Serving sentences

Because I live only with your memories

How can I go on without you?

Beautiful seasons come, buds bloom

But in this darkness, hearts cannot meet

The lovely visions fail to touch my heart

How can I go on without you?

Because I live only with your memories -Rahul More

Decision

Again this thought has engulfed my senses

As despondency surrounds me from all around

Those shadows wrapped in flames of my past

Remind me that I have no future in this society bound by rules 8211;Ranjana Jhala

If both poems have an analogous note of despondency to them, it8217;s not without reason. Their authors Jhala and More have penned the lines whilst in the dark gloom of prison walls. Both Jhala an inmate in Yerwada8217;s women8217;s jail and More a signboard painter from Pune are serving life sentence. And for both these unlikely poets a recourse to words have provided that perfect escape from the harsh reality of their circumstances.

If angst and adversity provide the apt fodder for creative outpourings, few things exemplify it better than the reams of sheets coming out of prisons. For some years now Pune8217;s Yerawada jail has become breeding ground for amateur writers. Prisoners, who may never make it to the best sellers list, but whose prose is deep rooted in reality and mirrors their states of minds8211;be it regret, remorse or at times even a faint glimmer of hope.

Poems have grown with the 31-year-old Jhala who was just 16 and studying in Std 11 when she entered the high walls of the prison with a life sentence delivered on her for murder. Now 14 years later and ready for release the girl has documented the pain of spending her best years of life in prison in her diary that contain some 50 odd poems written by her . 8220;I wrote my first poem -Suicide-in my first year in jail. I was very stressed and didn8217;t know how to deal with my situation-poetry showed me the way,8221; says the Jabalpur girl who writes in chaste Hindi and hopes to get her work published someday.

Surekha Gadekar 43 another inmate is also ready for release after serving six years for a cheating case. In these six years no one has come to meet her-husband, daughter or in-laws. What has compounded her sorrow is her firm belief that she was not guilty of the charge against her. And all this angst has found expression in her poetry that she has painstakingly etched on paper whilst behind the bars. 8220;I was a poet even earlier. When my 13-year-old son died on the railway tracks, I first took up the pen because there was no other way I had to express my anguish. In the jail the situation was worse-my father died while I was here and my husband remarried-no one came to see for six year. I am about to be released but don8217;t know where I will go. Who do I tell all this to? I made the pen and the paper my friends and poured my heart out to them,8221; says the former English teacher who also has a propensity to write poems on those she takes a liking to-the former jail superintendent Pallavi Kadam being a case in point. Ask her why poetry in particular and pat comes the reply, 8220;Because it comes straight from the heart.8221;

Ganpat Vishnu Ughade , an M.A and B.Ed used to teach Marathi and geography at the Akola Junior College and had 13 years of service before he landed up behind the bars. It was here that his sporadic hobby of writing a few articles to newspapers became a full time obsession. Now the man who is due to be released in 2009 writes everyday, his pen churning out short stories, poems and essays on his life, his family back home in Akola comprising a wife and two children. He has compiled all his poetry into one book that he hopes to get published one day. Meanwhile the man who did an English speaking course in the jail along with para legal training conducts classes for the youngsters in the prison. 8220;There are 111 young prisoners who attend my classes,8221; he says even as he reads out his favourite poem titled Ithe or Here8217; that goes-Here there8217;s more grief than happiness, few conveniences, more obstacles-I don8217;t know what to do or where to go.

Most of the writings are philosophical, full of despair and regret and document the daily routines of the prisoners. None of them write about the reason or the crime proved or otherwise for which they are lodged. Some like Vasant Revaji Bandawane a teacher and chairman of a technical institute from Sangamner, also go beyond personal experience. The prisoner has published a booklet titled Gosht Kaydhyacha Phaydhtachi that gives the layman an understanding of the law and pitfalls of breaking it. While this booklet has been translated by an NGO in English and Hindi, another book on common mistakes one makes in stage-preparations is complete and awaiting publication by this former stage actor, who also co-ordinates television programmes. Once released Bandwane plans to plunge himself in the world of television with a state-wide bhajan contest reality show. 8220;I was always a creative person but the jail gave me the peace and space to better myself,8221; says the man whose booklet was published by a Sangamner publishers when he went home on parole. For the second one, a Pune publisher has come forward. A third book titled Ni Atmahatya Karanikaya dealing with the life of inmates and how one mistake can change a person8217;s life is also underway.

Rajendra Dhamane, jail superintendent Yerawada, Pune has seen creativity flower in Yerawada over the years amongst the 2500 odd prisoners and feels the writings go a long way in calming the inmates and inculcating positive thoughts in their minds. 8220;We give them anything they want-paper, pen, canvas-as long as we know the intentions are good,8221; he says. Writing relieves their heavy hearts and is the best stress-buster8221; adds RM Kedari, DIG Prisons, Yerawada Pune who is contemplating coming out with a printed booklet of the writings of the women prisoners.

Being getting to be known as a person of letters has other perks. There have even been many cases where inmates could walk free after their literature proved their good behavior or change in attitude.Take for instance,Ramesh More. Having completed 10 years in the Pune jail, the 35 -year old been given special remission for the rest of his sentence and is now due for release. A signboard painter More has evolved into an artist whose paintings adorn the walls of the Yerawada prison. Alternating between painting and poetry, More who tutored under a teacher from Mumbai8217;s JJ School of Art before he was sentenced, says imprisonment has given his work the depth that the outside world may never have. 8220;People here understand my work and encourage me all the time. I want to go out and become a full time poet and painter,8221; he adds.