भारतीय इतिहास के ६ स्वर्णिम पृष्ठ (वीर सावरकर - विदेशी आक्रान्ताओं पर विजय गाथा)

am both physically and mentally doing well—believe me, dearest, in some respects so well that I had hardly ever done so before; for life in a jail, for good, for evil, is a unique chance. Man can never go out of it exactly as he came in. He goes out far better or far worse. Either more Angelic or more Fiendish. Fortunately, for me, my mind has so quickly adapted itself to the changes in circumstances. It seems so strange that a nature so restless and active, roaming over continents, should so quickly feel quite at home in a cell hardly a dozen feet in length. And yet one of the kindest gifts of the Providence to Humanity is this plasticity, this adaptability of human mind to the ever changing environments of life. When early in the morning and late in the evening, I try a bit of Pranayam and then pass insensibly into a sweet sound-sleep. Oh how calm and quiet is that rest; so calm that when I get up in the morning, it is long before I can realize again that I am in a prison cell lying on a wooden plank. All the common aims and allurements of mankind having receded far, the conscience is perfectly pleased with itself with the conviction of having served under His banner and served to some purpose. A calm, a sweet equanimity is left with my soul and it lulls my mind in an intense peace. There are exceptions but this is the general rule. In fact, if I be suddenly dropped in the midst of Bombay or London I think I will have to shout with the hermit in ‘शाकुन्तलः — ‘जनाकीर्णं मन्ये हुतवहपरीतं गृहमिव॥’ And even if hearing the market gossip, your mind sometimes sighs: ‘Oh still his life would have been more useful and dazzling outside’, even then remember that those who work outside, work much; but those who work in the prison, work more; and after all, my dearest Bal, don’t you think that suffering is in itself work intense because it is subtle! I get up in the morning when the bell goes on at 5 A.M. At its sound, I feel as if I have entered a higher college for a higher study. Then we are doing our work of rigour till 10 A.M. while my hands and feet are automatically doing the given task, my spirit avoiding all detection is out for a morning trip, and across seas and oceans, over hills and dales, it roams sipping only pleasant things, and things noble, like a bee amongst the flowers. Then I compose some new lines. Then we dine at 12 noon, work again. From 4 P.M. comes rest; reading & c. This is the usual round of life here.