A powerful, secret autobiography of a daring freedom fighter who lived and died for India’s independence
Penned on death row, Bismil recounts his life’s journey, from his childhood to the historic Kakori robbery, sharing enduring reflections on justice, nation-building, and freedom. Translated from Hindi, originally titled Nij Jiwan Ki Ek Chhata by Awadesh Tripathi, this book is the third installment in the Chronicles series: Non-Fiction Translations from Indian Languages, which also includes Courtesy of Criticism (from Kannada, 2024) and My Truth (from Gujarati, 2025).
About The Book:
Ram Prasad ‘Bismil’ (1897-1927) remains among the best-known revolutionaries of India’s struggle for freedom. In this autobiography, Bismil reflects on his life, as well as on the people and ideas that inspired him, and on the revolutionary movement he built. He remembers his childhood, the hardships his parents faced, the role his mother and guru played in shaping him, his involvement in the Kakori train robbery, his experiences in prison, and his comrades fighting alongside him for freedom from British rule.
Bismil not only offers glimpses of his eventful life but also lays out his ideas on gender, caste, class, communalism, justice, nation-building and the attractions and pitfalls of revolutionary activity. The readers of his autobiography will find many of these ideas to be of great relevance in present-day India.
Originally titled Nij Jiwan Ki Chhata, this book was written in secret during Bismil’s imprisonment, while he was on death row. It is a passionately narrated account of the life of a young and daring freedom fighter who lived and died with the single aim of freeing India from foreign rule.
About The Author:
Ram Prasad ‘Bismil’ (1897-1927) was a Hindi writer, poet and revolutionary who committed his life to the freedom struggle. He participated in the Kakori train robbery, to amass funds for his revolutionary movement against the British, for which he was arrested and executed. His landmark autobiography was written during his time in jail, just before he was hanged, on 19 December 1927.
About The Translator:
Awadhesh Tripathi is a translator and literary critic based in Bhopal. He has translated several books into Hindi, including Ganesh Devy’s After Amnesia, Gyanesh Kudasya’s India in the 1950s and Richard Eaton’s India in the Persianate Age. His monograph Kavita Ka Loktantra is a study of post-Independence Hindi poetry and its critique of the newly established Indian democracy. He teaches at Azim Premji University, Bhopal.
The official release for the book is in April 2025.
