For the first time, the Savarkar left his father, brother, sister and friends to travel abroad. He had made a bold decision to go to England independently, of his own free will, to accomplish great things. His passionate love for his country made him a brave adventurer. Standing on the deck of the ship and watching the ups and downs of the sea, he was thinking only about the freedom of the country. There were no other thoughts in his mind.

Savarkar's roommate on the ship was a Sikh youth. His name is Harnam Singh. B.A. had finished He had gone to England to study as a barrister. Both being Indians, they became fast friends. Haranama was not interested in going England for learning.He had planned to live a comfortable life in his own town taking care of his father's property. But he traveled with a mind that did not like to be forced by many people. Also, he got 'sea sickness' on the ship. Stomach pain, constant vomiting, did not leave bed for three days. Boredom said.

'Savarkar, I can't do this travel and study. I don't need a barrister degree. Money is rotting in the house. I will return to India.'

Savarkar heard him and laughed. Surprise for Haranam! If I was suffering from health problems, he wouldn't be laughing like this!

'Why Savarkar ji, what happened to you?' That was the question.

Then the auspicious words he said wrote a new chapter for his personality. His outlook on life changed. This is what he said.

'Brother, look at the British. They came across the sea to our country and enslaved us. Even the scorching sun here has not been able to shake his inner strength. They are strong mentally and physically. Strangely enough, most of us have no idea that this is our country, that the British should be driven out. They have an irresponsible attitude of who rules, what about us. Henceforth such negative ground should be removed from our mind. We should all go to England and beat the English.

'Singh, look at the English boys. He came to our country that he had never seen before and became a master! In such a way we are in an unknown place amidst all these comforts Why be afraid to go? Brother, don't go back to India for any reason. The outside world must see. We have a lot to learn. We must know both the strengths and weaknesses of our enemies. Not only England, but countries like France, Russia, Italy, etc. should go and learn the art of revolution. That way we can get freedom.'

Savarkar's patriotic words penetrated directly into Harinama's heart. Singh, who had been sleeping with his head covered in depression, sat up. A new spirit appeared in his face. Savarkar put the thought of returning to India out of his mind. The 'sea sickness' in him ran away without a name. He became a close friend of Savarkar from that moment. He started saying that he should fight to free India from the clutches of foreigners. Savarkar thought, 'My preaching has been successful'. His mission and work began on board the ship he had set out for England.

Savarkar was willing to raise the fire of the struggle. Meanwhile, another incident took place. The British used to make fun of the costumes of the Indians on board. Thus, some Indians without self-respect started wearing Suit-Shoes Tie by throwing Dhoti ,Hats away. Savarkar took this opportunity to add some Indians.

'Our hat is better than the ugly British hat. We should all wear a cap or turban at all times. That is our religion. If we untie our necks that they will mock, it will be treason. Let's all wear turbans and walk around with puffed out chests.'

Encouraged by Savarkar's words, Indians started walking fearlessly wearing turbans and hats from the very next day. This was a fitting reply to the taunts of the British. Seeing this, Harnam Singh and some Punjabi traders were the most happy of all. In the following days, these Punjabis gave Savarkar various financial assistance and encouraged him to fight against the British. Tens of thousands of youth became members of 'Abhinava Bharat' on the ship itself. Savarkar was excited by this development. And his confidence was further strengthened.

He was not satisfied with that. He took an oath from everyone. Everyone said in unison, 'We will fight till we win against the British or die a heroic death'. On this occasion, Savarkar told them all about the struggles of Italy's Mazzini and Garibaldi. He emphasized that India will get freedom only through armed revolution.

Savarkar's spirit was immense. Struggle is always the mantra in his mouth. Can't sit still.Can't stand still. Freedom Lakshmi hums in the head. He never thought about his personal life. Wherever he went, he trumpeted the Indian revolution.

[ Giuseppe Garibaldi ]

[ Giuseppe Mazzini ]

Savarkar reached London on July 3, 1906. Meanwhile, the British government received an intelligence report about him. Savarkar's history was thoroughly rehearsed based on events in Nasik and Pune. 'He is only 23. Meanwhile, he has sown anti-British sentiment in the minds of thousands of Indian youth was the summary of the intelligence report.

