It is a year and a quarter since I finished writing this book and some parts of it are already somewhat out of date and much has happened since I wrote it. Govind Ballabh Pant, Narendra, Dev and M. Though I am grateful to all my companions I should like to mention especially invariably delighted me whose vast erudition invariably delighted me but sometimes also rather overwhelmed me. I had all this wealth to draw upon and the only limitation was my own capacity to profit by it. Among the classical languages were Sanskrit and Pali, Arabic and Persian the modern languages were Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, Telugu, Sindhi and Oriya. Nearly all the principal living Indian languages as well as the classical languages which have powerfully influenced India in the past and present were represented and the standard was often that of high scholarship.
My eleven companions in Ahmadnagar Fort were an interesting cross section of India and represented in their several ways not only politics but Indian scholarship old and new and various aspects of present day India.
But it was a privilege for me to live in close contact with men of outstanding ability and culture and a wide human outlook which even the passions of the moment did not obscure. Prison is not a pleasant place to live in even for a short period much less for long years. Fort for the innumerable talks and discussions we had which helped me greatly to clear my own mind about various aspects of Indian history and culture. But I must express my deep gratitude to my fellow prisoners in Ahmadnagar. No one I need hardly add is responsible for what I have written or necessarily agrees with it. On revising the book in prison I took advantage of these suggestions and made some additions. Some of my colleagues in prison were good enough to read the manuscript and make a number of valuable suggestions. This book was written by me in Ahmadnagar Fort Prison during the five mothers. Jawaharlal Nehru - Doordarshan Archives (2008) - D-BEK/E-08
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