Visit to Jails !
How many of us had been to
a jail ? I mean as a visitor only !
The chances are very rare for a common person . But I
was in a prison in Pune at the age 19 ! Not as a juvenile criminal ; but as a student on a pilgrimage ! How come a pilgrim visits a
prison? The pilgrimage was a Gandhian
one , visiting all places associated with Mahatma. Gandhiji was imprisoned
several years in the famous prison , Yerawada Central Jail . Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Bala Gangadhar
Tilak and Jawaharlal Nehru were also served their jail
term there during the freedom movement. The Yerawada Central Jail
was famous because of its importance during freedom struggle. Few of the freedom fighters cells were kept as a monument inside the jail premises.
Along with 25 other college students, all over from Tamilnadu , a
true Gandhian , freedom fighter and Tamra Patra holder, Mr.V.R.Radhakrishnan (
Sorry to say that he is not with us now ) took us on a Gandhian Pilgrimage
during Sept.-Oct.1971 to many places including Aga Khan Palace in Pune , Mahatma’s birth place in Porbandar and Wardha Ashram of Acharya Vinobha Bave ,
So I had an opportunity to visit Yerawada Prison in Pune.
Ajmal Kasab was hanged and buried in Yerawada Prison in Nov.2012. Anna Hazare , a noted Social
Worker and Magsaysay Awardee, was kept behind the bars in Yeravada during
Sep.1998 and film actor Sanjay Dutt
was kept in the same prison during Aug.2007.
My second visit to another jail was Central Jail, Madras ,
built in 1837 during British period. But this visit was after the prison has
been shifted to a newly built prison in Puzhal, away from city. and the old one
was about to be demolished. It came in the news paper that public are allowed
to visit Central Jail, Madras, before
demolition. Hundreds of visitors thronged into the 152 year old building . It
has also a historical link as Netaji was
once kept inside during pre-independence period
and post independence inmates were many political prisoners of Tamil
Nadu , for brief periods including LTTE Supremo Prbhakaran. I am one among the crowd to have a first and last glimpse of “A PRISON” ! Apart
from all the cells , the hanging platform with
the scaffoldings was a moving
site . Now a new six story building for Madras Medical College was built on the
same land. Shared few photos of the old
prison taken when it was opened to public.
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| Central Prison , madras Built in 1837 |
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| Entrance to the Prison |
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| Common cell bed |
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| Condemned prisoner's block |
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| Political prisoner's block |
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| Two tier cells |
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| Individual cell |
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| Toilet inside the cell |
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| Hanging Platform with scaffolds |
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| Inmates paitning |
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| De-adiction centre |
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| Small temple and Mada church |
The temple and church inside the prison gives us a message that whatever punishment we get for the crime committed and after serving it , to come out and live a normal life , the only approach is to pray God.
No one will think of a crime to go to prison. But there is a PRISON above called ‘hell’ for our crimes, done knowingly or unknowingly . But to get away from such crimes in this Kali Yuga, let us chant Hare Krishna Maha Mantra to attain the abode of Lord Krishna when we
leave our physical body.
Hare Krishna.
