Tales of Prison Life

Superintendent Mr. Emerson

The preceding sections described the imposed difficulties and various hardships that the prisoners in Alipore jail were subjected to. It is necessary to clarify that these conditions owed their origin neither to individual acts of cruelty nor general lack of humanism but to inherent defects in the Prison System itself. As a matter of fact, the administrative staff of Alipore Jail was exceedingly decent, kind and conscientious. It can be confidently asserted that if there is any jail where the prisoner's suffering has been reduced and the inhuman barbarity of the European prison system ameliorated through kindness and conscientiousness, then Alipore Jail is that jail, where the 'best from the worst' has emerged during Mr. Emerson's tenure. This emergence was primarily catalyzed by two extraordinary characters: Mr. Emerson, the jail Superintendent and Baidyanath Chatterji, the assistant doctor. One of them was an embodiment of Europe's almost-extinct Christian ideals and the other was a personification of the charity and philanthropy that form the essence of Hinduism. The likes of Mr. Emerson no longer frequent this country; they are getting rarer even in the West. He was the quintessential Christian gentleman: peace-loving, just, incomparably generous and charitable, simple, self-restrained, a model of rectitude and fundamentally incapable of anything but polite conduct towards one and all. Lack of energy and administrative efficiency were his shortcomings; he would let the jailor manage the entire workload, himself remaining a roi faineant. No great harm came about from this though.

Jailor Jogendra babu

The jailor, Jogendra babu, was a capable and efficient person. In spite of being seriously handicapped by diabetes, he would personally supervise all activities in jail to ensure justice and prevention of cruelty in the manner that Mr Emerson would have wanted. However one could not equate him to a mahatma like Emerson on this account. Rather, he was cast in the mould of the average government servant, who kept the Sahib in humour, performed his job efficiently and dutifully and treated others with a natural politeness and decency. I did not observe any other special quality in him. He had a great weakness for his job and his pension, in particular. He had been nurturing a dream of enjoying a long, well-earned rest as a pensioner from January and his hopes were very much alive in the month of May. But the sudden appearance of the accused in the Alipore Bomb Conspiracy had made him nervous and fearful. The apprehension that some calamitous event could be precipitated by these irrepressible and energetic Bengali boys made him restless. He would say that 'he was a mere inch and a half from reaching the top of the palm tree but he had succeeded, as yet, in negotiating only half that distance'. Towards the end of August, when Mr. Buchanan completed a satisfactory inspection of the prison, the jailor exulted, "This was the Sahib's last visit during my term of office. Now my pension is safe." Alas, human vision is so limited! The poet has aptly described the two acts of Grace that protect men from misery. First, Providence keeps our future shrouded in mystery and second, it endows men with a capacity for blind hope as their single source of sustenance. Barely four or five days after the Jailor's reasoned assessment, Naren Goswami lost his life at Kanai's hands, and Buchanan's visits to the prison grew increasingly frequent. The result was that Jogen babu lost his job before time, and, because of the combined attack of sorrow and disease, he soon breathed his last.

If Emerson had not delegated his entire responsibility to a subordinate like Jogendra babu, but involved himself fully in the prison administration, a far greater progress and systemic reform might have been achieved during his tenure. He accomplished whatever little work he took up personally. And it was on the strength of his character that Alipore Jail functioned as a prison and did not become a veritable hell for prisoners. Even after his transfer, the effects of his goodness did not disappear completely as his successors were obliged to preserve at least sixty percent of his legacy.

Dr. Daly

While Jogen babu, the Bengali Jailor, was in-charge of various jail departments, Baidyanath babu, the Bengali doctor, was all-in-all at the hospital. Doctor Daly, his superior officer, though not as magnanimous as Mr. Emerson, was a true gentleman and a learned person. He was extremely appreciative of the quiet demeanour, cheerfulness and obedience of the young revolutionaries. He would exchange pleasantries with the younger lot and engage in discussions on matters related to religion, politics and philosophy with the others. The doctor was of Irish descent and possessed many qualities of that liberal and emotional race. There was no meanness about him. Though he might utter a harsh word or be strict in occasional fits of anger, under normal circumstances, he loved to help people. He was habituated to various ruses and false symptoms reported by prisoners and sometimes, his suspicions led him to overlook even genuine cases. However, once convinced of the genuineness of an ailment, he would treat the patients with great care and kindness.

I had a slight fever on one occasion. This happened to be during the rainy season, when the moisture-laden winds had free play in the huge verandahs. Yet I was willing neither to stay in the hospital nor take medicines. My views on illness and cure had undergone a change and I no longer put much faith in medicines. It was my belief that good health could be regained naturally, unless it was a particularly severe illness. It was my intention to use yogic powers to contain the ill-effects of contact with the moist air and thus verify and prove to the logical mind the truth of yogic processes and their effectiveness. But the doctor was extremely anxious on my account and he convinced me to go to the hospital. Once I was there, he took great care of me and made all possible arrangements to make me feel at home. He wanted me to be comfortably lodged in the hospital to avoid the possible ill-effects of the rainy season on my health were I to return to the prison-wards. However, I refused to stay and insisted on going back to my cell. He was not equally considerate towards all, especially those who were strong and healthy. He was afraid of keeping such people in the hospital even when they were sick. He suffered from a false notion that if any major incident were to take place in the jail, it would be caused by these strong and restless lads. What happened eventually though was the exact opposite; the incident in the hospital was caused by the ailing, emaciated Satyendranath Bose and the disease-afflicted, gentle-natured, reticent Kanailal.

Asst. Dr. Baidyanath babu

Although Dr. Daly possessed these qualities, a majority of his good deeds were not only inspired but also set into motion by Baidyanath babu. I had never met a man as compassionate as Baidyanath babu in the past nor do I expect to meet anyone like him in the future. It seemed as if he had taken birth with the sole purpose of helping others. The urge to ameliorate suffering of any kind was central to his character and he considered this to be not only a natural inclination but also an inevitable duty. Amidst the suffering of prison life, he was as if an angel, sprinkling the carefully-collected celestial waters of bliss upon creatures of hell. When faced with a want, injustice or needless suffering in the prison, the best option was to make sure that the news reached the doctor's ears. If it lay within his powers, he would not rest without solving the matter. Baidyanath babu nourished a deep love for the motherland in his heart. But he was unable to translate this inner feeling into action as his government service came in the way. He could perhaps be faulted for an excess of compassion, but only if seen from the point of view of his fitness as a Prison Administrator. In reality, this suggested a highly evolved ethical nature and one could go as far as to say that this quality endeared him to God. Baidyanath babu did not discriminate between the ordinary prisoners and the ones related to 'Bande Mataram'. Any sick or ailing person was treated with the utmost care and the doctor would only be willing to release them from the hospital after the complete restoration of good health. This 'fault' appeared to be the ostensible reason for the early termination of his service. After the murder of Naren Goswami, the authorities suspected his intentions behind this conduct and unfairly terminated the doctor's service.

It was essential to describe in detail the humane conduct of these staff-members and their kindness. I have been obliged previously to criticise the arrangements made for us in prison, and I shall continue with my attempt to expose the inhuman cruelty of the British prison system. A special mention of the qualities of the chief staff-members was necessary lest readers imagine this cruelty to be a reflection of any individual's actions or personal character. (Further evidence of the personal qualities of the Prison-staff may be found in the sections that describe the first phase of prison life.)