It was a regular day at Government College of Art & Craft of Kolkata on the morning of 8th December 1930. There were over 11,000 students in the college, majority of whom came not from Kolkata but from other parts of the Presidency, especially East Bengal. 16 year old Barindra Chandra Nag, a talented art enthusiast, came to Kolkata from Dhaka to study in the arts college. He was staying at his uncles house. Mukul Chandra Dey was the principal of Government College of Art & Craft of Kolkata at that time. Under his influence Indian identity was established in the arts taught in the college, which was otherwise British controlled. At a time when nationalism was spreading like wildfire, an arts college could not be left behind. The rising sentiments against colonialism often created minor friction between the Indian students and the British Officers. On the fateful day of 8th December a British officer insulted seven young students inside the campus of Government College of Art & Craft of Kolkata. Barindra Chandra Nag, my maternal grandfather, was one of them. In the heat of the moment, he and his friends gave a tight slap on the white face of the arrogant officer. As he turned red out of embarrassment and pain, he instructed his men to catch the rebels. All seven of them ran in different directions, but not before deciding to meet soon at the Howrah Station.
It was the same day when three men, Benoy, Badal and Dinesh Chandra Gupta, decided to take matters in their own hands. ‘Operation Freedom’ was launched in the same year to protest against the police repression in different Bengali jails. The three young men were after the brutal oppressor Col N S Simpson. The attacked was planned at the heart of Kolkata in Writer’s building. Dressed in European attire, they came out from the shadows and fired at the police officers. Simpson was shot seven times, three of which hit his head. The trio escaped to the second floor, but was soon surrounded by the police officers. It was a short bloody fight in which the three managed to injure many British officers. As they were running out of bullets they decided to commit suicide. Badal died on the spot, Benoy died in the hospital, and the lone survivor Dinesh was hanged on 7th July the next year.
As the police were busy in Writers Building, my grandfather and his friends quietly gathered at Howrah Station and hopped into the first they got hold of. They had no money with them, but after some persuasion they managed to get tickets in return of their wrist watches. Only after they got hold of the tickets did they realise that they were headed towards Chennai, where their life was going to take a new turn. Their names were already rusticated from Government College of Art & Craft of Kolkata. It was difficult to get admission again. Once the dust of settled down, they went to Shantiniketan to meet their Principal Mukul Dey. But Mukul Dey refused to enrol them back. Disappointed they returned to Chennai, hoping to get enrolled in the Madras School of Arts and Crafts. Debi Prasad Roy Choudhuri, a famous sculptor and painter, was the principal the college. Thanks to him Barindra Chandra Nag got another opportunity to chase his dream of becoming an artist. While not actively involved in revolutionary activities, he was never quite out of it. Once while returning back to Kolkata he was arrested by the police. They mistook him for his elder brother Prafulla Chandra Nag. Prafulla Chandra Nag was an active arms revolutionary, and was wanted by the police. The looks of the two brothers were more similar than their names. It took a lot of convincing and involvement of his mother to get him out.
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose took Chennai by storm on 3rd September 1939. Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar had invited Netaji to Chennai. Thevar was a colleague and supporter of Netaji from their Congress days, and now a leader of All India Forward Block. When Netaji addressed the public, over a thousand people gathered to listen to the ‘Lion of Bengal’. Within a short time my grandfather became popular in his new college in Chennai. Because of his white complexion his friends gave him the nickname of ‘Prince’. Prince was assigned the duty to paint a welcome poster for Netajiby the Bengali community. At the bottom of the poster was written a word that caught Netaji’s eye. It said ‘Probashi’, meaning ‘emigrants’ since they came from Bengal to Chennai. Netaji called my grandfather, patted his back for the lovely poster, and then politely requested him to replace the word ‘Probashi’ with ‘Bharatbashi’, or Indian. At that very moment Prince realised what Netaji was trying to do. He was trying to unite the whole of India by erasing the regional boundaries. That was his secret magic to free his motherland. The Prince, who once slapped a British officer and escaped, died a free man. He was not alone. There are so many small incidences of revolutions, threats and slaps on the white faces that made the British Government scared to stay in India any longer. They all contributed their little bit to make India free. The secret magic of Netaji was working.
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P.S. I GOT TO KNOW ABOUT THIS BIT OF OUR FAMILY HISTORY FROM MY MOTHER
Nice to know about the prince!
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