Prior to the mutiny in 1857,Chapatis...the staple diet of majority of north indians and generally all Indians now- were circulated in alarming numbers all over the country.A man would run up to a village and hand over a chapati, the size of a man's palm to the headman , telling him to make 5 more and circulate it with instructions to do the same.Thus the chain continued.People initially believed that it contained messages.But, the more probable explaination was that it was an indigeneous code to show one's support for the movement.It was something the common man could easily identify with and propagate.
Just like the Bhumkal in Bastar in 1910 , where branchess of the mango tree and lumps of earth were circulated.
The spirit of freedom picked up in the 1850's which led Lord Canning to remark in 1855,"We must not forget that in the sky of of India,serene as it is, a small cloud may arise at first no bigger than a man's hand, but which growing bigger and bigger, may at last threaten to overwhelm us with ruin."
Source:The Times Of India.
Salute to the mutineers who had the courage to tread where no man had! And may a similar cloud hover over the skies of Bastar soon..
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