228 HIS MAJESTY’S OPPONENT
a number of talented young men Bose had gathered around him. Most
espoused left- leaning socialist views, even if they were located in war-
time Berlin. When an opportunity presented itself, as it did at the
founding of the Indo- German Society in Hamburg on September 11,
1942, Bose spoke of the bonds of poetry and philosophy between the
two countries. On that occasion, a German orchestra played Tagore’s
song as India’s national anthem—the first time the song was presented
for that purpose. Perhaps Bose was invoking the past world of Goethe
and Schopenhauer, Friedrich Rückert and A. W. Schlegel, Max Müller
and Paul Deussen, as a refuge from the oppressive present of Nazi Ger-
many.^62
More than poetry and philosophy, it was his passionate relationship
with Emilie that had sustained him through the stresses and strains of
his European sojourn. She was constantly by his side in Berlin, from
April 1941 to July 1942. On their visits to Rome, she took him to her
favorite quiet churches; and Badgastein was a rejuvenating retreat for
them, as it had been in the 1930s. Some of Bose’s habits changed in
wartime Europe, but he was unchanged as a human being and in his
single- minded devotion to the mission of his life. He had dropped
some of his earlier inhibitions. His first alcoholic drink was a glass of
vodka in Moscow, following his escape from India. “It burnt me,” he
confessed to Emilie.^63 In Europe he learned to enjoy a glass of wine,
usually red. Beef was no longer forbidden for this devout Hindu. He
also took to smoking cigarettes, to soothe his nerves. The sustained
period of time he and Emilie spent together at their Sophienstrasse
home resulted in Emilie’s pregnancy. In July 1942, when she was five
months pregnant, Emilie left Berlin for Vienna to be with her mother
and sister. Subhas was in any case scheduled to leave for Asia as soon as
travel arrangements could be made. Emilie chose to give birth to their
child in her home city, while Subhas pursued his ultimate mission to
deliver his nation from its occupiers.^64
Since the Germans and the Japanese were unable to make swift ar-
rangements for his submarine voyage to Asia, Bose explored the possi-
bility of seeking Ital ian help once again, to go by air. He was encour-
aged by a successful nonstop Ital ian flight from Rhodes to Rangoon.
While Bose was in Königsbruck inspecting the Indian Legion in early