Story of a picture

after the kakori dacoity all members decided to go underground Azad due to his e
xtremely cautious nature informed everyone that he will be hiding in benares whi
le actually he took refuge in Jhansi where he had lot of contacts and sympathise
rs.Even then he lived in jungle as a solitary hermit.during this sojourn for a p
eriod of time he resided with master rudra narayan and his family. master rudran
arayan was sculptor,an amateur photographer and taught drawing in a school.Yashp
al,a confedrate of azad wrote in his memoirs 'Singhavlokan',that Azad had unlimi
ted confidence on this family.The only three photos of adult(and alive) azad wer
e clicked by Master Rudra Narayan.The host had pleaded for a photograph many tim
es but azad refused for reasons of secrecy.
One fine day Azad started his exercise regimen as usual while master rudranaraya
n sat watching in the doorway.The sun has risen and sweat glistened on Azad's sc
ulpted body.the host once again repeated his request for a snap.He told Azad tha
t he wanted the snap because he wanted to create a sculpture of him.The Endorphi
ns released in his body during the hour long exercise probably had mellowed his
disposition, so he agreed.Azad had not received proper schooling and belonged to
a small village.He invariably used Bhojpuri when relaxed.
while he posed for the photograph he said,'Muchwa ke taav to dai lee".
while the photographer composed the shot ,Azad twirled his moustache.
through he lense the photographer in master recognized a valuable shot as azad h
ad his hand on his moustache .He took the shot without ado. the photo became his
tory and inspired innumerable freedom fighters for decades.In the photograph we
can see azad's colt pistol which he always kept in easy access .Two muqdars are
visible.Azads exercise regimen consisted of desi akhada style pahlwani,kushti,an
d target practice where he used guns and even bow and arrows.his aimsmanship was
legendary.it is said when he was trapped in alfred park during his last moments
. rushnath singh was hurling abuses at him. he was able to put a bullet through
the mandibles of the man. azad must have been in considerable pain having at lea
st been shot once and it seems more or less sure that azad must have shot taking
aim just from the sound. naught barber has written in his memoirs that 'it was
an extremely good shot, this from a britisher who hated and feared aazad and tri
ed to downplay as a mere dacoit and more ever publicly displayed azaads bvody fo
r five days with various excvuses until decomposition set in.