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ANIMALS IN PRISON, Jawaharlal Nehru, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964) was born in Allahabad. He was educated at Harrow and then at, Cambridge University. Nehru was imprisoned for more than thirty years as he was a freedom fighter., When India attained its independence in 1947, he became the first Prime Minister of the country and, continued in office till his death. Nehru was a leader of international repute and well known for his, statesmanship. He was the architect o modern India. He lived a very busy life; yet he found time to read, books on various subjects. He was an unwearied writer and his well known works are Autobiography, (1936), Glimpses of World History (1939), Towards Freedom (1942) and The Discovery of India (1946)., The following account of the animals in prison exemplifies his compassion and love towards animals,, birds, insects and other natural objects., , For Fourteen and a half months I lived in my little cell or room in Dehra Dun Gaol, and I began to feel as, if I was almost part of it. I was familiar with every bit of it: knew every mark and dent on the, whitewashed walls and on the uneven floor and the ceiling with its moth-eaten rafters. In the little yard, outside I greeted little tufts of grass and odd bits of stone as old friends. I was not alone in my cell, for, several colonies o wasps and hornets lived there, and many lizards found a home behind the raters,, emerging in the evenings in search of prey. If thoughts and emotions leave their traces behind in the, physical surroundings, the very air of that cell must be thick with them, and they must cling to every, object in that little space., I had better cells in other prisons, but in Dehra Dun I had one privilege which was very precious to me., The gaol proper was very small one, and we were kept in an old lock-up outside the gaol walls, but, within the gaol compound. This place was so small that there no room to walk about in it, and so we, were allowed, morning and evening, to go out and walk up and down in front of the gate, a distance of, about a hundred yards. We remained in the gaol compound, but this coming outside the walls gave us a, view of the mountains and the fields and a public road at some distance. This was not a special privilege, for me; it was common for all the A- and B- class prisoners kept at Dehra Dun. Within the compound,, but outside the gaol walls, there was another small building called the European lock-up. This had no, enclosing wall, and a person inside the cell could have a fine view of the mountains and the life outside., European convicts and others kept here were also allowed to walk in front of the gaol gate every, morning and evening., Only a prisoner who has been confined for long behind high walls can appreciate the extraordinary, psychological value of these outside walks and open views. I loved these outings and I did not give them, up even during the monsoon, when the rain came down for days in torrents and I had to walk in ankledeep water. I would have welcomed the outing in any place, but the sight of the towering Himalayas, nearby was an added joy which went a long way towards removing the weariness of prison. It was my, good fortune that during the long period when I had no interviews, and when for many months I was

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quite alone, I could gaze at these mountains that I loved. I could not see the mountains from my cell, but, my mind was full of them and I was ever conscious of their nearness, and a secret intimacy seems to, grow between us., Flock of birds have flown high and away;, A solitary drift of cloud, too, has gone wandering on., And I sit alone with Ching-ting Peak, towering beyond., We never grew tired of each other, the mountain and I., I am afraid I cannot say with the poet, Li T’aipo, that I never grew weary, even of the mountains; but, that was a rare experience, and, as a rule, I found great comfort in its nearness. Its solidity and calm, looked down upon me with the wisdom of a million years and mocked at my varying moods and soothed, my mind., Spring was very pleasant in Dehra Dun, and it was a far longer one than in the plains below. The, winter had stripped almost all the trees of the leaves, and they stood naked and bare. Even the, magnificent peepul trees, which stood in front of the gaol gate, much to my surprise, dropped nearly all, their leaves. Gaunt and cheerless they stood there, till the spring air warmed them up again and sent a, message of lie to their innermost cells. Suddenly there was stir both in the peepuls and the other trees,, and an air of mystery surrounded them as of secret operations going on behind the scenes: and I would, be startled to find little bits o green peeping out all over them. It was a gay and cheering sight. And then,, very rapidly, the leaves would come out in their millions, and glisten in the sunlight and play about in the, breeze. How wonderful is the sudden change from bud to leaf!, I had never noticed before that fresh mango leaves are reddish-brown, remarkably like the autumn tints, in the Kashmir hills. But they change colour soon and become green., The monsoon rains were always welcome, for they ended the summer heat. But one could have too, much of a good thing, and Dehra Dun is one of the favoured haunts of the rain god. Within the first five, or six weeks of the break of the monsoon we would have about fifty or sixty inches of rain, and it was, not pleasant to sit cooped up in a little narrow place trying to avoid the water dripping from the ceiling, or rushing in from the windows., Autumn again was pleasant, and so was the winter, except when it rained. With thunder and rain and, piercing cold winds one longs for a decent habitation and a little warmth and comfort. Occasionally, there would be a hailstorm, with hailstones bigger than marbles down on the corrugated iron