I was in the 1st division, No 2 guerilla regiment. Our fight on the Kohima front in 1944 is one of the most amazing battles fought in the world. The march from Burma to India was through no man's land.

Nobody in the world could have fought and advanced as far as we did in the face of adversities faced in the treacherous terrain of Imphal.

Our victory more than that of arms was a triumph of the spirit. And the spirit found expression in the resonance of our slogans as we marched ahead, despite shortage of ammunitions and ration, despite illness, despite unending rain, despite our brothers falling down dead beside us.

Our one aim was to free India. We marched on with the slogan on our lips:

Hum dilli, dilli jayenge,
bharat ko azad kareyenge,
marenge aur khud mar jayenge

And it was this spirit which alarmed the British. We had reached so far and had the potential to advance further. And it was then that the British felt that India was escaping their hold. The chain was slipping out of their hands.

I distinctly remember Netaji's words to us when he came to the Bidadhari camp in Singapore in 1943 he said:

We are a revolutionary army. You will fight on your own. There will be no food. And you must learn to seize the opportunity and exist on rations seized from the enemy. We are going into the valley of death. I am not forcing anyone. If you want to come, it is your own will.

Karo sab nichavar,
bano sab fakir,
he called out. And everybody, the civilians, the soldiers gave their all to Netaji.

The morale was high. We were raring to march out and launch forth our mission to free mother India.

When we had nothing to eat, we were told there is a village ahead and the villagers will give you something. We were given thick, red rice covered with the husk. We used to fry the rice in our metal helmets, chew the rice and spit out the husk.