Buddha Bose A Peek into the Past

April 1983 saw the passing away of a great yoga pioneer of Calcutta, maybe of

India. Buddha Bose passed away quietly in a Calcutta hospital at the ripe age of

beyond seventy years. He had cured many an illness through yoga and quietly

tried to make it a popular choice for cure among the ordinary citizens of India for

more than forty decades before he closed his eyes.

I knew him from 1973 to 1982 and had the good fortune to be quite close to him

because I was his eldest daughter-in-law. I am in the evening of my life, maybe

even twilight and felt this urge to write some memoirs of people who influenced

me in some ways Buddha Bose (Baba) was one of them. Whatever is written here

is what I can remember from his narration of his life in small snippets and at that

time I had decided to write about his childhood and emergence as yoga expert.

He had been quite excited about the prospect, but unfortunately, life had more in

store for me before I could put pen to paper seriously.

He was born to an English mother and an Indian, Bengali father. His mother was a

niece to the then archbishop of Canterbury; her maiden name was Amy Johnson.

His fathers name was Raja Bose, a resident of north Calcutta, who had gone to

England to study. Raja Bose became enthralled by Houdini and his magic tricks

and worked as an assistant on the stage for sometime. Amy Johnson fell in love

with the dashing Raja Bose on one such magic show.

Raja Bose had been married at home to a Bengali girl before he departed for

England; obviously he was not happy with the arranged alliance and the marriage

was not consummated or so it seems. Where and how Amy Johnson and Raja Bose

got married was never revealed by Baba but before sailing back to India the

couple became proud parents to a daughter and a son. The daughter, Poppy was

the first child and Baba was the second child born to Raja and Amy Bose.

Baba had said that on reaching Calcutta port his English mother, his sister and he

were put up at the Great Eastern Hotel by his father before he went home. Every

morning from the next day on Raja Bose would take the hackney carriage to come

to the hotel and spend time with his family. Evenings he would return to his home

duly. These daily excursions aroused suspicion in Buddha Boses grandfather, who

made it a point to follow his son one day. After discovering that he was already a

grandfather of two beautiful grandchildren, he brought the mother and two kids to

live with the family in the family home.

Soon a younger brother David was born and on the same day a boy, Ambar was

born to the Bengali wife of Raja Bose. Apparently, Babas English mother could not

digest this fact and insisted on returning to England. She wrote to her father, who

sent a two penny coin and expressed his feelings with the sentence I care

tuppence for you. As Amy Bose was determined to go back to England her Indian

father-in-law arranged the fare but requested for one of the grandchildren to be

left behind with him Buddha Bose was chosen to remain with his grandfather. His

mother refused to keep her daughter with the Indian family as she did not expect

them to bring up a girl properly and David was too small to be separated from his

mother. Baba said he was only three and a half years old at that time when he was

left behind by his mother.

Baba said he was distraught and upset at the departure of his mother but the

Bengali mother took him under her wing and looked after him as her own. He was

British fair and his skin pigmentation stood out among the darker Indians wherever

he went. The color became a stigma as in those days most Hindu Indians

considered anyone outside their particular caste as rejects or mlechhas. So when

young Buddha Bose went to friends place he was made to stand outside the

house; if he requested for water he would be served in a copper tumbler which

would be thrown in the dustbin after he drank. Events took a nasty turn when he

with his half-brother, Ambar, went to the Bengali mothers parental home on some

invitation. As is usual in such occasions, the children were made to sit down to

dinner before the adults were served; Baba sat down to eat with the other kids.

The Bengali mothers elder brother came to check on the serving and found young

Buddha sitting among the children; he got furious and pulled him by his ears and

shouted how he dare sit with the rest at the same table. Baba said this incident

brought out the ferocious maternal instincts in his Bengali mother who took hold

of both the kids and rushed out, never to go back to her parents place again.

Baba was growing up in the family home but some things disturbed him to the

extent he decided to leave home. He said he would feel terribly frustrated to

witness his fathers violent eruptions on his Bengali mother at nights when he

would come home drunk. Baba felt helpless as he could not intervene or stop the

daily madness. By this time Baba had become acquainted with Bishnu Charan

Ghosh and his body building and yoga culture. He found a place to stay at the

Ghoshs College of Physical Education and excelled in the physical expositions. It

is here he got acquainted with Sri Sri Swami Sri Yukyeswar Giris disciple Swami

Yogananda, elder brother of Bishnu Charan Ghosh.

Babas life took a turn for the better from here. He joined the Calcutta Corporation

and received a salary of one rupee and soon even managed to start a business

named Amerind. His sanitary ware business took him to America and England

quite often and in one of these trips he had gone to meet his English mother. It

must have been an intensely emotional moment in his life because Baba stopped

relating anything further that day to me; he was choked with emotions.

