malla was born in july 1913 at doiwala near dehradun, into a khas thakuri/chhetri family of indian gorkhas. he was the eldest son of nb sub ganga malla. in 1930, when mahatma gandhi was leading the countrymen for independence through dandi march, malla was a student in class nine. though he was young, he caught everybody's attention by his outbursts in public against the british. in 1931, when he was 18 years old, he moved to dharamshala and got enrolled in 2/1 gorkha rifles. his patriotism brought him close to the indian national army of netaji subhas chandra bose.