Visits to Jails !!!

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.

Central Prison , madras Built in 1837

Entrance to the Prison

Common cell  bed 

Condemned prisoner's block

Political prisoner's block

Two tier cells

Individual cell

Toilet inside the cell

Hanging Platform with scaffolds 

Inmates paitning

De-adiction centre

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.