roofs and, making a tremendous noise, something like an artillery bombardment., I remember one day particularly: it was 24th of December 1932. There was a thunderstorm and rain all, day and it was bitterly cold, altogether it was one of the most miserable days, from the bodily point of, view, that I have spent in gaol. In the evening it cleared up suddenly and all my misery departed when I, saw all the Enighbouring Mountains and hills covered with a thick mantle of snow. The next day--Christmas Day---was lovely and clear, and there was a beautiful view of snow-covered mountains., Prevented from indulging in normal activities we became more observant of nature’s ways. We also, watched the various animals and insects that came our way. As I grew more observant I noticed all, manner of insects living in my cell or in the little yard outside. I realised while I complained of loneliness, that the yard, which seemed empty and deserted, was teeming with life. All these creeping or crawling

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or flying insects lived their life without interfering with me in any way, and I saw no reason why I should, interfere with them. But there was continuous was between me and bedbugs, mosquitoes and, to some, extent, flies. Wasps and hornets I tolerated, and there was hundreds of them in my cell. There had been, a little tiff between us when, inadvertently I think, a wasp has stung me. In my ager I tried to, exterminate the lot, but they put up a brave fight in defence o their temporary home, which probably, contained their eggs, and I desisted to leave them in peace if they did not interfere with me anymore., For over a year after that I lived in the cell surrounded by these wasp and hornets, and they never, attacked me, and we respected each other., Bats I did not like but I had to endure them. They flew soundlessly in the evening dusk, and one could, just see them against the darkening sky. Eerie things; I had a horror of them. They seemed to pass within, an inch of one’s face, and I was always afraid that they might hit me. Higher up in the air passed the big, bats, the flying foxes., I used to watch the ants and the white ants and other insects by the hour—and the lizards as they crept, about in the evenings and stalked their prey and chased each other, wagging their tails in the most, comic fashion. Ordinarily they avoided wasps, but twice I saw them stalk them with enormous care and, seize them from the front. I do not know if this avoidance of the sting was intentional or accidental., Then there were squirrels, crowds of them if trees were about. They would become very venturesome, and come right near us. In Lucknow Gaol I used to sit reading almost without moving or considerable, periods, and a squirrel would climb up my leg and sit on my knee and have a look around. And then it, would look into my eyes and realize that I was not a tree or whatever it had taken me for. Fear would, disable it for a moment, and then it would scamper away. Little baby squirrels would sometimes fall, down from the trees. The mother would come after them, roll them up into a little ball, and carry them, off to safety. Occasionally the baby got lost. One of my companions picked it up three of these lost baby, squirrels and looked after them. The problem of feeding them was however, solved rather ingeniously. A, fountain pen filler, with a little cotton would attached to it, made a efficient feeding bottle., Pigeons abounded in the gaols I went to, except in the mountain prison of Almora. There were, thousands of them. Sometimes the gaol officials would shoot them down and feed on them. There were, Mynahs, of course; they are to be found anywhere. A pair of them nested over my cell door in Dehra Du,, and I used to feed them. They grew tame, and if there was any delay in their morning or evening meal, they would sit quite near me and loudly demand their food. It was amusing to watch their signs and, listen to their impatient cries., In Naini there were thousands of parrots, and large numbers of them lived in the crevices of my barrack, walls. Their courtship and lovemaking was always a fascinating sight, and sometimes there were fierce, quarrels between two male parrots over a lady parrot, who sat by calmly waiting for the result o the, encounter and ready to grant her favours to the winter., Dehra Dun had a variety of birds, and there was a regular jumble o singing and lively chattering and, twittering and high above it all came the koel’s plaintive call. During the monsoon and just before it the, Brain-Fever bird visited us, and I realized soon why it was so named. It was amazing the persistence with, which it went on repeating the same notes, in daytime and at night, in sunshine and in pouring rain. We, could not see most of these birds, we could only hear them as a rule, as there were no trees in our little

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yard. But I used to watch the eagles and the kites gliding carefully high up in the air, sometimes, swooping down and then allowing themselves to be carried up by a current of air. Often a large number, of wild ducks would fly over our heads., There was a large colony of monkeys in Bareilly Gaol and their antics were always worth watching. One, incident impressed me. A baby monkey managed to come down into our barrack enclosure and he could, not mount up the wall again. The warder and some convict overseers and other prisoners caught hold of, him and tied a bit of string round his neck. The parents (presumably) of the little one saw all this from, the top of the high wall, and their anger grew. Suddenly one of them, a huge monkey, jumped down and, charged almost right into the crowd which surrounded the baby monkey. It was an extraordinary brave, thing to do, for the warders had sticks and lathis and they were waving them about, and there was quite, a crowd o them. Reckless courage triumphed, and the crowd of humans