मेरा आजीवन कारावास / माझी जन्मठेप (स्वातंत्र्यवीर सावरकर - काले पानी का ऐतिहासिक संस्मरण)

The arrival of this gang was a signal for holiday-making and mirth within the prison-walls. For it relieved them for a day form the hard routine of their normal life. They pine for such relaxation. The slightest change from it is enough for them to forget the monotony of their dull existence. A crow flying up in the air meets with an accident and drops down one of its wings. Sparrows peck at sparrows with their beaks. And the prisoners look up, feel interested and, lost in that contemplation, forget the worries of their hard lot in this house. To-day it was the chalan coming. Every one, from the Jamadar down to the lowest in the rank, was full of the news. Every one seemed to be in a hurry. A set of rooms was kept apart for the confinement of these prisoners form abroad. It was located in one of the eastern wings of the old fortification. Today the rooms were swept clean, the provisions were arranged for the clothes were counted and put together. Every other arrangement for the accommodation of the chalan was well- nigh complete. Half of the prisoners were pre-occupied in this work, others loitered about as busy-bodies and none of them had eyes or ears for anything else about them, so completely were they absorbed in expectation of the show that was coming. The Party Arrives It was three o'clock in the afternoon. Everyone in prison asked of his neighbour why the chalan had not yet arrived. Just at the moment there was stir and bustle near the main gate of our prison. Every inmate was seen moving to and fro. “ Has the chalan come?” “ What’s it that is coming?” “ Yes, right near the gate.” “ How many are they?” “ How do they look?’ There was a shower of these questions and there was trepidation and movement, confusion and excitement all over the place. It affected not only the prisoners but the warders as well. For the latter felt as tired of their job as the prisoners themselves. On a sudden we heard the sound of measured foot-fall and of clanging chains and shackles every moment approaching nearer and ringing clearer. The prisoner and the warder, one and all of them, were seen gathered in small crowds and by the passage, forgetful of or ignoring their normal life, and with eyes alert to witness the procession coming in. They seemed to be crouching low lest any one may detect them off duty. At last it came in-the chalan came in. how hideous to behold ! there was in it a type of every kind. One looked very fierce, another hard and cruel, a third an incarnation of terror, a fourth thick-set and firm, a fifth coal-black in complexion- the rest a miscellaneous crew of varied features, some, indeed of presentable appearance among them. How they walked- some of them in the party! One walked upright and with chest in prominence, another strided with a heavy