A THRILLING NARRATIVE OF FREEDOM STRUGGLE

THE BOOK 'REVOLUTIONARIES: THE OTHER STORY OF HOW INDIA WON ITS FREEDOM', PENNED BY SANJEEV SANYAL, CHRONICLES TALES OF OUR NATIONALIST ANCESTORS, WHO SHOULD HAVE BEEN MORE FAMOUS THAN THE ONES WHOSE CAREERS HAVE BEEN UNREASONABLY AMPLIFIED

- SHARMI ADHIKARY

By the time one reaches the last chapter of Revolutionaries: The Other Story of How India Won its Freedom, it is difficult to explain the myriad emotions Sanjeev Sanyal’s storytelling evinces from the reader. While these are lesser-known tales of how our country emerged free from the clutches of the British imperialists, the amount of lies we have been subjected to so that we do not know these embedded truths about our history leaves you numb. While you assimilate the detailing of events, incidents and the journeys of our revolutionaries, it is hard to shake away anger or disgust at the abject torture our ancestors and their families faced, the diabolical betrayals of our own and yet feel inspired by the dashing bravado of their deeds or monumental sacrifices they selflessly made.

In a book that hooks you with its thrilling narrative, emotional crests and pacy style, I assure you there will be times when you will pause to think how systematically these chapters were scrubbed off from public conscience and discourse lest we ‘fathom’ how Bharat’s freedom was earned through pitched and passionate battles. We emerged from the cruel shackles of colonialism because of the blood our heroes split. The license to live an unfettered life wasn’t gifted via an amicable resolution. It was earned through decades of armed resistance and fierce pushback by young nationalists, whose sagas got swept amidst the cloud of chapters, carefully crafted, to present a story that is anything but true. As you flip through the pages of Sanyal’s important work, delivered with a rare sensitivity and balance (objectivity in observation has always been a high in Sanyal’s repertoire), you are bound to feel a lump in your throat from that gut-wrenching realisation. Such is the pathos in our tumultuous past.