Mihir Bose's Blog, page 19
April 24, 2017
The Tribune’s review of An Indian Spy – the Indian edition of Silver, Mihir’s latest book
To read the review please click on the image
April 22, 2017
Who was Bhagat Ram Talwar? A journalist-writer tells us another fascinating chapter of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s life
The Hindu
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose is a fascinating, and an unusual, historical figure who combines charisma and mystery, a deadly cocktail that has spurred a flourishing industry of books, essays, documentaries, films and endless discussions. Even seven decades after he disappeared, Bose continues his unusual exuberant journey stoking Indian pride and imagination.
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose is a fascinating, and an unusual, historical figure who combines charisma and mystery, a deadly cocktail that has spurred a flourishing industry of books, essays, documentaries, films and endless discussions. Even seven decades after he disappeared, Bose continues his unusual exuberant journey stoking Indian pride and imagination.
April 10, 2017
Excerpt from The Indian Spy: World War II Had Many Spies, But None That Matched This Pathan
He helped Bose who was seeking help from Germany and Japan to free India escape from the country via Kabul, and that was all even Bose knew of this man, who in reality was betraying Bose to the British.
Bhagat Ram Talwar, the only quintuple spy of World War II, whose spymaster Peter Fleming gave him the code name Silver, was spying for Britain, Italy, Germany, Japan and the USSR, all at the same time without any of them having a whiff of it. While the best of spies with all their skill stayed put in one city, this deceptive Pathan shuttled between Kabul and India, 24 times, that too on foot.
Bhagat Ram Talwar, the only quintuple spy of World War II, whose spymaster Peter Fleming gave him the code name Silver, was spying for Britain, Italy, Germany, Japan and the USSR, all at the same time without any of them having a whiff of it. While the best of spies with all their skill stayed put in one city, this deceptive Pathan shuttled between Kabul and India, 24 times, that too on foot.
Excerpt from An Indian Spy: World War II Had Many Spies, But None That Matched This Pathan
He helped Bose who was seeking help from Germany and Japan to free India escape from the country via Kabul, and that was all even Bose knew of this man, who in reality was betraying Bose to the British.
Bhagat Ram Talwar, the only quintuple spy of World War II, whose spymaster Peter Fleming gave him the code name Silver, was spying for Britain, Italy, Germany, Japan and the USSR, all at the same time without any of them having a whiff of it. While the best of spies with all their skill stayed put in one city, this deceptive Pathan shuttled between Kabul and India, 24 times, that too on foot.
Bhagat Ram Talwar, the only quintuple spy of World War II, whose spymaster Peter Fleming gave him the code name Silver, was spying for Britain, Italy, Germany, Japan and the USSR, all at the same time without any of them having a whiff of it. While the best of spies with all their skill stayed put in one city, this deceptive Pathan shuttled between Kabul and India, 24 times, that too on foot.
April 5, 2017
Excerpt from The Indian Spy, Mihir’s book about the most extraordinary spy of World War II
Bhagat Ram Talwar, a Hindu Pathan, spied for as many as five countries: Britain, Italy, Germany, Japan and the USSR.
On the afternoon of 22 February 1941, a small, clean-shaven, nondescript man, whom one British official described as “unattractive of appearance”, walked down an alleyway in Kabul and knocked on the back door of the Italian Embassy. Afghanistan was a neutral country, the war far away from its borders and, despite having started 17 months earlier, it was not quite a world war yet. The Nazis were supreme in Europe, with only Britain holding out.
On the afternoon of 22 February 1941, a small, clean-shaven, nondescript man, whom one British official described as “unattractive of appearance”, walked down an alleyway in Kabul and knocked on the back door of the Italian Embassy. Afghanistan was a neutral country, the war far away from its borders and, despite having started 17 months earlier, it was not quite a world war yet. The Nazis were supreme in Europe, with only Britain holding out.
Excerpt from An Indian Spy, Mihir’s book about the most extraordinary spy of World War II
Bhagat Ram Talwar, a Hindu Pathan, spied for as many as five countries: Britain, Italy, Germany, Japan and the USSR.
On the afternoon of 22 February 1941, a small, clean-shaven, nondescript man, whom one British official described as “unattractive of appearance”, walked down an alleyway in Kabul and knocked on the back door of the Italian Embassy. Afghanistan was a neutral country, the war far away from its borders and, despite having started 17 months earlier, it was not quite a world war yet. The Nazis were supreme in Europe, with only Britain holding out.
