Dreams of Youth 67in India, however, proved more obdurate than their counterparts in
Ireland. Winning the vote was not suf fi cient to get Subhas out of jail.
Subhas chose to be philosophical about his continued imprison-
ment. “The purpose for which Providence sent me here still remains
unfulfilled,” he wrote to Basanti Devi, “and my apprenticeship in prison
is yet incomplete.” Since he did not accept sannyasa, the asceticism of a
world renouncer, memories of the outside world did cause him sorrow.
But he was prepared to spend his entire life in prison if that was neces-
sary for the good of his motherland.^44 To a po lit i cal comrade, he reiter-
ated that his ideal of ser vice was to give away what he could and ask for
nothing in return. “You have asked about myself—what can I say?” he
wrote. “One of Rabindranath’s poems I like very much. Will it sound
impertinent if I replied to you in the poet’s words?
Who knows when I shall be able
To declare with all my heart:
I have reached my Realization,
Come all, follow me,
The Master is calling you all,
May my life bring forth new life in you all
And thus may my country awake.”^45He could only pray, once again in Tagore’s words, for strength: “Give
unto your chosen one / The strength to carry your banner.”^46
Subhas’s physical strength, however, was steadily dissipating dur-
ing the course of 1926. Low- grade fever was a routine occurrence;
and with the onset of winter, matters came to a head with a serious
attack of broncho- pneumonia. On February 9, 1927, he was sent to
Rangoon Central Jail to be examined by a medical board. His doctor
brother, Sunil Chandra Bose, who was allowed to see him, was shocked
to find that for eigh teen months he had been kept in close proximity to
someone suf fering from tuberculosis; Sunil feared that Subhas may
have contracted the disease. Kaviraj Shyamadas Vachaspati, a famous
Ayurvedic doctor, tried treating him long- distance from Calcutta using
reports he received of the patient’s symptoms. The doctors, including
those approved by the government, recommended against holding the