Nilakantha’s Days in Jail

By Sambeet Dash

Nilakantha Das went to jail for the first time in 1923. He was in prison for 6 months. In those days’ political prisoners were treated with utmost respect. He would ask the police sarcastically, “Don’t request me to be handcuffed. Drag me on the street like a common criminal”. The constable would cry out, “I can never do that to you”. Nilakantha was sent to the Railway station on a horse driven carriage, accompanied by a sub- inspector and two constables to be transported to Hazaribagh Jail in Bihar.

Pandit Das boarded the 2nd class compartment (those days 3rd class was the lowest travelling class in Indian Railways). But bad news was awaiting him on the way. At the Sakhigopal Railway station, his friend Acharya Harihara in a choked voice conveyed the news – “Your 2nd daughter Basanti is no more”.

Sad, but not shocked at a  time when infant mortality was very high, he took the news on his stride and moved on with the moving train. This was the time when chances were even for someone to jump the barrier of 5 years of the age. Before the train started moving he asked Acharya – “Were all the necessary and required treatments done”? “We all tried our best”, replied Acharya Harihara.

As the train stopped at Jatani (Khurda Road) Station the two policemen accompanying him exclaimed, “Are you human or God. You are so calm and composed, even after receiving the news of your daughter’s death!” Maintaining composure in the event of personal tragedy is the hallmark of a true leader. Nilakantha Das had it inculcated in him.

In Hazaribagh Jail he found a companion in Dr. Rajendra Prasad (the first President of Independent India). During the stay, every night they engaged in tete a tete till 10 O’clock. Before going to bed, Rajendra Prasad would eat ripened Papaya and shared it with Pandit Das. Moreover, Nilakantha  kept himself busy by translating the legendary epic RAGHUVANSAM by Kalidas into Odia. Another fellow prisoner in Hazaribag jail was JB (Acharya) Kripalini. Whenever possible, Nilakantha n would read him a passage or two from Raghuvansam to his co-prisoners. He also wrote a reference book of Odia BYAKARANA (Grammar) during his stay in Hazaribagh jail.

Nilakantha had his 2nd and last spell in jail for one and half years during 1932-33. The long stay in jail had already taken its toll. After his release from jail, he was diagnosed with stone in his Urine which caused him a lot of pain. Eventually he got cured due to the timely intervention by the doctors.

In Hazaribagh jail Nilakantha Das was the only Odia who was an ‘A’ class prisoner. His wife Radhamani Devi already into the Freedom movement was also an ‘A’ class prisoner in the Puri jail. Once when Nilakantha heard about how she (Radhamani Devi) endured the pain of watching their young daughter Ramaa crying inconsolably during the visit to her mother in jail, it brought tears to Nilakantha’s eyes too .

The insecurity in the eyes of a daughter whose parents were in jail was forever imprinted in the mind of Pandit Nilakantha (As an extra note: the insecurity of another daughter of another Pandit.The anxiety stayed forever in Indira Gandhi when Jawaharlal Nehru was often jailed. Later as the Prime minister of India, Indira trusted none, would never allow anyone other than her children grow in the Congress party. An insecure Indira imposed emergency and arrested opposition leaders when she saw an imminent loss of power).

(This is the 12th in series of recapitulation in the writer’s own words portions of Pandit Nilakantha Das’s Biography in Odia.)

Sambeet Dash is an Odia technocrat living in Georgia US.