At 85, Gour Hari Das may be losing his memory but he vividly recalls everything about the Banar Sena of the 1940s pre-Independent India. How he ran across bridges, rail tracks and dangerous terrain to deliver covert messages to assigned persons; how he was jailed for 56 days just for flying the Tiranga; how Gandhiji patted him on his back and how he left everything to work at the Wardha Ashram in 1955. What he doesn’t want to remember though, is his agonising tryst with the system to get acknowledged as a freedom fighter. As an Independence Day special story, Deebashree Mohanty speaks with the octogenarian to know more
It’s 3 in the afternoon and rain has been lashing against his windowsill for 4 hours. Eightyfive-year-old Gour Hari Das is put off because his routine of going around the society ensuring everything is in order has been disrupted.
“Mumbai rains are a problem. I am a busy man and rain disrupts my schedule,” he mumbles. Das, a freedom fighter, has just wrapped up a two-hour interview with a publishing house and a news channel, but is upbeat about telling the tale.
Sitting on his favourite comforter, Hari Das is excited about his dastaan. He is thrilled that the journalist speaking with him is also from Odisha and belongs to the same district as Das. “This is what I enjoy the most. Speaking in my own bhasha (language in Odia). I have been living in Mumbai since 1955 but I miss my roots, my people,” he says, going into a reverie.
Afternoon tea has just arrived and Das informs us that this is the best time to catch him for an interview. There is another reason why he is so chirpy these days. “Famous director-producer Ananth Mahadevan has taken great pains to make a movie on my life and times. Can you believe itIJ A story on me! Who said miracles don’t happen,” he queries. For a simple and honest man like him this is a big deal about which he can’t stop talking.
The five-foot something man was once an integral part of the freedom movement in India. He was a key member of the Banar Sena which used to reach covert messages to assigned person sometimes in the dead of night, at other times, through dangerous pathways. It was a job without pay, but something Das enjoyed doing.
“The British Raj was at its worst leg and a lot of messages needed to be sent and received by our key freedom fighters. This had to be done clandestinely. Who better than young boys to do this jobIJ We were a group of 50 boys who had volunteered to carry out this operation for our country. It was a big challenge and risky. But during the early 40s, no one was bothered about the consequence. Back then, everyone was ready to sacrifice his life for the nation,” Das tells you.
He was barely 15 when he entered this service but instead of receiving an engraved copper plaque which is otherwise issued for such brave honors, Hari Das was humiliated many times and called a crook when he asked for a certificate to prove that he was one of India’s youngest freedom fighters!
“I had given my young days to the Banar Sena without batting an eyelid. I thought it was my duty to do so. But I spent 30 years just to prove that I was a freedom fighter. It is the last thing one deserves at my age,” he says. Das recalls the umpteen visits at the various offices, the number of times he was called to the police station to verify documents and how he was scoffed at by Government staff.
It was a painful struggle for a man who was diagnosed with early stages of Alzheimer’s but Das said quitting was never an option. “I had to prove it for my family. For my two younger sons who looked up to a father and respected the freedom fighter in me,” he adds.
Das takes a few minutes to gather his thoughts but he is quick to recall the time spent as a part of Banar Sena. “An adage says, you remember those things that are closest to your heart. I never opened the seal to read any of the messages I delivered. But it was a thrill to tuck it in my shirt and go to the destination. The messages were coded,” he says.
It was not easy to fool British soldiers and many boys had been caught and punished severely. “The danger of being caught was always lurking. If caught, they would have jailed us indefinitely or flogged us till we bled profusely. The message transfer had to be done in a clever and intelligent manner,” he tells you.
Once he had to cross a lonely stretch of a jungle in the Western part of Odisha some 20 km away from his home while carrying an important message. Walking or cycling down were the only options. He chose to walk. “It was around 12:30 am when I set out, barefoot, to deliver the piece of paper. A lantern was the only source of light. Hardly had I covered 5 km that the lantern went off. It was pitch dark and I had a long way to go. Thankfully, at a distance there was a railway crossing and I had to wait for a train to approach the crossing and shed some light. Once the train passed, the darkness grew on me again. I covered the distance with the help of 6-7 passing trains. It took me more than 5 hours to get to my destination,” Das recalls.
Apart from the message deliveries, the Banar Sena was also responsible for gathering people around for a public meeting and running errands. Das’ encounter with Mahatma Gandhi happened at one of these public gatherings in Kolkata. At one freedom rally, Gandhi prodded the audience to contribute to the freedom movement.
“His thinking was that why should the Tatas and Birlas alone contribute financially for the movement. He asked everyone in the gathering to give two aanas towards the pool fund. Banar Sena was immediately called upon to do the collection. When I finished collecting, I took my potli to Gandhiji and presented it to him. He patted my back and said ‘good job young boy’. I didn’t understand the significance then. On our way back, my peers were upset that they did not get a pat from the great man,” Das tells you, fondly recounting his first encounter with the Father of the Nation.
Das has worked in close quarters with almost all freedom fighters but the one to inspire him the most was Gandhi. “I did not want to be employed in a corporate set-up and earn the money. Gandhi taught us to do something meaningful with life. I left for Wardha Ashram in 1950 and worked there in order to improve the living conditions of artisans working in the Khadi industry. later, in 1955, I moved to Bombay and took up a job at the Khadi Commission. In the interim, I also tried my hand at teaching. During those days, I was paid `30 a month which was quite a deal,” Das says.
