Veer Savarkar & 14 Years of Quarantine

Quarantine is not a new word for us anymore. Since last year we have been experiencing the different versions of quarantine in the whole world. And we all know that quarantining for a long time is frustrating & boring in itself. But could you believe it if I tell you a story of a warrior who was quarantined for around 14 years & still survives? But yes this is the real story of Veer Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.

Indeed, we are not even experiencing a version of quarantine that Veer Savarkar had faced thousand times in his period at Cellular Jail, Andaman. But let's have a look on our side of quarantine. We have been in our homes with our family at our ease, enjoying and exploring the new types of cuisines with watching a movie on Netflix, Prime, having hour-long conversations with our friends and family on a video call. Many of us enjoy this quality time with family to some extent.

But this was not the case with Veer Savarkar, on the contrary, he was suffering from the pains of hell, was not able to interact with any human being for many days and, not even having exposure to sunlight. The worst punishment in this confinement was the labor of the oil mill. Normally bulls were used to turn the oil wheel but at the confinement, it was to be carried out by the prisoners as their daily labor. It was mandatory to grind 30 pounds of oil daily. Superintendent Jailer Mr.Barrie forced Barrister Savarkar to that physical torment of turning the oil mill. Many times he was exhausted and fainted while turning the oil wheel. He had experienced fatigue and severe body pain at night. He used to spend the whole night on the wooden plank restlessly.

In this way to free our motherland India, he was ready to face every challenge, ready to bear the pain. Every prisoner at the cellular jail was tortured. There was no humanity. The Prisoners were actually the political leaders, Freedom fighters involved in the freedom struggle against the British Government. They were not the criminals. Indeed they were treated worse than ever.

In Andaman, no prisoners were allowed to talk with each other in the prisons. If they were found talking the superintendent would surely punish them for the offense. Savarkar invented and designed sign language to overcome the ban of verbal communication. Shackles in their hands were used to produce some particular sounds and those sounds were the code words. It was written in Roman script by Vinayak Savarkar and then translated in Devnagari script by his brother, Ganesh Savarkar. The prisoners learned the language and the sound of shackles was heard everywhere. The messages were passed smoothly but the superintendent was confused. He could not understand how the news spread all over without verbal communication between the prisoners. Also, Step by step Savarkar started adult education in the cellular jail. The illiterate prisoners were taught reading and writing by literate ones. Savarkar started teaching history as well. He had collected 2,000 books in the library of Cellular jail.

Freedom looks good, it feels good but have you ever imagined what the price our freedom fighters have paid in order to achieve that freedom. Can you step into their shoes and bear the pain and undergo that struggle. I think it is not possible now.

We creep about our quarantine, saying it's very boring and we can't meet our friends, eat the food we want and stuff. But just imagine the torture experienced by such a great personality who was quarantine for more than a decade. We all should feel gratitude towards the sacrifices of such great people like Sawarkar and other freedom fighters. On his birth anniversary let's take a pledge that no matter how difficult our life be, we will constantly work towards the upliftment of ourselves, our family, our society and the entirety of humanity. Let the sacrifices done by these great personalities not go in vain.

So, we have to understand the struggle, sacrifice, and mentality of a warrior.

- Apoorv S. Kulkarni

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