Jai Hind: The Story of Lt. Rama Khandwala of Netaji Subhas Bose Azad Hind Fauj

Book excerpt: In 1943, Rama Mehta, a 17 year-old girl living in Rangoon, Burma, joined the Rani of Jhansi Regiment, history's first all-women military unit. This regiment, part of the Indian National Army (INA), was organized by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose as part of his campaign to free India from British rule with the aid of the Japanese Army. In Jai Hind, Rama Khandwala nee Mehta tells what it was like to undertake military training with the Ranis, rise to the rank of second lieutenant, and then work on the front lines as a nurse during some of the toughest fighting of World War II. For a young girl who had never before left her family home, the experience of treating badly wounded soldiers, some with missing limbs, proved harrowing. British bombers once made a direct hit on her unit's camp in northern Burma, just missing Lt. Rama Mehta and her fellow Ranis. After the war, because of her service in the INA, the British placed her under house arrest in Rangoon for six months. In December 1946, she and her family left most of their belongings behind and fled to India, which achieved its independence on August 15, 1947. Jai Hind offers a unique and very personal look into this nearly forgotten episode in Indian history. To provide historical context, the author also relates the story of Netaji Subhas Chanda Bose himself. Bose reportedly died in a plane crash in August 1945 but his leadership of the INA during the war helped influence the British decision to abandon India.