Experiencing the lighter side of freedom struggle
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NAGPUR: Independence Day and Republic Day are two occasions when we recall the great deeds of our freedom fighters and stories of their bravery. While the freedom fighters happily share the thrilling stories of their time, there is one aspect that is often left out just because they are never asked about it: the humorous side.
TOI spoke to a some senior citizens who were connected with freedom struggle one way or another on this aspect. They shared facets of those times, some funny, some exciting. One of them was Narayanrao Chandpurkar (91), who was known to the British only as the 'cycle boy' till they left the country because they couldn't identify him. Chandpurkar, a member of the Hindustan Red Army was transporting arms, about which he didn't know, when he began to be followed by the police. At one point, he escaped, leaving his cycle and the bag of arms behind. Though the police got hold of the arms, they couldn't ever identify the man and the case was thus registered against 'the cycle boy'.
"A funny incidence happened once when I was taking a walk with my friends near Mahal Kotwali. It was Dussehra and one of my friends said it would be amusing to set off crackers near there. The police over heard this and thought we were planning to set off some bombs," Chandpurkar said.
The police then searched everybody's houses. "My brother somehow got a whiff that the police were coming and tipped me off. He also hid all the pamphlets and other incriminating material," he added.
Prabhakarrao Deshpande, who was in jail for four years in pre-Independence time, narrated some amusing encounters with criminals inside the jail. "Most criminals there were quite petty, but they loved to boast and one could easily make out the lies," he said.
Deshpande, who is also 91 now, said that when he asked a criminal about his amputated hand he got a very interesting reply. "He said that after a dacoity when they were escaping, a policeman got hold of his hand. 'I asked one of my comrades to cut off my hands and we escaped.' I just looked at him and smiled," Deshpande remembered with a grin.
Though 78-year-old Sudhatai Gadkari was too young to go to jail in those times, she shared her own stories as experienced by a six-year-old she was when the freedom struggle was in full swing. "When my father was heading a satyagraha, a large number of policemen led by an English officer TA Wested confronted them. Being a follower of Gandhiji, my father just opened the buttons of his shirt, spread out his hand, ready to take the bullets. The officer was so touched that he didn't even handcuff my father. He held his hands and took him to jail," she said.
After this, her home was always under watch and as she was the youngest she was generally entrusted with the task of passing on messages. "It used to be very exciting," she said with twinkling eyes, adding, "They even used to check the milk delivered to our house. I used to sneak in letters and registers with defiance."
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