The desire to free one’s motherland from the shackles of serfdom was not a task devoid of delight.
At least not for the members of the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) who had gathered at the home of Rajendra Lahiri in Varanasi one summer.
Lahiri, a post-graduate student of history with a deep knowledge of weapons, was the HRA’s district organiser. On that day, he challenged his comrades to jump from a ledge that hung some 20 feet above the inner courtyard of his home.
Chandra Shekhar Azad was the first to go, followed by Ram Prasad Bismil. When Lahiri’s turn came, he climbed, touched the edge repeatedly, and then chickened out. “He told his comrades that the dare had just been for fun and that a real champion could only be one who could polish off the greatest quantity of sondesh (a sweetmeat),” said Udai Khattri, the son of Ram Krishna Khattri. Khattri Sr was one of the 16 revolutionaries who spent anywhere from two years to a lifetime in jail for their involvement in the Kakori conspiracy (or Kakori train action). Khattri Jr, now 73, cannot date the incident at Varanasi, but uses it to illustrate the easy camaraderie among the men.
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