As he entered the city of London, intelligence began to fret. But Savarkar is not a Person who bothers with such trivial matters. Ready for anything, he plunged into the freedom struggle. He took Harnam Singh with him and went to 'India House'. He settled there. As they settled there, the atmosphere there changed. It was said that Savarkar was a great revolutionary, that he was ready to give his life for the country, and that the British had nothing to fear from him. There was no chance for them to become wind.Because, they were. His sincere patriotism, forward thinking, analytical thinking all became familiar to the Indians of London city within a few days.

'India House' was built by Pandit Shyamji Krishnavarma. A great patriot. He worked as Diwan in many states in India. Being repeatedly insulted by the British, he was fed up and left the country and settled in London.

Even so, their patriotism was not diminished at all. For that he built 'India House' in London city. His intention was to educate the students coming from India to study. India House had library, gymnasium, rooms to stay etc. About 50-60 people lived there. Savarkar and Harnam Singh had this house as their own house.

[ India House in London, Credits:London Remembers ]

As soon as he stepped into London, the first thing he noticed was the Indians who were living, studying and working there. However, it was really shocking that most of them behaved as if they were not Indians. They did not know the meaning of the words patriotism, nationalism.He forgot his mother tongue and always tried to dance like an Englishman, speaking English in an artificial style had completely forgotten self-respect. English songs were proudly sung and danced.He spent his time extravagantly as a paying guest in the homes of spirited Britishers.

Savarkar was now really alarmed, 'Whom should I oppose? He spent his days in a state of boredom. However, he was not the type to sit down in despair. An example of the transformation wrought in Harnam Singh and some other friends on board was before him.Reviving himself, he thought:

'No, these young men should not be allowed to remain slaves of the British like this. Change their minds. National consciousness and patriotism should be instilled in them. The last half of the party young people can change if they try Can be a patriot. Some of them may even become revolutionaries.'

Savarkar introduced everyone in India House. Everyone spoke to him with love and trust. Savarkar had longed to read the biography of Italian Mazzini. There was a reason for that. Pre-independence Italy and British India were very similar. Many leaders inspired by reading Mazzini's biography decided to fight against the British.

Sitting in India House's Library he read all seven parts of Mazzini's book in three days. After that, his inspiration doubled.

Mazzini formed a Young Italy team of ten-twelve people and took the whole country under his control. This thrilled Savarkar. A thought crossed his mind that he should not write his biography in Marathi. How to sit down for a few days and write?How to write? thought that. Because the book had to be within the limits of the law to reach the common people. Feeling that some problems might arise if written properly, he decided that Mazzini's biography should be like a history textbook and some revolutionary events in Italy should excite Indians and sat down to write.

Savarkar was a determined man. He has the will to achieve what he sets his mind to. That doesn't mean they won on all counts. But not those who have given up trying. 'Days are passing. He used to start his work saying that life is coming to an end, I should finish all the work that I have thought of. A book of 300 pages was ready in two months. Savarkar also wrote a foreword of 26 pages. But there are hundreds of obstacles to getting a book published. Savarkar should not leave! He continued to try. Did the exercise. Finally after about 10 months the book was published and hit the market. It also got huge publicity. Most of the leading newspapers in India wrote top articles about Mazzini's book. Two thousand copies were sold in two months. A second printing was demanded.

The book became so popular that some towns,It was carried in procession in the villages. About 50-60 people read one copy. Many patriotic elders recited parts of the Preface to their children.

If all these things are going on, can the British sit idly by? He made a hundred attempts to arrest the book publisher under any law. Savarkar was very careful while writing the foreword so that the government could not sue. Thousands of young people flocked to publish the second edition. An advertisement was published in several newspapers that a second edition would be published soon. Now the British were really worried.Wrath pent up. Decided to seize the copies of the book. They raided the bookstore and the house of the patriots and confiscated some copies. Meanwhile, most of the youth had hidden copies of the book in secret places. The government banned the book for many years.

Meanwhile, Savarkar had established an organization called 'Free India Society' in London. Savarkar now had no spare time.He was not free even for a moment. Also, his name was fairly well known in the city of London. Writing articles for Indian newspapers, thinking about making bombs, connecting with the youth, distributing small pistols to the revolutionary youth of India, etc. At night he slept only for a few hours. Even so, they were not exhausted.

