Editor: I. Mallikarjuna Sharma Volume 11: 15-31 March 2015 No. 5-6

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26 Autobiography of Martyr Ramprasad Bismil (2015) 1 LAW reached Shahjahanpur with his wife and two sons. And my father Sri Muralidhar was the elder of these two sons. At that time he was just eight years old and the younger son i.e. my paternal uncle, Sri Kalyanmal, was just 6 years old. And that region was then affected by a terrific famine. Bad Days: After several attempts here and there, finally Sri Narayanalal ji had got a job in an Attar [Scents] seller’s shop at Rs 3/- per month. But in the days of that famine how could one manage a family of four with a mere Rs. 3/- p.m.? Grandma [Dadiji] made much effort to bring up the children with even himself going with halfhunger but even so the family could not be managed. They tried to bide time by eating millets, kukni, saama, sorghum, etc. but even so maintenance was not possible; then she would take equal quantities of a cheapest variety of bathua (pot-herb), chana (gram or chickpeas) or any other vegetables and of the cheapest variety of grain available in the market and mix those, add some salt and eat the mixure herself but make gram-dal or maize cakes (rotis) for the children and grandpa was also pulling on with a similar food. On half-filled stomach the day time could with difficulty be spent but it was so hard to suppress the fire in the stomach and get any sleep in the night times. If the situation was so intolerable as regards food to eat itself what could be said of the clothes to wear and rent to pay for residence? Grandpa [and grandma too] was desiring that it would be better to do labor [domestic chores] even if it were to be in some high families, but who in high families could rely so suddenly on a stranger from outside the place, whose language even does not match with the language of the place? Nobody would offer labour of griding grain [into flour] even; as they were apprehensive that the grinding person, in those terrible famine times, out of acute hunger, might gulp the flour even. After a lot of trials, at last when two households agreed to employ her [grandma] for grinding the grain, again the question arose as to what to tell to the old laborers doing that job? However, amidst all such obstacles, finally the job of grinding the grain to the extent of 5-7 seers a day was found but the wages for grinding 5 seers [panseri] was but one paisa in those days! With great difficulty, with a half-filled stomach that too once in a day only, if grinding was done for about 3-4 hours at a stretch she could earn one or one and a half paise; and then she had to come back home and prepare food for the children. For about three years such a terribly hard situation continued. Our grandfather used to express many times his intention to go back to the native place [Tomargarh] but grandma used to always rebuff saying it is better to give up one’s life even than to again kneel before and place the head on the feet of the same person due to whose misdeeds they lost all their house and properties, were compelled to leave the native place and had to and suffer these difficult days and also she used to instil hope that all days would not be dry [or ‘rainy’] like this even. Our grandma had undergone all sorts of troubles and sufferings but had never agreed to go, and did never return, to the native place [Tomargarh]. In 4-5 years some gentlemen became well acquainted and realized that the woman [our grandma] was of a good family but fell into misery because of ill times; then several [high family] women began to trust her and the famine was also over by that time. As a result, occasionally any gentleman would give some gifts and yet other would feed her Brahmin’s meals. And time began to pass in that way. Further, several gentlemen, who had ample wealth and means but no children, used to tempt our grandpa/grandma with many incentives asking him/her to give away one of the sons to them and in return they would pay as much money as demanded. However, our grandma was an ideal mother and she used to never fall into such temptations and used to somehow manage the family and bring up her children. Through exertion of hard labor and by hard earned wages, as also by rendering Brahmin professional services, some money could be saved and collected. On the advice of some gentlemen arrangement was also made to educate my father in a school. Our grandpa also exerted his efforts and as a result his wages got increased and he began to earn 7 rupees per month. Thereafter he even left his job and started a money-changing shop in which he used to supply Law Animated World, 15-31 March 2015 26
(2015) 1 LAW Autobiography of Martyr Ramprasad Bismil 27 coins in change – paisas, two-anna and four-anna coins, etc. at a commission and now daily 5-7 annas profit was accruing. The bad days were now receding due to the enterprise and efforts put up by the family. However, the entire credit in this respect should go to our grandma only. The daring and courage with which she encountered the bad days and conducted the family affairs could really be attributed to the aid of some divine force only. Otherwise how could a completely uneducated [illiterate] rural woman derive the ability to go and live in an utterly strange place and, doing hard labor for wages, feed herself and her children and also get her children educated, that too coming from living in such prior life conditions when she had not even set her foot outside her house and was coming from such a country (region) where each and every Hindu tradition and custom was followed in toto and the residents of which region would not care a fig about their lives if it be for the protection of their traditions and customs. And could a Brahmin, or Khatriya or Vaisya daughter-in-law [or housewife] dare to go out and from one house to the other without covering one and a half alm’s length of loose-end of her sari [goonghat] over her head? The same rule that they should not walk on the roads without covering their heads by loose-ends of saris [goonghat] applied to the women of Sudra community too. The dress of Sudra caste women [housewives] is itself of a somewhat distinguishing type so that even by seeing them from a distance it could be recognized that they are some low caste women. These customs are so rigidly prevalent that they have taken the form of atrocities. Once a housewife belonging to the untouchable tanner community (Chamaar), who was married into a family in British India, had, per their caste custom, gone to the bungalow of the Zamindar (landlord) to touch his feet. The entire dress she wore was that normally worn by chamaars (tanners) but she was also wearing jingles on her legs [bichua ro noopur] and the eyes of that zamindar happened to catch the sight of these jingles. He enquired and got it confirmed that she was a chamaar (tanner community) housewife. He was wearing boots and in wrath he trampled on her feet with those boots with such a force that her foot-fingers got badly cut. He was angrily questioning ‘if the chamaar (SC: tanner community) daughters-in-law (housewives) begin to wear jingles then what should the higher caste women wear?’ These people are totally illiterate, uncultured, stubborn stupids but also overfilled with caste prides and prejudices. If even a very poor and uneducated Brahmin or Kshatriya person, of whatever age group he may be, happens to pass through a Sudra community cluster, then any Sudra community person on that way, however old or however rich he may be, has to get up and pay obeisance either touching the feet of, or through formal salutation to, that Brahmin or Kshatriya person. If by default this is not done, then that Brahmin or Kshatriya person can then and there strike the [disrespecting] Sudra person with their chappals [shoes] and then, all will condemn that it is the fault of the Sudra person only. Also if the allegations of prostitution or adultery are made against any virgin girl or housewife, then even without an inquiry she will be killed and her body thrown into the current of River Chambal. Likewise if any widow is accused of prostitution or in any other way becoming degenerate, then even if she be pregnant at the time, she will be hacked to death and thrown into the river Chambal and all that done secretively with no knowledge to a third person. However [despite all this] people there generally keep good-practices too. They look upon the daughters-in-law and daughters of all [others] like their own daughtersin-law or daughters. And they would not hesitate a bit to lay down their lives for the protection of the chastity and character of all the women. So now, the grit and determination shown by our grandma, married into such a sort of country, and despite observing all the vile customs prevalent, is quite commendable and unique. By God’s grace the bad days passed away. Our father derived some education and our grandpa had purchased a house too. To our family, which was shuttling from this house to that, at last a peaceful stationary abode became available. At this juncture the idea to perform the marriage of our father arose and in that course our grandma went to her maternal place [maaika] taking our grandpa and father with 27 Law Animated World, 15-31 March 2015
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Editor: I. Mallikarjuna Sharma Volume 11: 15-31 March 2015 No. 5-6

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