Martyr At 23

So much has been written and published about the great martyr Bhagat Singh. The glory of this patriot which was confined to history textbooks has been rechristened by host of movies in past few years. He is a well known entity in India now and is often remembered as a material of motivation whenever we are in a phase of revolution of some sorts like whenever a protest is suppressed.

 I remember my fellow college mates bursting into ‘sarfaroshi ki tamanna’, the poem of the revolutionaries, when we were asked to pay for the college fest arrangements in the first year! Seems childish now but the movie ‘Rang De Basanti’, which glorified the revolutionary movement of India and Bhagat Singh of course, was released that time and all the youth was in that fervor! It is unfortunate that his remembrance is limited only to such times and because he symbolizes much more than that.

Shaheed Bhagat Singh went to gallows with his zealots Sukhdev and Rajguru at a very young age of 23, with a smiling face. He hadn’t lived even half the life span of an average human. The significance of this sacrifice seems to have lost in time.

What would a man at the age of 23 want from his world around today? Would they be willing to lay down their lives for the nation? I am not talking about the jawans, the defense personnel; there is absolutely no doubt in their patriotism. But consider the common youth.  I am 23 year old too. What does a man at this age wish for? Getting a high paying job, pursuing mba, buying property, bikes, girlfriends.. Our entire effort is centered around the well being of just our self or at most the family.  Complete studies, get a job, keep switching companies to get better pay, squeeze an mba in between, marry and settle down. Very few care about people, society and nation.

The situation was no different those days. The youth was pre occupied by the same thoughts that time, except that it corresponded to the luxuries and woes of that era. But a little more than a handful of youngsters saw the wrong around them and dared to challenge their present.

What would have been in Bhagat Singh’s mind when the death sentence was around? Terrified? Petrified? No. He was expecting this as he had purposely surrendered before police after bombing the assembly along with Batukeshwar Dutt. He knew he would be hanged, but was not afraid; instead used the court trials as a platform to voice the views of the revolutionaries to the world. He wanted to set an example through his death that they are not terrorists and they value human life but as he said “it takes a loud noise to make the deaf hear”.

It hits me hard whenever I think about the age at which he went to the gallows because I am pretty much of that age now. How would I feel if I happen to die today? So many things unfinished, so many feats unaccomplished, so many dreams unfulfilled! It would seem like an unfair deal. Then I think about him and realize how great he is. Some might say he was filled with that typical madness the youth exhibit, jawani ka josh. But if that was the case he would had been frightened in the face of death.

Time and again I can’t stop thinking about this marvelous man. He has inspired me a lot. It is my die hard wish to visit Hussainiwala, the place he was cremated along with his compatriots and also the Sardar Bhagat Singh Museum at Khatkar Kalan which has preserved many of his belongings and writings.