'India House' holds a meeting on every Sunday.After the meeting, everyone had dinner together. In such gatherings, Savarkar used to sing the praises of various revolutionary battles and leaders who stood out among the historical facts. At that time, there were about 700 students from India who went to London and studied there. But only about hundred students used to come to this meeting. Shyamji Krishna Varma used to conduct these meetings under the auspices of 'Home Rule League'. When he had to go to Paris, he entrusted Savarkar with the entire responsibility of holding the Home Rule League meeting. Savarkar made the 'Home Rule League' an affiliate of his 'Free India Society'. Savarkar's captivating speeches on various topics such as Indian history, 1857 war of independence, current politics, matrimony, etc., captivated everyone. A couple of times Gandhi came to listen to Savarkar's speech! Day by day, the number of people coming to the meeting of Free India Society increased. Needless to say, Savarkar is the reason for this.

As we watched, the atmosphere changed. The youth who were shy to say 'Bharat is my country' now started saying, 'I am the proud son of Mother India'. Throowrs English 'cap' started wearing 'topi' like Indians. Everyone felt that we Indians were great. Surprise and joy for the devotees. 'I have prepared what I came here to do', he celebrated. On this occasion he started writing the history of 1857.

Creating a book was not an easy task. They wanted records and evidence about the events that took place around 1857. As they pondered what to do about it I remembered India's office library in London. He immediately went there. Heaps of documents were found. There were also letters from British officials. Savarkar was happy. Every morning, as soon as the library doors were opened, they would go inside and join. He used to come out at the closing time in the evening.

The London police became suspicious of Savarkar. Suspecting that he was doing something controversial about their British government administration, they secretly followed Savarkar. But, by then, Savarkar had carefully read and taken notes on several documents, including reports of parliamentary debates, secret letters written by senior British military officers and others. Meanwhile, the manuscript of the two chapters he had written was thrown away by the police. It reached the government. The government was worried after reading it. Soon after, it issued an order barring Savarkar from entering the India Office library. Savarkar did not lose much from this. Because, he had already noted down 90 percent of the documents. He started writing the book and finished it completely in 1908.

Now the urgent task before him was the printing of the book. He painstakingly sent the manuscript to Maharashta. The printers there wanted to publish books. But they all fear the British. So everyone decided that it was not possible. Unfazed, Savarkar sent it to Parisi. As there was no possibility of publication in Marathi there, he translated the manuscript into English with the help of some of his friends. Unfortunately, there were many obstacles to book printing in Paris as well. However, Savarkar was not disappointed. Sent the manuscript to Holland. As it began to print,, Savarkar had a clever forethought and announced that the book was being published in Paris. French and English spies wandered into Paris. Searched every press. Meanwhile, copies of the book 'The Indian War of Independence 1857' printed in Holland reached Paris.

Savarkar became a big headache for the British government. It had not forgotten what his 'Mazzini' book had done in England and India a few months earlier. The Indian War of Independence 1857 was banned before its release in the hope that something should be done about it. The British government, which gave importance to the freedom of speech and the freedom of the press, acted in this way, so the British press condemned the government.

Thus, Savarkar continued to serve Mother India. The copies that came to Paris from Holland reached India in great secrecy. The book reached all the revolutionaries and patriots who were supposed to reach it. Some copies were sold openly in Paris. Surprisingly, politicians, history teachers, academicians, journalists, non-patriots, students, etc., read it with great interest; Not only in India, but also in countries like Ireland, Germany, Egypt, America, Russia, France, etc. it sold very well.

This is not normal. This was an unusual revolutionary event at the time. Go to England, sit in the library there and collected all the documents,Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, who published a book in the unheard of Holland and made it available to the whole world, is a rare revolutionary in India.

Within a few days 'The Indian War of Independence 1857' was translated into French. All copies were sold out within two weeks of release. Demand for this book came from all over the world. A second English edition was published. Urdu translations were Punjabi, Hindi also released after that.

Everyone who read the book felt very inferior to the British. There was an outpouring of scathing criticism about the cowardice of the British.

The true face of the Britishers who were trying to uplift the barbaric society was revealed to the world.

Now the British government was really shocked. It was trying very hard that no one should remember the events of 1857. But the revolutionary British called Savarkar kept his head up and stopped him from moving. Above all, if the British government tried to decide who should not get the book, it fell into their hands.