“O
Death! I give you leave to end
The
script of my life here,
Squandered
not I even a moment of my life,
So
the day’s end brings no sorrow to me.”
-
V.
D. Savarkar, Upon the Deathbed
Hi, Everyone! It would
have been easy enough for me to avoid writing the Savarkar-Babarao deathbed
meeting. But I decided not to do so.
With this one scene I
could show the deep bond of love between the two brothers as well as the dedication
and devotion to India despite the dire circumstances. In this scene I could
reveal Savarkar as the epitome of the Karmayoga.
Also, historically early
1945 was a landmark. Savarkar had exposed the treacherous Congress politics to
the Indians. He had successfully built up the Hindu Mahasabha to counteract it.
Everything could have gone very well for India from here on; there were great
hopes for it. But instead, the fate of India and Savarkar’s health went on a
fast downward spiral immediately after.
There was a lot riding
on this scene for me.
As is the case of most of
the information on Savarkar, the facts of this scene are available. But what
were his thoughts at the time? What was he feeling? What did he say? For me to
write the dialogues of this scene it was essential to understand that.
Fortunately for me,
Savarkar’s letter to Babarao, written at this time, is available. Also, he has
explored death in his poem Marnonmukh
Shaiyyewar (Upon the Deathbed.)
With great difficulty and much mental gyrations I had managed to translate this
poem. This allowed me to dare to have an insight into Savarkar’s mind.
I felt it was a
colossal nerve on my part to attempt such a thing. But for the sake of the
novel, I had to do it and put aside that feeling, too. I sat for hours
pondering over the scene, until it became real to me as if I was there in the
room. Only then did the scene flow out and in one go. This was not a scene
where one writes a few lines and then chews the pencil thinking, “Okay, what
comes next?”
In my novel I have
given the quote from my poem translation, but it is the edited version. The
poem is complex and I have put together lines that best highlight the scene.
Here is the quote:
O Death! I
give you leave to end
The script
of my life here,
Squandered
not I even a moment of my life,
So the
day’s end brings no sorrow to me.
I have no fear, for what we sow here today
That blooms and bears fruit, so they say.
With
hardship did I sow,
Choosing
the best seeds,
Sowing
them without expectation of fruit.
Heaven,
hell, rebirth, captivity,
Release
from the burden of human life—
All are
but the consequence of one’s own actions.
Where the door of Death shall open,
Predetermined it is by us, by the down payment paid
By our deeds and actions along the path of Dharma.
O Death!
So, I fear not the graveyard,
What is it
but an unfamiliar, foreign land?
And to ease
the travel in this land,
Have not I
from Lord Krishna
An
introduction to every house on the way?”
Anurupa