One Man and a World at War 187gested some changes to the escape plan. He was not happy that a young
woman, namely Ila, might have to bear the brunt of the police zulm
(“crackdown”) after the escape; he wanted a male cousin, Dwijen, to
help with the cover- up at home after Subhas’s departure.
In all his conversations and correspondence with friends, relatives,
and po lit i cal associates, Subhas spoke of his impending return to jail.
His excellent contacts enabled him to obtain a con fi den tial government
file on British of fi cials’ plans for dealing with him, and to return the file
after perusing its contents. Meanwhile, Sisir observed the behavior of
the police assigned to watch the house. They had set themselves up
on a charpoi (four- legged platform) at the corner of Elgin Road and
Woodburn Road, where they could keep an eye on both Bose houses.
They paced up and down the streets during the day, but tended to pre-
fer the comfort of their blankets on their charpoi during the cool win-
ter nights. Not even the letters exchanged between Subhas Chandra
Bose and Mahatma Gandhi could evade the prying eyes of the colonial
state. On December 23, 1940, Bose wrote to Gandhi offering his un-
conditional support to any movement the Mahatma might lead in the
cause of India’s in de pen dence. On December 29, Gandhi replied that
until one of them could convert the other on the question of the best
way to pursue Inde pen dence, they must “sail in different boats”: “You
are irrepressible whether ill or well,” Bapu wrote to his rebellious son.
“Do get well before going in for fireworks.”^14 On January 3, 1941, the
government censors opened and read this letter.^15 Little did they know
that the rebel had already completed preparations for his “fireworks”
and was simply waiting for the right moment to light the fuse.
Respectful of all religious traditions, Subhas, in his personal life, was
especially devoted to the Supreme Being in the form of the mother
goddess. One evening, on Subhas’s instructions, Sisir drove Ila to the
Kali temple at Dakshineswar, where she was to seek the divine mother’s
blessings for their endeavor. Subhas gave Sisir just over two days’ notice
of the date of the escape. Sisir delivered the bedroll to Elgin Road; he
took back two editions of the Holy Quran and some medicines, to pack
into the attaché case at Woodburn Park. On the night before the es-
cape, he discovered that the suitcase he had bought was too big for the
Wanderer and he had to replace it with a smaller one. This involved