A simple man with honest moorings, he says it was embedded in him to fight for the freedom of the nation. His father Shri Hari Das was also actively involved in India’s independence movement. “The talk in our house was only about Independence. All we heard was how many people had sacrificed their lives for the nation” Das says, happy he made his father proud.
But six decades after India’s freedom, Das found himself in a bind. His eldest son Anil Das required a few extra marks to make it through the polytechnic college in Matunga. He was told to apply through the freedom fighter quota and avail of the due benefits. “I handed him my jail release receipt very proudly and told him to get his admission. That entire day, I was beaming. I thought my son would get through to a prestigious institution because I had done something right during my youth. But to my utter dismay, Anil was humiliated by the admission staff who told him that such a receipt could be made by crooks and was no proof of my role in the freedom movement. I was shattered. I had given up my childhood for carrying messages and running errands in the name of the nation and I get this in return,” he says.
Never once does he get agitated while narrating his struggle with the system to get acknowledged as a freedom fighter to get the rightful benefits. It took him 33 years (he sent his first letter of acknowledgement in 1976 and the certifictae came in 2009) but Das merely shakes it off as destiny. “It was embarrassing to visit the various offices and explain to every clerk what my role was. In some places, they even asked me, ‘achha you are a freedom fighter, we did not read about you in history books’. How could I answer this,” Das tells you. From the collector to the MlA, Das knocked at many doors but all he got was mere promises. “They would tell me my matter would get resolved soon. But all I ended up doing was filing more documents and pushing many more.
“The then MlA helped with an advocate’s number. I did some more running around, filed many more papers. Years flew by but nothing moved. In the meantime, my son got through IIT Mumbai and was happily pursuing his degree. I thought of giving up this fight for my due. My neighbour, Rajeev Singhal advised me to go to the media and talk about my fight for justice. I tried that too but of no avail. After 100-odd interviews, my case had still not moved,” he says.
Das retired from the Khadi Commission in 1995 and virtually stopped visiting the Government offices after that.
“My relative coaxed me to attend a Press conference called by then Home Minister. We waited for 4 hours in peak heat to meet the Minister and apprise him about my struggle. When we did get a chance, he convinced me that he would get my work done. What followed was more paperwork and double the running around. Seven policemen from different branches visited me to collect documents. I was tired of saying the same things again and again; so I just recorded a statement and presented it to them each time they came asking. Activist Mohan Krishnan from NGO National Anti Corruption and Crime Preventive Council was a huge support through this struggle,” he says.
One sunny afternoon in 2009, Das received a letter saying that his application had been approved and that he would be given benefits that a freedom fighter deserves. “I got my pension from the time the application was approved. It was good money but the Government had announced a scheme under which only 60 per cent would come to me and 40 per cent would get deposited in the post office as my saving. At that age, what saving would I requireIJ So, I had to fight again to be treated as an exception and get the full amount in cash,” Das recalls. He tells you this struggle was far more difficult than the 56 days he spent in the Jalasore jail in 1945. “We hoisted our Indian flag against the will of the British Government. The cops drove us all into the newly built jail in Jalasore. We were there for 56 days without much food or water. Sanitation was a huge concern. But never once did that deter us from the freedom movement,” he recalls.
Today, his sons have engineering degrees but have joined the family’s home furnishings business. Das contributes towards this but his favourite pastime is looking at old things, cleaning them and storing them in a better place.
“My wife lakshmi has been my support system. She has stood by me and my sons Anil and Arun are my pillars of strength. I may have struggled a lot in this life but I have no complaints. Bande Mataram,” he concludes.
Inspirational role: Pathak
Actor Vinay Pathak tells Deebashree Mohanty how playing Gour Hari was a challenge he loved. Excerpts:
Why did you agree to take up this serious role of portraying a common manIJ
I was aghast when Ananth approached me with his script. It was just not me. I am a loud, funny man and Gour Hari was very reserved and a strong willed person. But he convinced me that this could break my stereotypic image. Am glad I listened to him and took up this offer. Gour Hari is the closest character to me by far. He is an inspiration.
You spend a lot of time with him to get into the skin of the character. Tell us about it.
I spent a couple of months studying him, his mannerisms, the way he talked with his wife and sons etc. I asked his wife a lot of questions about how he was in his youth. We shared many cups of tea and snacks to understand the embarrassment Gour Hari went through when his son was asked to provide legal proof of his father being a freedom fighter and not a crook.
What was the easy part about playing a freedom fighterIJ
His simplicity was very easy to copy. He is not a complex person to read. Once we started shooting, I realised it was not difficult to be him because he was just a nice, hard-working and honest gentleman. It was easy to portray his pain too because at some level I felt it. He told us about the details with such precision that it was almost as if I was re-living him.
What kind of training did you have to go through to complete your look for the filmIJ
The entire credit goes to my stylist who made me look like an 85-year-old so convincingly. It was tiresome to get ready for the shoot everyday but it is a part of my profession. I also had to learn weaving of cloth to make it appear real to our audiences. All in all, Gour Hari was a learning experience. You learn and get paid on the job! What more could you ask forIJ
Are you happy with the way the movie has been received globallyIJ
I am very satisfied with the global reaction but what matters to me the most is that my audience in India appreciate our effort and watch this film on I-Day. There are a lot more people than the ones we have read about in our history books who have worked on our independence. We need to sit up and acknowledge them.