“Life is a beautiful gift and we must make sure that when we look back at the days of our lives then we do not have much to regret. We should be able to have a happy memory of our golden old days and stay content in our present too!”
Well, before starting the review of this amazing title, “Jailotkarsh – Samajik Avshesh Ko Behtar Banane Ki Prakriya” by Author Gopal Prasad Tamrakar, let me mention that the Author has made a brilliant effort with this memoir. This is truly an incredible read and the readers are bound to love the author’s journey. The author has dedicated this book to Dr. Harisingh Gour Sir, who laid the foundation stone of the first university (Sagar University) in the Central India region in 1946 at his native place, Sagar in the state of Madhya Pradesh.
About the Authors: Author Gopal Prasad Tamrakar was born on 28th of June 1960 in Sagar, Madhya Pradesh. He grew up in a middle class business family; he passed the 11th board exam with science subject in first division, where he got merit scholarship as well. From the first and oldest university of Central India, Sagar University, he completed B.Sc. and received his bachelor’s degree. He did MA in Sociology in 1985, in which he got the first position in the merit list in the university. Being the topper of the university, according to tradition, he was appointed as an Ad-Hoc Assistant Professor as soon as the result was declared.
In the final year of his M.A., he chose a burning social topic like ‘Love Marriage’ for his dissertation. This research work was published as his first book, “Love Marriage, A Sociological Study!” While teaching for four years, he also did writing work in the foundation course book of Madhya Pradesh Hindi Granth Academy. The author’s wife, Smt. Padmaja, is a voluntary retired person from the post of Museum President in Sagar University, while his son Sarthak and daughter-in-law Monica are self-employed in the family.
The author, Shri Gopal Prasad Tamrakar has also been awarded the President’s Medal twice; first time for meritorious services in 2005 and the second time for outstanding services in 2021. He is the only ‘Jail Superintendent’ who was sent to London by the Government of India for high level training in human rights and prison management. After 33 years of prison service and being a Jail Superintendent cum DIG, the author took voluntary retirement from his post in the year 2021. He is now engaged in writing and social services.
Book’s Introduction: This book, Jailotkarsh – Samajik Avshesh Ko Behtar Banane Ki Prakriya by Author Gopal Prasad Tamrakar covers the life journey of the author in an incredible manner and comes under the category of ‘Memoir & Autobiography!’ Since, the author feels that literature is the mirror of the society, so this experience based book is dedicated to the society itself. Everything that is not available remains the centre of human curiosity. In fact, a prison is a place where no one wants to go but everyone wants to know about it. Since prison is an essential part of the social system, people are always curious to know about prisons according to their nature. Ordinary people know prisons only through movies, which is not the real nature of prisons. In fact, the world of prisons is a different world beyond film prisons, human imaginations.
This book is presented as the first instalment of the first 11 years of the author’s 33 years’ experience of the prison life. The purpose of the book is to present real, factual and reliable facts about the prisons. Since prison is an inseparable part of society, just as every organ in the body is important and necessary, in the same way, jail is also necessary for a well-ordered society. The book ascertains the real meaning of prison, its need, its importance, the need to make it more useful to the society through 21 Reading Worthy Chapters. The purpose of this book is to make a way for the process of reform and finding ways to remove the obstacles, highlighting the obstacles in achieving the objective, so that our society and criminal justice system development to reach new heights.
Readers Connect: Through this book, Author Gopal Prasad Tamrakar has attempted to present the journey of his life in a very honest and raw manner. Being a memoir, the book takes the readers to a journey of prison life, which had remained unknown to most of us for all these years. Knowingly or unknowingly, the author has given the readers numerous ‘Life Lessons’ from his own journey and this is probably the best part of the book. The readers are indeed bound to love the book as the overall philosophy of the book, stands for most of us who have picked up this book for a read.
Verdict: A Book like “Jailotkarsh – Samajik Avshesh Ko Behtar Banane Ki Prakriya” is for sure a Must Read one& deserves a chance by the readers. The way Author had presented his life journey and learnings in this book is truly incredible. His work is seriously praise worthy as he had succeeded in making a great book in the highly challenging category of memoir!
Gopal Prasad Tamrakaris a promising Author, who is very creative with his thoughts, which the readers can feel through his spectacular writings. In addition, his honest work makes this book even more reading worthy.
Book: Jailotkarsh – Samajik Avshesh Ko Behtar Banane Ki Prakriya
Authors: Gopal Prasad Tamrakar
Publisher: Astitva Prakashan (2022)
Total Pages: 159
Reviewed By: Neel Preet
