He
washed his sweat ridden face in the crystal clear water.
But
stopped, as it turned red after a distant blast of mortar.
He
sighed! The colonisers had struck again,
Leaving
the country insane with pain.
When
would this bloodshed end?
When
would under nationalist pressure, the foreigners bend?
A mother
pallu tugging boy into a hardened
patriot he had turned
What
had his people done, for such a fate to have been earned?
He
went scurrying when a convoy of sepoys passed by
At
the hands of a British sepoy, he would never die…
On
reaching his hideout, he was in for a shock
His
men and sepoys lay in pools of blood all over the walk.
He
was arrested and taken off to a high security jail
Which
if compared to facilities of a city jail would appear pale.
Day
after day, night after night, he fought against all adversity
But
a day came when his bony frame almost gave up to everyone’s pity.
Even
in jail he had fought for the freedom struggle through various ways
And
now independence was coming closer, a matter of few days.
Over
the ice laden peaks above the jungle, the rising sun saffronised the skies,
Which
resembled an Indian flag to his watery apocalyptic eyes.
His
heartbeat stopped for a moment too long
Just
before he could hear the freedom gong.
The
calendar next to him fluttered with the date 15th August 1947
A day when martyrs like him could finally rest
in Heaven.