The Lion in the Cage

Sardars fiery words provoked the British Government. It sent him to prison twice in 1930. But this only increased his influence. Sardar Patel was elected President of the Karachi Session of the National Congress, which met in 1931. In his speech Patel declared in unmistakable words, Swaraj (independence) is our goal. There cannot be the slightest modification of that goal. The government was even more infuriated, and sent him to prison again. He was freed only in 1934.The Sardars experiences in the prison make interesting reading. He was treated as an ordinary prisoner. There was only one lavatory in the prison. Every morning the prisoners had to queue up for their turn. And they had to wait in another queue for water. There was no secluded place where they could pass urine. The food served in the prison was rotten. But nothing could dishearten the Sardar.The officials of the prison loved to give the prisoners pinpricks. Some friends gave the Sardar as presents a few articles for his use in the prison. Among them was a razor. The officials would not let Patel have it. Finally Patel protested.Patel said, Why not give me the razor and let me shave all the prisoners? That will give me some work to do, and I can spend sometime.Everyone including the clerks who heard him burst into laughter.Patels faith in God and in religion was not obvious to outward view, But when he was in prison he got copies of the Bhagavad-Gita and the Ramayana through the authorities of the prison. He studied and pondered on them every day.