Subhas in Mandalay jail (contd-3)

In April 1925, Sarat Chandra Bose went to Mandalay s-tosee his brother in wooden prison.This gave him a better  knowledge of Subhas' life in Jail, his needs and complaints.
Subhas wrote a letter to her daughter-in-law (wife of Sarat Chandra Bose )
" Our household is not of mean size. The family consists of nine members.But needless to add, they are men.If we include servants etc we are no less than twenty. We live in a small jail within the big jail. The inmates, master or servant, may not mix with the rest of the prisoners. In our household there are all kinds of people, cook, cook's mate, cleaner, sweeper, etc. Apart from living quarters , this small jail also contains a kitchen, a tank, a tnnis court etc. The bathroom is under construction for the past six months.....Here we have a household but no house wife.In the absence of a house wife we have appointed a manager -  needless to say, he is a prisoner without trial like the rest of us. He keeps accounts ; he draws up daily marketing lists. This great family is at his beck and call.We hold him responsible for our food and clothing  and do not hesitatde to take him to task when food is bad. We have named our household - so and so's hotel."
The servants of the class A and B political prisoners were chosen by the authorities from among the ordinary convict. Meeting and interacting with them was valuable and instructive to Subhas who wrote,
" I have now ceased to have any bad feelings about convicts.Many of them are compelled by circumstances or distress to commit crime and many get sentenced without any guilt. Many of them are warm hearted and I have no doubt whatever that in a healthy environment they became good citizens."
He wrote to some of his friends, "men eat molasseswhen honey is scarce."
Subhas began to learn about the Burmese and Burma. He wrote in the Indian Struggle,
"From one of the state prisoners ...we took our first lessons in the Burmese language. I was not there long before I developed a strong liking for the Burmese people.There is something in them which one cannot help liking them. They are exceedingly warm-hearted , frank, and jovial in their temperament . They are of course quick-tempered. .....What struck me greatly was the innate artistic sense which every Burman has. If they have any faults , it is their extreme naivete and absence of all feeling against foreighners.".
Mandalay had become in the nineteenth century one of the most important handicraft centers in all of Burma and this may have led Bose to stress the artistic sense of all Burmans. It remains today a flourishing handicraft centers where local artisans turn out intricate painted designs and beautifully carved Buddhas. He wrote to his friend Dilip Roy,

" Burma is many respects a wonderful country and my study of Burmese  life and civilisation is furnishing me with many new ideas.Their various short comings not withstanding. I consider the Burmese - like the Chinese - to be considerably advanced from a social point of view.What they do lack is most probably initiative - what Bergson would call " elan vital" - the vital impulse to overcome all obstacles and march along the road to progress......:" .