God’s Beloved Land 39Subhas was not delighted at the prospect of joining the ICS. “Given
talents, with a servile spirit,” he wrote with some sarcasm, “one may
even aspire to be the Chief Secretary of a provincial Government.” His
temperament, which fed on “eccentric” ideas, was not well suited to
easily accepting a life of “worldly comfort.” “Life loses half its interest if
there is no struggle—if there are no risks to be taken,” he told his elder
brother. He was emphatic that “national and spiritual aspirations” were
“not compatible with obedience to Civil Service conditions.” His father
was “sure to be hostile” to his idea of declining to enter the ser vice, and
he had not yet decided on the path of disobedience. If he were “given
the option,” Subhas would be “the last man to join the Indian Civil Ser-
vice.” An ICS man was naturally the recipient of many marriage pro-
posals, and many poured in for Subhas. “If the ghataks [matchmakers]
come to trouble you again,” he instructed his elder brother, “you can
ask them straight away to take a right about turn and march off.”^57
Subhas had to contend with the argument that some Indians, such
as Romesh Chunder Dutt, the economic historian and critic of colonial
policies, had done a lot of good work despite being a member of the
civil ser vice. He felt, however, that a question of principle was involved,
and he just could not countenance being a part of the machinery that
had “outlived the days of its usefulness” and was now associated with
“conservatism, selfish power, heartlessness, and red- tapism.” The choice
before him seemed clear. He must either “chuck this rotten ser vice” or
“bid adieu to all [my] ideals and aspirations.” He did not care that
many of his relatives would “howl” when they heard his rash proposal
not to join the ser vice. “But I have faith in your idealism,” he wrote to
Sarat, “and that is why I am appealing to you.” He alluded to the Oaten
incident and recalled the moral support his brother had given him on
that occasion. He was now going to write to his father seeking his con-
sent, and wanted his barrister brother to plead his case.^58
Subhas faced a profound psychological dilemma in deciding whether
to defy his father on the ICS question. He informed Sarat that he had
sought the permission of their father and mother to take “the vow of
poverty and ser vice.” He found the “very principle” of working for an
alien bu reau cracy “intensely repugnant.” The path blazed by Auro-
bindo Ghose, the revolutionary of the Swadeshi era, appeared to him