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

PUBLISHER'S NOTE
It is but natural that we should feel particular pleasure in publishing the Book,
"The story of my transportation for life" which is the English version translated by Prof.
V. N. Naik, M.A., Principal, Narayan Topiwalla College, Mulund, from the original
Marathi Book " MAZI JANMATHEP" written by Mr. V. D. Savarkar during his
internment at Ratnagiri soon after his release from the prison in Andamans and at other
places in India, where he was detained for well neigh fourteen years. The pages depict the
story of the sufferings and persecutions inflicted upon the author and other political
prisoners and it was no surprise that the book should have been so popular among the
Marathi reading public that its first edition which was published in the year 1927, was
sold within a few months. A second edition also was in print, when all of a sudden, the
then Government of Bombay thought it advisable to prescribe the book. It was only in the
year 1947 that the ban thereon was removed by the popular Government and the second
edition was published that very year.
The translation in English we are presenting to our readers is a version from this
second edition. Prof. Naik has not only rendered a correct and classical translation, bus
has brought out the real spirit of the author in the pages of this book and has so faithfully
rendered the account of the physical and mental torture and the harrowing tales of
inhuman sufferings inflicted upon a person whose only fault was that he felt that India
should not be ruled by a foreign Government.
If at all, reform in that prison life has come, it was due to the social and educative
work of Mr. Savarkar during his stay in that "Dark dungeon and house of despair". The
poet describes our sweetest songs to be those that tell of the saddest thoughts and in that
sense the book truly reads like a romance and confirms that truth is stronger than fiction.
In a word it is a human document and no phantasy.
We cannot but close this note unless we offer our thanks to Principal V. N. Naik
for translating the Book into English for us which he has done so faithfully and ably. We
also record our thanks to Prof. V. G. Mydeo, M.A. for the valuable help and assistance he
gave us from time to time.
We hope the Book we are presenting to the reading public will not only make it
an interesting reading but will be appreciated by them as a historical record of the
sufferings inuicted upon one of the sons of India.