141 - No marriage for me

Bhagat Singh did not confine himself to the study of books. The more he learnt about revolution, the greater grew his desire to participate in it. Bengal, the home of revolution, caught his attention. He contacted the revolutionary party of the province. the leader of the party was Sachindranath Sanyal. Every member of the party had to accept one condition. At the call of its leader, he had to be ready to quit home and join him. Bhagat Singh agreed.

Bhagat Singh's grandmother insisted that he should get married. So a girl was chosen. A day was fixed for the formal decision. the day was fast approaching. But just then the leader of the revolution called him. Bhagat Singh left home and went to Lahore. For sometime thereafter, nobody knew where he went.

Before leaving home, Bhagat Singh wrote a letter. He said, "The aim of my life is to fight for India's freedom. I do not wish for worldly pleasures. At the time of my Upanayanam (the initiation ceremony among the Hindus), my uncle had taken a sacred promise from me, I promised to sacrifice myself for the sake of the country. Accordingly I am now giving up my own happiness and going to serve the country."

source: Stories from Here and There, Ekalavya Education Foundation - By: Sunil Handa - http://www.eklavya.org/storyhere.html

140 - Sowing rifles, serving nation

Bhagat Singh, was born into a family of revolutionaries. His grandfather, father and uncle were all very actively involved in the freedom movement.

Once, his father, Krushan Singh brought one of his friends, Nand Kishore Mehta to show him his new mango field. When they reached the field they saw the child working all alone. Mehta became very curious and came near him.

"What is your name?" asked Mehta. "Bhagat Singh," the child replied.

"What are you doing?" Mehta enquired. "I am sowing rifles," was the reply given by the very confident Bhagat Singh.

"Rifles!" exclaimed Mehta in surprise. "Yes Rifles," affirmed the child.

"Why so, my boy?" enquired Mehta.
"To make my country free," answered Bhagat Singh.

"What is your religion?" asked Mehta again.
"Service of my nation," was the categorical reply.

source: Stories from Here and There, Ekalavya Education Foundation - By: Sunil Handa - http://www.eklavya.org/storyhere.html

139 - Sacred soil of Jallianwala Bagh

Bhagat Singh was a small boy, hardly twelve, when the Jallianwala Bagh incident took place. Nearly two thousand people died or were wounded very seriously.

Next day, when Bhagat Singh heard the news he was very angry. Instead of going to his school, he secretly went to Amritsar. He visited Jallianwala Bagh and bowed down to pay his respects to the martyrs. There were silent tears in his eyes, and the message of the martyrs was echoing in his heart and soul. He picked up a handful of this blood-soaked soil and kept it in a small bottle, which he brought back home.

It was very late in the evening when he returned. His sister, Amrit Kaur asked him, "Where had you gone? I have your share of mangoes. Come and eat them."

Bhagat Singh said to his younger sister, "Leave those mangoes, come, I will show you something." There he showed her the bottle which he had brought from the Jallianwala Bagh. Later, he brought some flowers and placed them around the bottle. It was as if he was worshipping that sacred soil.

He drew great inspiration from the soil, which he kept covered with flowers. Indeed, it was the most sacred soil for Bhagat Singh!

source: Stories from Here and There, Ekalavya Education Foundation - By: Sunil Handa - http://www.eklavya.org/storyhere.html