A Visit to the Central Jail, Nashik

Part I: Narration

Following is the exact sequence of my visit to the jail. I have tried to the best of my abilities to remember it as an episode and pen it down. It was an experience of a lifetime that shook my outlook of life to its foundations. And to give justice to it, I wish to divide it in two parts. Part one has the actual events. Part two will depict its impressions on me...

We began with the meeting room. The room was divided in two parts with a partial glass framework. And the prison’s side had small cubicle-like structures for security purpose. Both the sections were connected through telephone hand sets with intercom. There was a woman on our side weeping and talking to her husband. Just then another woman came in running with a baby in her hands. She was holding the baby and describing its developments. The convicted on the other side was pressing the glass with desperation and trying to hold back his emotions. We were told the frequencies of such meetings are: for convicted its 20 minutes per month and for under trails its 20 minutes per week.

Next we went to see the actual interiors. They have made a small remembrance out of the cell where Sane Guruji was imprisoned and wrote the famous novel, ‘Shyam chi Aai’. We stopped at all the places where the prisoners worked. We started with kitchen, barracks, furniture shop, handlooms, leather shop, bakery, chemical department, tailoring department and farms. There are only those jobs that demand human labour. They work from 7.30 a.m. to 4.30 p.m.

There were over 2500 prisoners when we visited. They require 600 kilos of vegetables daily to support this number. The measurement of dough of breads and rotis, recipes and quantity is standardised. The quantity fixed per person is 2 rotis and 1 jug of vegetables or curry. If they wish they can buy from the canteen with the distributed coupons. Every prisoner is entitled to spend only 1500/- per month. They cannot have anything from outside. It is mandatory to eat the food made in the prison. They have library to read books, all the gym equipments for exercise, regular and emergency medical check ups and bank transactions to save the earned money or send it to their families or relatives outside.

The attendance is conducted thrice a day. First is in the morning during the wake up call, and only when everyone is seated not asleep. Second one when they are sent for work. And third is when they get back to their barracks. There is a colour code for different categories in which the prisoners are identified. Amongst them some branded as high attention are the ones who have tried to escape the jail once or more. They are called as ‘Lal Patta’ (Red Tagged). This identification is made in such a way that it should be visible from far away. These prisoners have red tags tied on their sleeves which make it possible for the guards to notice them from any distance.

Towards the end, the prisoners who were convicted with life imprisonment put up a show of music and mimicry. The way they sang proved they had inherent talent. They knew the fineness of variations in vocals. It was a fabulous well rehearsed performance.

We left with the view of high security cell from the CC TV. It’s called ‘Anda Cells’ (Egg Cells). It is a round structure which has cells around its circumference and has a grilled opening in the ceiling for sun light. The prisoners who are kept there are never allowed out but for their trials, that too only with high security. They are usually the criminals who are categorised as impossible to be rehabilitated.

The initial 10 days of imprisonment are used for strict observations, counselling sessions and medical check-ups. A report based on this study is submitted to the Superintendent where his barrack location is allotted. According to the staff, they come to know if the condemned can be rehabilitated or not. From the criminals who prove to be harmful to others in the jail as well, to the prisoners who accept everything and transform totally stay under the same roof here. The only difference being, everyone is equally helpless once jammed between the walls.

Unwanted Advice!! ;-)

Why to say I hate or I shall never meet or it’s a time out with…etc (A person)? In other words, mean to cut someone out of one’s life. Firstly, there is always a reason for any association. There is something in that person which sort of fills the jig-saw puzzles within us. Of course this applies to the connections which stick on to us since donkey’s years. And secondly relations are not child’s play that ends after you grow out of its novelty.

If there is a fundamental flaw in the purpose, it has to lapse. Like, if the motive is selfish, intentionally temporary, replacement of someone else in ones life, etc. it ends. Reason for the correlation defines the end.

People, who claim they have forgotten someone, often talk more about them since their stated split up. Or worse, a sense of retribution gives their happiness to that person. Indeed an associate, friend or foe is never forgotten.

It affirms one thing. There is definitely some reason why people never forget a person once associated with. It is advisable to forget the past in stead. People stay forever, times change! So blame it on the past and start afresh if there comes a time when one reconsiders the association.

Choice

There is a slight difference between being born matchless and conditioned to be matchless. To subjugate them one needs to focus on self. Sounds very self-absorbed, but a dear friend thought me how important it is to begin from self. He was born with a handicap, so no conditioning could alter that fact. His focus remained on what he can do to overcome the effects of the handicap. And today he is indeed matchless at it. He exemplifies the worth of choices. No wonder he says, “Our choices make a difference!”

Limit extends to…

Conscious premeditation to conceal one’s fear can be a civilized definition for ‘Superstitions’. With the evolution, material or physical triggers of fear are almost obliterated. That leaves us predominantly with the psychological ones. And they are generated with a comprehensive knowledge of self actions. Nothing would explain this better than the Newton’s third law of motion: “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” Here, the action is the fear of confronting the opposite reaction!

As a further matter, the limit of a person indulging in superstitions is directly proportional to the fraud committed or to be committed in one’s life. In the first case it’s the awareness of the sin committed. Likewise, in the latter, it’s the fear of the outcome of the evil to be committed.

