LUCKNOW, Aug. 9 -- History merges with the timeless appeal of valour in the quest for freedom at the sleepy village of Kakori, about 20 km from the state capital, and the 120-year-old Chhedi Lal Dharmshala in a busy lane of Aminabad in the heart of Lucknow. The two sites pulsate with the spirit of patriotism even 100 years after the Kakori Train Action that dealt a blow to the British government's prestige.

A visit to Room No. 227 on the first floor of the Chhedi Lal Dharmshala conjures images of the day when Ram Prasad Bismil and his nine fellow freedom fighters might have come in while quietly planning the Kakori Action for August 8, 1925 initially. The room is the only renovated one at the dharmshala.

"We thought it should be honoure...