Musings from the Gallows: Autobiography of Ram Prasad Bismil

Though by definition it is an autobiography but it contextuals the entire gamut of events in their multi-dimensional aspects, socio-cultural as well as politico-ideological. The author describes his follies as a wayward youth and thence his follies as a raw hand in the revolutionary mode of life with a stunning frankness. The most touching phase of his writing is the spiritual affinity between an orthodox Arya Samajik like Bismil and a staunch Muslim like Ashfaq who used to eat from the same Thali. Bismil regards the supreme sacrifice of Ashfaq as his most precious offering to the motherland. By hindsight, Bismil advises the younger generation not to follow his path but adopt a rustic way of life by living and earning the living like ordinary village folks and sensitizing them about their social obligations and organizing them into cooperatives to maximize their earnings.