There are always exceptions to the rules mostly resulted out of poor upbringing or absence of common sense or neutral approach towards beliefs. Despite everything, these exceptional cases have to undergo the suspicious scanning and then land in the security zone followed by persistent corroboration. In stead, clarity of thought and actions last for a lifetime!!!

A. R. Rahman [Extempore]

Extempore is a game which I often played in the inter-college competitions. You are given a topic and about a minute to prepare. And then you have another minute on stopwatch to talk on it. With my ability, I guess this was one of my favourites!

Oily hairs, dusky complexion, short and stout physique and an extraordinary timid nature seldom induce curiosity. With these facets attributed to self, he has made the impossible possible. Idol for millions of composers, superstar for the buffs, dignified adversary for other music directors and my God is none other than A. R. Rahman.

His ability to compose the unexpected sequences never ceases to amaze me. His tunes surpass the trend of ‘music for supporting lyrics’, and launch a milestone of creative symphony. One has to be a prodigy to make the words sound virtually indispensable to the tune and vice versa when you don’t even speak that language. That’s the beauty of inherent creativity.

One person to induce a sense of doing justice to the music in the team and make it his style is not a child’s play. The only explanation to his unassuming demeanour could be his love is his profession. And he is beyond the money and fame this industry has to offer. One of his kinds for not running behind glamour and recognition and yet becoming synonymous to it, he is firm footed on the grounds in a world of Know-it-alls!!! Beep… [The stopwatch buzzer!!!!]

Matter-of-Facts

This series is my effort to pen down some brilliant thoughts overheard from Debates, Experiences and Informal Interviews. My take: “We aren’t aware that they are spot on true and omnipresent”.

• 
  
  It’s not about winning; it’s about playing the game till the end.


• 
  
  The easiest thing one can do in life is tell the ‘Truth’. And the most difficult thing is ‘Be Simple’.


• 
  
  Looks are either Natural or Bad.


• 
  
  If we happen to gather all the people who say what others want to hear, and aim to be famous; ‘10 chores sq.ft. of Dumping Grounds’ wouldn’t be enough for them.


• 
  
  Doing something with an intention of reciprocation is the height of idleness.


• 
  
  Reliability is one thing that is not proportional to money. It takes years together to achieve it, and a fraction of a second is enough to lose it forever.


• 
  
  Complication is nothing but the involvement of too many people.


• 
  
  Hope is synonymous to ‘losing ones confidence’. And Belief is giving up the ‘verify & trust’ approach.


• 
  
  How you fall is immaterial, if how you rise is marvellous.


• 
  
  Being special is not just being an exception; it is also being different than others at common state of affairs.


• 
  
  Freedom and Responsibility are the two sides of the same coin.


• 
  
  We often misinterpret dreams as aspirations. The foremost difference being, Aspirations are aimed at fulfilling, and Dreams take place when one is redundant.


• 
  
  Gesture of giving matters, not the nature of donation.


• 
  
  Inferiority complex is when you are ashamed of your deeds; Superiority complex is when you pretend to be least bothered about those shameful deeds.

Independence, is it?

Attendance to a family get-together organised for the Grand Papas & Maas, accentuated a few facts which I overlooked for reasons unknown. Yes, I shall categorically call it an ‘Attendance’, because it was only abiding by my parents. Lack of communication with parents is contemporary or some who would brave to claim that the parents-children relationship is “healthy”. To give them the benefit of doubt, let’s say, it’s merely out of unawareness of the ‘Healthy Terms and Conditions’. Just having a rapport limited to an exchange of words cannot be termed as healthy, or for that matter, even a relationship.

Looking at all the middle aged relatives entertaining the older generation, it struck me that such smoothness in the bonds is rarely established within our generation. By the way it all went; it was crystal clear that the long years of ‘Healthy’ interactions with them was the only reason for the ease. It looked so simple yet complicated! And it occurred to me that talking over the generation gap which provides as a chief justification these days is futile.

With the ‘work-earn-enjoy’ phenomenon being an imminent feature of the new millennium, we seldom realise that there is no time allocated to ‘Home’. And spending time home is just the beginning. Being transparent about your plan of actions and so called personal life seems to be a new theory for us. My biggest insight was that such kind of transparency was the backbone of our parents’ success. We often misinterpret the personal plans and life as independence. Not being able to have open books is not independence neither is it a sign of growing up. It is a straight path to compulsive lying. I fail to understand how does ambiguity about ones actions gets interpreted as independence. It should rather be termed as blunder!

The maturity here lies in the acceptance of the fact that we need to admit our failure in our duties and act accordingly. Having a progeny is the highest form of completeness. Our parents have rightfully given it to their parents, unfortunately we haven’t. Independence for the generation of the new millennium needs to be redefined. Life is not about fun only. We need to understand the significance of our duties towards our preceding generation. No one refuses the gap, and amongst the two generations, it has to be the youngsters’ sense of duty to be flexible. The elders have done their adjustments with their preceding age group.

If we know there is a gap, being the bridge goes without saying. If we despise asking for permissions, we need to be transparent about our actions. If we want financial independence, we should be capable of supporting our parents. When we are capable of becoming the bridge, addicted to transparency and financially sound, only then will we be subjected to independence. And it doesn’t end here. The authentic accomplishment is sustaining it forever.