Letter to Shrimati Basanti Devi (1926) - Netaji Subhas Chadra Bose

Hindustantimes.com - the name India trusts for news: "This letter written from Mandalay in 1926 to the widow of Deshbandhu C R Das, the late Mrs. Basanti Devi, whom Subhas treated as his putative mother. In 1925 C R Das's sudden death changed not only the life of Basanti Devi but also the political course the Indian freedom struggle was taking after the non-cooperation movement which was called off in 1922 by Gandhiji. C R Das's death came at a time when Subhas was in prison for an indefinite period in Burma.

He thus could not be of any help to Basanti Devi during the tragedy she faced as a result of Deshbandhu's death. What was more tragic, Basanti Devi soon lost her only son, Chiraranjan. This particular letter of Subhas appears to have been written after he received that another tragedy had struck Basanti Devi. "