PVLF 2025

Book Launch of "THE WAR DIARY OF ASHA-SAN From Tokyo to Netaji's Indian National Army", by Lt Bharati 'Asha' Sahay Choudhry Translated by Tanvi Srivastava

Organized by Harper Collins India
on Mar 14, 2023

HarperCollins India hosted the book launch for The War Diary of Asha San on 9th March at India International Centre in the presence of the extraordinary Asha san herself.

During the book launch, Sanjay Chowdhry, the son of Asha-san, guided everyone through the panel and provided the context into the Sahays. Tanvi Srivastava, the translator of the book, shared her experience of translating the book and the process she went through. The discussion that followed was interesting. Following an excerpt from the book that was read aloud by Rana Safvi, Netaji's biographer Bhuvan Lall spoke.

Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha delivered the keynote speech, a highlight of the evening. The event culminated with the book launch, followed by a delightful surprise when Asha-san signed 'kadam kadam badhaye ja' for the audience present. Overall, it was an enlightening and entertaining evening.

Lt Bharati 'Asha' Sahay Choudhry, says, "When I originally wrote the Hindi version of my war memoirs in 1972, it was from scraps of paper and my memories of my tumultuous teenage years in Japan, the country of my birth, in the 1940s. That it has now been translated into English by my granddaughter-in-law, Tanvi, is especially gratifying—she has been able to capture my emotions and the passion of those days. I have always wanted today's youth to know the sacrifices of those freedom fighters who gave us a free India. While this book is a personal story, it encapsulates the history of our struggle for freedom. I hope the love for India will propel our youth to make it a 'sone ki chiriya' (golden bird) again. I hope The War Diary of Asha-san is read by every young Indian, especially our girls."

Tanvi Srivastava says, "It is an honour to share The War Diary of Asha-san with a new generation of readers. Translating this book, however, was a fortuitous accident. Sometime last year, I read an article by Jhumpa Lahiri advising emerging writers to try their hand at translation, treating it as a form of 'literary apprenticeship'. On my bookshelf were my grandmother-in-law's war memoirs, and I thought translating it would be a good way of getting to know her better while improving my craft. Little did I know then that translation is all about discovery—discovering Asha-san's state of mind, discovering myself as a writer and translator, and discovering the story's historical context—the remarkable world of the Azad Hind Government. It was a privilege to research the Indian National Army and to learn about young men and women like Asha-san who sacrificed everything for Netaji's idea of an independent India—an inclusive, pluralistic India."

ABOUT THE BOOK

In June 1943, seventeen-year-old Bharati' Asha' Sahay, a headstrong Indian teenager living in Japan during the Second World War, decides to join the Rani of the Jhansi Regiment of the Indian National Army after meeting Subhas Chandra Bose. She starts to jot down her thoughts in a diary and thus begins one of the most significant personal accounts of the Indian freedom movement.

With her father, Anand Mohan Sahay—a close companion of Bose—and others committed to the cause of Indian independence, Asha forges a path that takes her from war-torn Tokyo to the jungles of Thailand. She learns how to hold a rifle and shoot the enemy and discovers what it means to be a patriot fighting for the liberation of a country she has no memories of but carries deep in her heart.

Written in Japanese between 1943 and 1947 and translated into English for the first time by Tanvi Srivastava, The War Diary of Asha-san is a memoir of courage, honour and love by a young girl who must grow up quickly amid war.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND THE TRANSLATOR

Lt Bharati 'Asha' Sahay Choudhry was born in Kobe, Japan, in 1928 and joined the Rani of Jhansi Regiment of the Indian National Army at the age of seventeen. Her father, Anand Mohan Sahay, was a minister in the cabinet of the Azad Hind Government and a political adviser to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Asha is currently ninety-four years old and lives in Patna with her son, Sanjay

Tanvi Srivastava is a fiction writer who has published short stories online and in print. She is also a travel entrepreneur specializing in African expeditions. Tanvi is married to Asha's grandson and lives with her two wild children in Bangalore.