fled terrified, leaving their sticks, behind them! The little monkey was rescued., We often had animals visitors that were not welcome. Scorpions were frequently found in our cells,, especially after a thunderstorm. It was surprising that I was never stung by one. For I would come across, them in the most unlikely places__ on my bed, or sitting on a book which I had just lifted up. I kept a, particularly black and poisonous looking brute in the bottle or some time. Feeding him with flies, etc., and then when I tied him up on a wall with a string he managed to escape. I had a desire to meet him, loose again and so I cleaned my cell out and hunted for him everywhere, but he had vanished., Three or four snakes were also found in my cells or near them. News o one of them got out, and there, were headlines on the Press. As a matter of fact I welcomed the diversion. Prison life is dull enough, and, everything that breaks through the monotony is appreciated. Not that I appreciate or welcome snaked,, but they do not fill me with terrors as they do to some people. I am afraid of their bite, of course, and, would protect myself if I saw a snake. But there would be no feeling of repulsion or overwhelming fright., Centipedes horrify me much more: it is not so much fear as instinctive repulsion. In Alipore Gaol in, Calcutta I woke in the middle of the night and felt something crawling over my foot. I pressed a torch I, had and I saw a centipede on the bed. Instinctively and with amazing rapidity I vaulted clear out o that, bed and nearly hit the cell wall. I realized fully when what Pavlov’s reflexes were., In Dehra Dun I saw anew animal, or rather an animal which was new to me. I was standing at the gaol, gate talking to the gaoler when we noticed a man outside carrying a strange animal. The gaoler sent for, him, and I saw something between a lizard and crocodile, about two feet long, with claws and a scaly, covering. This animal, which was very much alive, had been twisted round in a most peculiar way, forming kind o knot, and its owner had passed a pole through this knot and was merrily carrying it in this, fashion. He called it a ‘Bo’. When asked by the gaoler what he proposed to do with it, he replied with a, broad smile that he would make bhujii --- a kind of curry --- out of it! He was a forest-dweller., Subsequently, I discovered from reading F.W. Champion’s book, The Jungle in Sunlight and Shadow, that, this animal was the pangolin., Prisoners, especially long-term convicts, have to suffer most from emotional difficulties. Often they seek, some emotional satisfaction by keeping animal pets. The ordinary prisoner cannot keep them, but the, convict overseers have a little more freedom and the gaol staff usually does not object. The commonest, pets were squirrels and, strangely, mongooses. Dogs are not allowed in gaols, but cats seem to be, encouraged. A little kitten made friends with me once. It belonged to a gaol official and when he was, transferred he took it away with him. I missed it. Although dogs are not allowed I got tied up with some, dogs accidentally in Dehra Dun. A gaol official had brought a bitch and then he was transferred, and he, deserted her. The poor thing became a homeless wanderer, living under culverts, picking up scraps from

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the warders, usually starving. As I was being kept in the lock-up outside the gaol proper, she used to, come to me begging for food. I began to feed her regularly, and she gave birth to a litter of puppies, under a culvert. Many of these were taken away, but three remained as I fed them. One of the puppies, fell ill with a violent distemper and gave me a great deal of trouble. I nursed her with care, and, sometimes I would get up a dozen times in the course o the night to look after her. She survived, and I, was happy that my nursing had pulled her round., I came in contact with animals far more in prison than I had done outside. I had always been fond o, dogs, and had kept some, but I could never look after them properly as other matters claimed my, attention. In prison I was grateful for their company. Indians do not, as a rule, approve animals as, household pets. It is remarkable that in spite of their general philosophy of non-violence to animals,, they are often singularly careless and unkind to them. Even the cow, that favoured animal, though, looked up to and almost worshipped by many Hindus and often the cause of riots, is not treated kindly., Worship and kindness do not always go together., Different countries have adopted different animals as symbols of their ambition or character --- the, eagle of the United States of America and of Germany, the lion and bulldog of England, the fighting-cock, of France, the bear of old Russia. How far do those patron animals mould national character? Most of, them are aggressive, fighting animals, beasts of prey. It is not surprising that the people who grow up, with these examples before them should mould themselves consciously after them and take up, aggressive attitude, and roar and prey on others., Glossary and Notes, Raters: wooden bars which hold up the ceiling, Convict: a person (criminal) undergoing imprisonment, Weariness: tiredness, Gaunt: grim or desolate-looking, Corrugated: contracted into folds, Inadvertently: incidentally, unintentionally, Exterminate: destroy utterly (species, rare, set etc.), Desisted: abstained from continuing (action etc.), Stalked: pursued (game, enemy) stealthily, Scamper: run impulsively (out of fear, etc.), Crevices: narrow openings, fissures, especially in building, rock, etc., Koels: Hindi word for cuckoos, Courtship: period of courting (winning favour or affection) with a view to marrying, Diversion: deviation; a different kind o happening, Repulsion: a feeling of strong dislike, Vaulted: leaped, sprang, Scraps: remnants; small pieces of something, Distemper: an infectious disease common among cats and dogs