Later Baba told me how his mother survived with his sister and brother in an

England where she was rejected by the church as well. Amy Bose found shelter in

an attic room above a shop where she worked for the owners. As the children were

still small she had to lock them up in the room while she went to work. Baba never

told me if and when Poppy and David became Christians, neither am I aware of

other details of their lives, except they were married with children. I met Davids

son Geoffrey when he came to Calcutta on his way to England from Zambia, he

resembled my husband Ashok strongly.

Meanwhile, Bishnu Charan Ghoshs eldest daughter, Ava Rani was in her early

teens and the family was looking for a proper match for the budding youngster.

After looking high and low for the perfect groom, it dawned on Ava Ranis

grandfather that the ideal match was right under their nose Buddha Bose. There

was a good gap of fifteen years between the prospective bride and groom but the

alliance was made with everyones blessings. Baba and Mamoni (Ava Rani Bose)

lived their entire married life at the same house, where they also had three children

two boys and one girl.

Baba continued doing his business and in one of his flights back to India, the

Panam Airlines plane crashed into the Beirut desert and burst into flames. The

horror was still evident in his eyes while he related the accident. He said when he

regained consciousness he realized he was immobilized and quite sunken into the

hot desert sand; he looked around to see his co-passenger Mr.Goenka was also in

a similar state. Fire was raging, people were screaming, he could hear the painful

cries of small kids who were also traveling in the plane. All of a sudden he saw the

notorious Beirut bandits emerge from nowhere on horses and start looting the

completely helpless passengers. He still remembered how the bandits snatched

the earrings off a womans ears while she was burning and crying out for help. He

remembered with horror how a pregnant womans stomach burst and threw out

the unborn baby.

The accident damaged Babas spine and Mr.Goenkas leg. The airlines managed to

rescue the surviving passengers and did everything possible to heal the injured.

Ultimately, the American doctors provided Baba with a belt to support his spine;

the belt had to be worn for the rest of his life.

On his return to India and home, Baba was constrained and could not continue

with his work as before. He said at this point he felt the urge to go to Kailas

Mansarovar; a dangerous mission in those days, both as a route and also because

it was in Chinese territory. He managed to reach Kailas Parvat. His said one day he

sat in meditation for hours without wearing the belt and as usual went to bathe in

the freezing water. He finished his bath and just walked on to his tent and did not

realize he was not wearing the belt until his helper and guide pointed it out. Baba

said ever since then he did not need to wear the belt and stored it carefully.

Baba went back to Kailash and Mansarovar and Amarnath many times after that

and even filmed one of his pilgrim trips. He even held private shows in the city on

his return for many of the Calcutta residents, who were awed to see the holy places

in reels. Rumors were abounding in those days that some foreigner had filmed it

and this Bengali was taking the credit. Unfortunately, people were not aware of

Babas English blood line and his skin color, so in a scene where his hand came in

front of the camera, it was naturally deduced it was the work of a foreign hand.

I came to know Baba when he had already established Yoga Cure Institute and was

always dressed in either dhoti and panjabi or saffron colored lungi and a white

kurta. I remember his sparkling white feet either barefoot or slipped into a pair of

black leather sandal. The feet were worthy of doing pranam to receive his

blessings. I used to sit in the consulting room where he would question the

members/patients and listen carefully to his detailed mode of queries. I learnt

what, how and when to ask and find out the problem with the person. I learnt every

individual had an individual constitution and the same ailment in two people

needed different asana. I learnt by watching and listening how to make a chart and

how to teach asana and pranayam. This learning gave me the knowledge

necessary to help many ladies later in life, by Gods grace. One other ting I

received from Baba was the Bhagvad Gita he gave it to me and asked me to start

by reading the third chapter. I did so for many years and then went on to read the

Gita in full. I have continued reading ten stanzas from this rich book of knowledge

to this day.

Baba never advertised or promoted his Yoga Cure Institute; people came in

through word of mouth. That itself explains his expertise in the field and the

sincerity with which he pursued this healing process to help others in pain.

Everyone called him Guruji and he initiated many into kriya yoga, that he had

learnt from Swami Yogananda.

I remember Babas twinkling black eyes and his quirky sense of humour. During

the period I was there he had picked up the f word from somewhere and kept

laughing at the funny sound of the word. Yes, one could discuss anything and

everything with him, irrespective of ones age. He made you feel comfortable and

secure to open your heart to him easily.

Chitralekha Shalom

D/o Late Gyanendra Chandra & Bela Deb (Sharma)