Towards the Rising Sun

A stormy night it was, thunder and lightning piercing through the clouds breaking apart the sky. There came a hustling sound of some feet rushing through the dark streets of a monsoon night. As the rain hit the ground the puddles splashed with the momentum of these feet as they went past the slimmest lanes of the city carrying their roughly beating heart in their bosom and their lives in their hand.

Debu and his Biplabi friends ran across the city being chased by the police during the time of Colonized India. And, then came the next morining when Debu, Mir-janur, Tapan, Alok, Sashi landed up behind the bars for the criminal offense of loving one's motherland and demanding for it's freedom.

Debu, a 19 year old boy, a future of the nation carrying boiling blood running through his veins with the only dream of seeing the sunshine of a free India. He, like many other young souls of that time was trashed in the jails for protesting against the British government and was crushed under the feet of white skinned morons. But no torture let Debu give up on his dreams, every drop of blood he shed made him stronger and more determined towards his dreams. Being a meritorious student of the time, it was that hollow dark room behind the bars from where Debu pursued his graduation. 

After months of being in exile, one day Debu and his friends stepped out to face the world once again, to take their dreams forward once again, to hold the Tiranga higher than the Queen's flag once again. The fight for freedom continued and soon Debu had a family. But, that didnot stop Debu to pursue his dreams. His wife Kanak just added up as his backbone towards the vision to see a free India. 

Then came a time when the Globe witnessed World War 2 and the Indian fight for freedom became even more rigorous. It was twice more that Debu had to pay visit to the jail with offense of Nation love. Then came a time where Debu had to go under cover for a span of three years but Debu and Kanak never gave up the hope of seeing each other oneday, once again.

Those three years of Debu's life was marked with severe fighting, fasting and living a life under the gun point of British Raj. But every drop of blood shed, every lost day of their life paid off finally on the 15th August of 1947, when the country witnessed the sun rising in free India. Debu finally united with his family but little did they know that this union was only to depart, depart from their own motherland. Borders cut through the heart of Bharat Mata only to tear up into two countries. Debu and his family fled to West Bengal as refugees.

Now, Debu had a family but no penny or possession. His fight still continued but now for his family. He had eight mouths to feed with his sole effort. And his tireless timeless labor helped him to shine as a winner. He managed to feed and educate his family and soon his children grew up to be responsible independent individuals much able to carry their parent's responsibly.

But there was still something which did not let Debu sleep, it was his hope of seeing the borders being ripped off between the nations only to see the lands coming closer once again. The partition was not something for which he had sacrificed one of the greatest part of his life.

Debu could never set foot on the lands of East Bengal again, and just like him, his last hope also got cremated on one winter night of the year 1983 and his story remained untold.

Lt. Debendra Chandra Das (1902-1983)

"Through this story I tried to depict a snapshot of the life of Late Debendra Chandra Das (1902-1983), my grand father and many other such lives whose stories got lost from the pages of history. This Independence Day, I would like to pay my tribute to all those respectable souls for whom we call ourselves independent individuals of an independent country. This Independence Day and many other forthcoming Independence Days, I would like to celebrate in the name of the Freedom Fighters who sacrificed every bit of themselves to fight their way towards the Rising Sun of Free India." 

"Jai Hind"