On the afternoon of 22 February 1941, a small, clean-shaven, nondescript man, whom one British official described as “unattractive of appearance”, walked down an alleyway in Kabul and knocked on the back door of the Italian Embassy. Afghanistan was a neutral country, the war far away from its borders and, despite having started 17 months earlier, it was not quite a world war yet. The Nazis were supreme in Europe, with only Britain holding out.
April 4, 2017
Churchill and his views on India extracted from Mihir’s book An Indian Spy, the true story of the most remarkable agent of World War II
BULLDOG'S VIEW
Why did Winston Churchill hate the Hindus and prefer the Muslims?
Bhagat Ram Talwar, later known as Silver, was the only quintuple spy in World War-II, working for the British, Russians, Germans, Italians, and the Japanese. Silver, who identified as a “Hindu Pathan,” was born and raised in the northwest region of the subcontinent bordering Afghanistan. Unlike other spies, he shuttled between Kabul and India, traversing the tribal territories where Winston Churchill fought his first war. That experience would go on to establish the British prime minister’s opinions about Hindus and Muslims.
Why did Winston Churchill hate the Hindus and prefer the Muslims?
Bhagat Ram Talwar, later known as Silver, was the only quintuple spy in World War-II, working for the British, Russians, Germans, Italians, and the Japanese. Silver, who identified as a “Hindu Pathan,” was born and raised in the northwest region of the subcontinent bordering Afghanistan. Unlike other spies, he shuttled between Kabul and India, traversing the tribal territories where Winston Churchill fought his first war. That experience would go on to establish the British prime minister’s opinions about Hindus and Muslims.
March 30, 2017
Review of The Indian Spy, the Indian edition of Mihir’s latest book, Silver
To read the review in the Business Standard, Kolkata please go to the post
March 29, 2017
Letter to the Times
LOVE OF BRITISH RULE
Sir, Contrary to Victoria Bagshaw’s belief (letter, Mar 25), Ramsay MacDonald did not love India, he loved the idea of the British ruling India. In The Awakening of India he wrote: “For many a long year British sovereignty will be necessary for India . . . Britain is the nurse of India. Deserted by her guardian, India would be the prey of disruptive elements within herself as well as victims of her own too-enthusiastic worshippers.”
Not many Indians today would care for Theresa May posing as a “nurse” come to look after a sick India.
Mihir Bose
London W6
Sir, Contrary to Victoria Bagshaw’s belief (letter, Mar 25), Ramsay MacDonald did not love India, he loved the idea of the British ruling India. In The Awakening of India he wrote: “For many a long year British sovereignty will be necessary for India . . . Britain is the nurse of India. Deserted by her guardian, India would be the prey of disruptive elements within herself as well as victims of her own too-enthusiastic worshippers.”
Not many Indians today would care for Theresa May posing as a “nurse” come to look after a sick India.
Mihir Bose
London W6
Tamasha on the seas
Indians love tamasha, a rich word which means fun, frolic, excitement and surprise all rolled into one. The Indian Premier League, the world’s richest cricket league, is great tamasha, as are Bollywood movies. Between 3rd and 5th March the sea front in south Mumbai, which saw powerboat racing come to the country for the first time, provided the latest tamasha. The only problem for the organisers was that, unlike Bollywood movies where the surprise comes at the end, here the tamasha’s surprise came even before the event had begun and very nearly stopped this grandly titled Indian Grand Prix of the Seas being staged.
The first surprise was in February at the press conference being held along Mumbai’s historic sea front, where George V had landed back in 1911. James Durbin, the chief executive of Powerboat P1, was talking to a local television reporter when he saw something that was certainly not in the script: a bulldozer approaching the site. It had been sent by the city’s Municipal Corporation, which claimed that Procam, the local organiser, had not paid dues of UK£326,190 for organising the Mumbai Marathon the previous month. [Procam disputes this]. The bulldozer swiftly demolished the stage that had been built and the chief minister of the local state government of Maharashtra who was on his way to the event, deciding he did not want to be in the path of a JCB, ordered his car to be turned around.
The first surprise was in February at the press conference being held along Mumbai’s historic sea front, where George V had landed back in 1911. James Durbin, the chief executive of Powerboat P1, was talking to a local television reporter when he saw something that was certainly not in the script: a bulldozer approaching the site. It had been sent by the city’s Municipal Corporation, which claimed that Procam, the local organiser, had not paid dues of UK£326,190 for organising the Mumbai Marathon the previous month. [Procam disputes this]. The bulldozer swiftly demolished the stage that had been built and the chief minister of the local state government of Maharashtra who was on his way to the event, deciding he did not want to be in the path of a JCB, ordered his car to be turned around.
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