Brij Nandan Singh at Tata Central Hospital, Jamadoba, on Friday. Picture by Gautam Dey

Dhanbad, Jan. 22: He took care of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose for seven months while the leader was staying here and occasionally they would even play chess, but his service to the freedom fighter is hardly known.

Brij Nandan Singh, 95, who joined as a peon at Tata Steel’s Jharia division in 1940, recalled the days spent with Netaji in 1940. He said: “Unlike the present leaders, Netaji was very down to earth and did not mind sitting with party workers and revolutionaries on the floor while holding meetings.”

Born at Gyanpur Simaria village in Bihar’s Bhojpur district, Singh is now lying on bed No. 18 of the surgical ward of Tata Central Hospital, Jamadoba, after he fell down at home while going to the toilet about a week ago.

Netaji’s younger brother, Sudhir Chandra Bose, who was in a senior position of Tata Steel’s Jharia division, arranged for his stay at the company guest house, as he was ill. And Singh was deputed to look after the leader at the guest houe.

“Even as Netaji remained underground, he used to attend several meetings with nationalists at the guesthouse in the evenings. A huge meeting was also held at the Jorapokhar police station ground,” Singh said, aided by his elder son, Vishwanath, also posted at the Jamadoba-based central store of Tata Steel.

“Netaji used to rest during the day and attended a few meetings when he felt well in the evenings otherwise he played chess with me,” Singh said.

“Several leaders, including Bihar’s first chief minister, Sri Krishna Singh, visited Jamadoba during the seven-month stay of Netaji,” recalled Singh, adding that top trade union leaders also met Netaji as he was also the Tata Labour Association president from 1929 to 1937.

“Some of Netaji’s relatives, including nephew Shib Kumar Bose, who was posted at Barari Coke Plant, also visited him,” said Singh.

In 2005, Netaji’s descendants felicitated him during a national conference of the Forward Bloc here.