For many years into the freedom movement, Vallabhbhai Patel was never sent to jail. “It seems imprisonment doesn’t appear to be in my stars,” he would often remark, according to Mahadev Desai in Veer Vallabhbhai. Patel led the Nagpur Satyagraha, Borsad Satyagraha, and the 1928 Bardoli Satyagraha, which earned him the nickname Sardar and propelled him to national prominence. Yet, he was not arrested until 1930.
The moment of reckoning finally came just before Gandhi’s Salt March. On 7 March 1930, Patel was arrested for defying the magistrate’s notice prohibiting his public speech. At the age of 54, he embraced his arrest with his characteristic joviality.
From 1930 to 1947, Sardar Patel spent over six years (2,300 days) in British jails at Sabarmati, Yerawada, Nashik and Ahmednagar Fort. His longest period of imprisonment occurred at the age of 67, when he, along with the entire Congress leadership, was arrested following the Quit India movement in August 1942. He feared he wouldn’t survive to see the country gain independence.
But even these long stints in jail failed to dampen his spirit and earthy sense of humour.
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Jail, jokes, and jibes
During his first arrest, Sardar faced a few tough days initially at Sabarmati Jail, but when Mahadev Desai and Acharya Kripalani visited him, their conversation was nothing short of hilarious.
When asked how he was being treated, Sardar replied, “They treat me just as they treat thieves, dacoits, and other criminals. They make no discrimination!”
“And food?” asked Desai. Sardar assured him it was “good enough for horses”, adding: “Why are you worried for me? I can live on air for three months.”
When the superintendent allowed him a razor for shaving, which had to be returned after use, Sardar joked, “You should allow me to keep the razor so that I can shave other inmates and can earn a few paise.”
The entire conversation, reproduced in Desai’s Mahadevbhai ni Diary, was in Gujarati. However, as Desai and Kripalani were leaving, Patel switched to English, saying, “I have only one problem”. As the superintendent became more attentive, Patel delivered the final punch: “The one thing that makes me sad is that all the officers here are Indians… Had they been British, I would have taught them a lesson… This is a perfect example of how the system has enslaved Indians.”
This jail term was the only time Patel attempted to keep a diary, for about a month and a half. Unlike the detailed and descriptive style of MK Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, Patel’s entries were mostly formal and matter-of-fact. The first entry, on 8 March, noted his height and weight during a medical examination: 5 feet 5.5 inches and 146 pounds (approximately 66 kg).
Cellmates with Gandhi
Sardar Patel’s jail term at Pune’s Yerawada, in 1932-33, was truly eventful and memorable. He was the only top-ranking Indian leader to share a cell with Gandhi for more than a year—from 1 January 1932 to 8 May 1933. A pleasant turn of events occurred when Gandhi’s close aide, Mahadev Desai, joined them on 10 March 1932.
A dedicated diarist, Desai kept detailed records of the daily lives of Gandhi and Patel inside the prison. And Gandhi, too, wrote about this time with Patel, whose companionship he cherished.
“I have the jovial company of Sardar Vallabhbhai here, and he makes me laugh heartily several times a day with his fine humour,” Gandhi once observed.
However, during Gandhi’s indefinite fast against the announcement of separate electorates for the depressed classes (Dalits), Patel’s humour faded as everyone worried for Gandhi’s life. After the fast ended and Gandhi regained his health, he observed that Patel was using more towels than necessary for a sponge bath. When Gandhi asked about the stock, Patel responded in his usual vein: “We have not maintained any accounts. We had almost lost you. We did not expect you to come back and take the stock.”
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Hardships and resilience
Jail time pushed Patel to extend his limits. He abandoned smoking after his first arrest, quit tea during his stay with Gandhi in Yerawada, and altered his diet to “eat what Bapu eats”. He also learned Sanskrit and the crafts of book-binding and making envelopes from used papers while in prison.
During his second jail term, Patel endured profound personal losses: his elderly mother Ladba, his daughter-in-law Yashoda, and his elder brother Vithalbhai Patel, the first Indian speaker of the Central Legislative Assembly. Despite their differing political paths, Patel was eager to bid his brother a final farewell. However, he rejected the government’s offer of conditional release, stating: “I cannot purchase my liberty at the sacrifice of my honour and self-respect even on an occasion when my presence outside is necessary.”
Patel’s health suffered too. He had long struggled with intestinal issues, and imprisonment only exacerbated them. During his time at Yerawada, he also faced severe nasal pain from a cauterisation procedure done just before his arrest. His condition deteriorated, leaving him unable to sleep. The government refused him permission for surgery in Mumbai, allowing it only at Sassoon Hospital in Pune. Patel opted to endure the pain.
According to Ramnarayan N. Pathak’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, he reassured a concerned Gandhi: “If the government thinks there is a risk to my life, it will do whatever it can. If there’s no risk, isn’t it our duty to endure the pain? We have come here to suffer and we shall suffer. What is the big deal? I want you to be relieved. Nothing will happen to me.”
Even amid hardships, Patel found ways to prevail. During his third jail term at Yerawada, he enthusiastically informed Mahadev Desai about the spinning club he had formed with fellow prisoners BG Kher and Mangaldas Pakwasa, in a letter dated 18 December 1940. He also took pride in serving his fellow inmates, often preparing tea for them.
In his last and longest imprisonment at Ahmednagar Fort, Patel was joined by comrades like Nehru, Kripalani, Rajendra Prasad, Maulana Azad, and others. They spent their time together, engaging in activities like playing bridge. But this stint did take a toll. With no release in sight, Sardar expressed concern that the end might be near. In a letter to his daughter Maniben, he wrote about his readiness to welcome death, finding satisfaction in having served India in any way he could. This sentiment was not born out of frustration but a sense of detachment.
But from being a prisoner in June 1945 to becoming a member of the Viceroy’s Executive Council in 1946, Patel’s life changed drastically. Patel the prisoner became Patel the nation builder, his time in jail a distant memory.
Urvish Kothari is a senior columnist and writer based in Ahmedabad. He tweets @urvish2020. Views are personal.
(Edited by Asavari Singh)