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

you here and now. So, ye prisoners behave well. You may complain to any superior
against me, my word shall prevail; I hold my own. Mind ye well." One day to make a
display of his power before us and to show us how they all trembled in his presence, as
also to dazzle us by the display, Mr. Barrie arranged all prisoners before him in a row of
two each, and while the petty officers and jamadars were standing in front of it, he
suddenly rushed into the seated line and asked a petty officer if it was day or night. The
petty officer, new to his task, replied that it was day. Seeming to fly into a rage, Mr.
Barrie affirmed that it was night. The petty officer said it was day, and Mr. Barrie
persisted it was night. Not content with the duck, Mr. Barrie suddenly turned to his
trusted servant and questioned, "Well, Jamadar, is it day or night now? I am sure it is
complete dark and night." The Jamadar replied, "Yes, Sir, it is night." Mr. Barrie
remarked significantly, "You speak aright, but you will realise that you don't tutor your
petty officer aright Well, take care, let not this happen again." And, indeed, the trusted
servant of "Barrie Baba" never failed to improve upon the lesson.
A Sight to God
The man, who ruled the prison with an iron hand, who made the prisoners tremble
in their shoes, could not bear the slight to his authority by political prisoners like us. It is
no surprise that he was terribly annoyed by it. Up to that time even the Jamadar dared
pour fowl abuse upon us, and Mr. Barrie had instigated him to do so And the Jamadar
and his lieutenant slapped any one of us in the face if he was found talking or had not
finished his day's work. And if he happened to report the incident to the jailor, the latter
would laugh outright in his lace. The same political prisoners had now turned against the
Pathan warder to the ex-tent of returning word for word, abuse for abuse, and slap for
slap. Two of our political prisoners, who had stopped all work, did not spare Mr. Barrie
himself from such humiliation. They began to show him up as he had never been shown
up before.
Mr. Barrie exposed
I give here one example of how they made fun of him. Mr. . . . . . . . . had been
sentenced to ten years' imprisonment in this jail. He came from a respectable family in
the Punjab, and was himself a man of education and culture. For the first time that he was
put on the grinding mill, the gentleman entered his cell, did the work in a leisurely
fashion till ten o'clock, and came down for dinner pot upon the hour. The prisoners put on
the grinding mill were not allowed to bathe or dine before they had finished their allotted
task. But this man did not mind it. He straightaway went for his bath, had his full time of
it, and quietly sat down for his meal. By this time, the other prisoners had already been
driven back to their work by their warders, with abuses and fisticuffs amply bestowed
upon them. The man in question had his shower of abuse like others, but, as if it was not
meant for him, he went on unperturbed until he had his full. The warder and the petty
officer goaded him on to hasten and go back to work. But they could not move him from