द इण्डियन स्ट्रगल / भारतीय स्वाधीनता संग्राम (नेताजी सुभाष चन्द्र बोस - ऐतिहासिक विश्लेषण)

152 THE INDIAN STRUGGLE
remembered distinctly that it was the place where Lokamanya
Tilak had been imprisoned for nearly six years and later on
Lala Lajpat Rai for about a year. It gave us therefore some
consolation and pride to feel that we were following in their
footsteps. From the station we drove inside the fort to the
prison and we passed on our way the houses in which Lalaji
and Sardar Ajit Singh had lived during their internment.
Outlined against the morning sky we saw beautiful structures
which, we were told, were the palace and state-buildings of the
old kingdom. The memory of the good old days that were
no more, produced a pang in our hearts and we began
to wonder when Burma would once more be able to fly her
flag of independence. As our carriages drew up in front
of the grey walls of Mandalay Prison, our day-dreaming
came to an end. The massive gates of the prison-house
yawned and we were soon swallowed up. The interior of a
Burmese prison is somewhat different from that of an Indian
prison and the first few minutes were spent in examining
our new surroundings. The first thing we realised was that
the jail-buildings were built not of stone nor of brick, but of
wooden palisading. The buildings looked exactly like cages
in a zoo or in a circus. From the outside and especially at
night, the inmates of these buildings appeared almost like
animals prowling about behind the bars. Within these
structures we were at the mercy of the elements. There was
nothing to protect us from the biting cold of winter or the
intense heat of summer or the tropical rains in Mandalay.
We all began to wonder how we were going to live our life
there. But there was no help and we had to make the best
of a bad situation. In the yard adjoining ours, so we were
told, Lokamanya Tilak had spent about six years of his life.
Among the prison-staff we found many men who had been
there when Lokamanya Tilak was a prisoner. From them
and later on from the Inspector-General of Prisons himself,
we heard interesting anecdotes of him and how he spent his
days in prison. Not less interesting for us than the anecdotes
were the lemon-trees which he had planted with his own
hands. From one of the state prisoners, Mr. Jibon Lal
Chatterji, who had preceded us, we took our first lessons in