of their mother Sati Sahay andthe genial benevolence of their uncle. Since Asha had grown up in Japan, she was well-versed inJapanese culture, customs, and the Japanese language from a young age. Her diaries were written in
Japanese. However, her passion to fight for her motherland was bright in her mind and when she met
Netaji for the first time, she and her sister both volunteered for the Rani of Jhansi regiment which
was created by Netaji. Netaji allowed Asha to enlist in it while telling her sister to wait a few more
years.
The time when Asha met Netaji was a crucial and turbulent time for the world at large. TheSecond World War was raging across nations and Japanese cities were constantly being bombed.
Asha’s writing gives us a glimpse of the war-torn condition of Tokyo and the reception of Netaji inTokyo. She writes that the Japanese and Bengali people living in Japan hailed Netaji as a hero andthe prime minister of Japan, Tojo, also promised to extend help to Netaji’s cause.
When Asha left her home to join Netaji while wearing her INA (Indian National Army)
uniform, her neighbors, friends, and family came to see her off. While talking about bidding
goodbye to her mother, she remembered the time when they had been separated from their motherbecause she went to India carrying a secret verbal message to Netaji in Calcutta. She writes indetail about this mission and her mother’s fearless conduct. When Asha and her father boarded thetrain, she realized that she was free to sing any patriotic song she wanted, whether it was Japanese,Hindustani, or Bengali. The first part of her diary ends here as they reach Kobe and check into theOriental Hotel, while she thinks about a poem in Japanese she composed on the train.
The second part of her diary starts with a record of some of the letters she sent to her motherand her siblings upon reaching Kobe. These letters show her impression of a bomb-devastatedKobe. Asha was born and spent a part of her childhood in one of the villages in Kobe and she
visited that place with her father. After that, she visits Taipei where her father teaches her Hindi
and English which she finds to be very hard to learn. She speaks again and again about dedicating
and sacrificing her life for her country, and she is self-aware that her Japanese education has a greatrole in this, as Japanese education is deeply concerned with patriotism and nationalism. She tries
to gather up her fortitude by thinking “I am a soldier of Netaji. I must obey his commands. It isforbidden to ask the reason behind any of his orders.” While staying there, she and her father havea close call with a machine gun bullet that burst into their room. She also meets an elite Kamikaze
Special Attack Unit. She states that she revered them and thought of them as almost divine beings.
She witnessed the ritual of sending them off and interacted with their captain. They sacrificed
themselves the next day in a Kamikaze attack upon the enemy, but this interaction left a deep
impression on Asha’s mind and made her feel more resolute about her duty. Whenever she visits atemple, she prays for the victory of the selfless heroes fighting for freedom within the country orabroad.
After a certain period, she began her training to be an active soldier of the INA and a freedom
fighter in Bangkok. In a diary entry dated 1945, she writes that Burma was being dominated by
the British and the soldiers of the INA were suffering atrocities for their resistance. Netaji’s speech
about it on the radio is also recorded within the diary entry. She also relates witnessing how theINA was facing internal doubts. Men and soldiers were asking Netaji about their futures andfamilies which she then deemed to be cowardly. Netaji asks her to stay with the family of Panditji
and she reflects in hindsight that this was her last encounter with Netaji, which she did not know
2The War Diary of Asha-san: From Tokyo to Netaji’s Indian National Army (Das)then. However, before she could move to Pandit Raghunath Sharma’s house, the regiment wasimprisoned at the camp and their rifles were confiscated. After she moves into Panditji’s house she
painstakingly learns Hindi and typing to pass her days while hearing different kinds of rumors
about ceasefires and the resumption of war.
On August 8, 1945, Asha learns about the atomic bomb attack on Japan which stuns her in its
horrendousness. A week later on August 15, Japan’s surrender is announced through Radio Tokyoand her short diary entry poignantly captures the aftermath of the surrender in the minds of thecommon Japanese people. A few days later she hears of the death of Netaji, but she considers it to bea rumor and courageously goes through her days until she is reunited with her father in 1946. Shelearns about the experiences of her father and her uncle Satyadev Sashay. They received permission
to return to India and they reached Calcutta on June 23, 1946. She is later reunited with her mother
who tells her in detail about her experiences after Netaji’s death. Sati Sashay was part of the small
group of people who took Netaji’s ashes to the Renkoji Temple. The memoir of Asha Sahay ends inan independent India where she is reunited with her mother and her siblings, from whom she wasestranged for a long time.
The main memoir is then followed by portions like the translator’s note and the charactersketches. The character sketches are small biographical notes provided on the members of the Sahay
family and key figures of the INA. The translator’s note on the other hand portrays the various
decisions that she took while undertaking the task. She is in fact a close relative of Asha Sahay, andis the wife of the grandson of Asha Sahay.
She writes that the original diary which was written in Japanese was the best version, buta Hindu translation of the Japanese text done by Asha Sahay herself survived and this English
translation was mostly based on that version. She also states that some of the dates recorded in thediary are a bit inconsistent but does her best to try to supplement it with the benefit of hindsight.
The book ends with a proclamation of the Provisional Government of “Azad Hind.” Since this is adiary text which relies heavily on the function of memory, it leaves a lot of room for exploration andfurther research into the genre, while becoming an important record of the events that took placeat that time. The personal reflections and observations of Asha Sahay are translated in a way thatis easy to read, yet it is a moving account of a young teenage girl’s journey from faraway Japan toIndia while holding her dedication to her mother country close to her heart.

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