Hijli Unearthed....

Its strange how one thing can lead to another and at the end of it all you end up wondering what you actually are doing.
Today happened to be one of those days. Was generaly reading a blog on Trivia and Quiz and stumbled upon this question:

Q.The British Government decided to establish a few detention camps, creating the Hijli Detention Camp in 1930. A significant moment in the struggle against British rule occurred at The Hijli Detention Camp on Sept. 16, 1931 when two unarmed detainees, were shot dead by the British and Subash Chandra Bose came to Hijli to collect their bodies.
Today,What is located in the place where Hijli detention camp stood?

Ans. IIT Kharagpur

The answer just zapped me.

The proverbial cat raised its head and curiosity began to google the episode in question. Below are a few extracts that I found.

" All happened within the district of Midnapur in West Bengal and within the span of two years. Those killed were British I. C. S. officers. The martyrs were Bengali young men of the time. There was an old lady also.

At that stage the whole district was seething with political activities. Salt Satyagraha by the Congress was at its height. The great sacrifice by Matangini Hazra further electrified the atmosphere. She was an old uneducated widow, carrying aloft the national flag in hand when the police ordered her not to proceed. She defied and faced bullets boldly.

Exactly then two youngsters entered the room. Quickly came out bullets from the revolvers they were carrying which hit the target on the chest. He was rushed to the hospital where he breathed his last. This was the revenge on Douglas for his earlier crime of killing two unarmed young men at Hijli Detention Camp

The younger and very handsome, Pradyot Bhattacharya was arrested. The usual torture followed to get the name of his comrade. But he was made of sterner stuff. His execution date was the 12th January 1933. The hangman, Shibu, could not pronounce the difficult name, but remembered the lovely face of Pradyot with affection and admiration. It is evident from a similar role he later played in Hemen Gupta's Bengali film, Bhuli Nai (Have not forgotten).

The last words on the lips of the martyrs were: - "We are going and leaving the unfinished task in your hands to finish;" We have achieved Independence thereafter. But have we fulfilled their real dreams of building up a happy India? A question of questions indeed."

All this reading left me with a feeling of swallowing a pill that was too hard to digest.
The irony of the situation is that in a place where young men and women gave up their life to free India, youngsters who had the courage and maturity to think of independence, in that same place the best brains (arguably) of India dream of earning in $ the minute they step into the institute.

Signing of with this slogan that rang through the hearts & minds of thousands who thronged the gallows:

सरफरोशी की तमन्ना अब हमारे दिल में है,
देखना है ज़ोर कितना बाज़ुएया कातिल में है.

Fade to Black

When its time to reflect upon those most important things that you have done in your life, you realize that all you have is but a motley and odd collection of events and memories that have turned Grey. Time fades away the colors from memories like the paint peeling of the picket fences and turns the brilliant hues of blue and orange to a sepia ocher.

Your image reflected in the mirror, that has a rusted frame and many a remains of a uncounted shaves, tells you the truth. It tells you of all the compromises that you have made - reflected in the lines on your forehead, of all the unfulfilled dreams - reflected in the dark depths of your eyes, of all the risk you never took - reflected by sagging cheeks and of all the joy you gave up to lead a secure life. What it doesn't tell you is that you have lost your self in the labyrinth of mundane reality, that you lost your freedom to the textbook society and you lost your voice. The voice that helped you understand others, that helped you stand up for yourself.

And when it is time to introspect, to try to understand where you are, you realize that all you are is an empty shell of words and meanings that can so easily be replaced.

"And then one day you find...Ten years have got behind you...
No one told you when to run, You missed the starting Gun"....Time By Pink Floyd