Introduction - Great heroes are worshipped in every country. There are many such heroes in every country. People have greater liking for this hero or that. In our country many great patriots. They sacrificed their lives for the freedom of their motherland. We may mention the name of Rana Pratap. He was a great national hero. He sacrificed everything for the freedom of his country. In the present age also many great heroes were born in India. They sacrificed their lives for the freedom of India. We remember their names with love and respect.
My favourite hero - Among these great heroes of modern India, the name of Netaji Subhash Chandra comes uppermost in my mind. I like him most. He is my favourite national hero. His life is a great ideal to us. It inspires every Indian with ardent patriotism.
Why he is my favourite hero - Very few Indians can be compared with Netaji Subhash. He was born in a rich and aristocratic family. He became a member of the Indian Civil Service. That was probably the highest ambition of most Indian students during the British rule in India. But Netaji Subhash was not satisfied with this. He did not like the bite of luxury and pleasure. He chose the difficult path of serving the motherland. He took the vow of freeing his beloved motherland from the bondage of foreign rule. He resigned his imperial service. He did not care for rank and wealth. He joined the movement of the Indian National Congress under Deshbandhu Chittaranjan. He reaped the fruit of his service to the motherland. He struggled hard to free India from the British rule. And for this he had to suffer much all through his life. He was sent to prison. He was externed. He was interned in his own home. But no hardship could daunt his spirit.
He followed his ideal with wonderful zeal. He did what he thought to be right. In this respect he did not yield even to Gandhiji. Perhaps we cannot mention any other eminent leader who had the courage to oppose Gandhiji. But Netaji did it because he had the courage of conviction. He felt that in certain respects he was right and Gandhiji was wrong and he had the courage to say this. His courage won the admiration of all. He became President of the Indian National Congress. But he had to resign presidentship for his fault of opposing Gandhiji. He preferred this. Still he would not sacrifice his firm faith in his policy of fighting for the freedom of his beloved motherland.
During the last Great War, he left India in disguise and went to Germany and Japan. He hoped to free India with the help of those countries. He had a wonderful power of organisation. This has been noticed all through his life. He raised an army and called it Indian National Army. It is briefly known as I.N.A. With this army, he fought against the powerful British Government at Imphal in Manipur. But owing to many adverse circumstances, his attempt was not successful. But his noble example inspired all freedom-loving people and particularly the young men of India. This I.N.A. and Jai Hind every memorable in the history of India. The members of the I.N.A. called him Netaji and henceforth he is known as Netaji Subhash. After his failure, he left for Japan in an aeroplane. It is said that he met his death from the crashing of that aeroplane. But many Indians still believe that he is not dead. He is living in disguise in China or Russia.
The life of Netaji Subhash Chandra isa bright example of wonderful patriotism, indomitable spirit, undaunted courage of conviction, miraculous power of organisation, and loftiness of character. All these virtues appeal to me most and hence I regard him as my favourite national hero.