Magic within District Jail Dhemaji

As the giant door of District Jail, Dhemaji opened for us, I was more curious and less nervous. No matter what happened inside, one thing I was certain of was that I would come back with an experience of a lifetime. Inside the double entry gate, there were trees, there were rooms and there were humans but there were certainly no host to welcome us. In my hometown, Tezpur, my house is just outside the jail walls, but never in my life had the opportunity to witness the scene inside the four walls. So, I was more curious than nervous.

A couple of months ago, when Nandan Kamath, came to visit BVL during the Super League, he stayed at a certain Abantee Dutta’s home, at Guwahati, his longtime friend. As has been the case so often, a person from Bangalore enlightened a person from Guwahati about a grassroots league named BVL happening in the second person’s backyard (That’s the beauty of BVL marketing …through word of mouth and words flowing in reverse order!!). A month later, Abantee adopted two teams. She is the Co-Founder of an NGO—Studio Nilima and they work in very un-glamorous projects, which a handful of people in this world must be interested….in short “Dignity for Jail Inmates”. Two months later, when she went on her regular visit to Dibrugarh, Tinsukia and District Jail, Dhemaji, our team gave her a few volleyballs for our brothers inside the four walls to enjoy the sport.

Cut short to 25^th July 2026, we got permission for my entry inside the jail and permission was also granted by my boss at ONGC for station leave. I flew down to Dibrugarh in the morning where I met Abantee and her team member, Pushpanjali. A curious, but not nervous Abhijit, equipped with a ball, a net, a BVL t-shirt and a pair of sports shoes reached the gate precisely at 1PM to appear in an “out of syllabus” test.

As I continued walking inside, making eye contact with the members, none seemed welcoming nor were there was any exchange of smiles. Maybe they were least interested in a 6 feet tall person who was trying his best to make an impression with his broad smile. As I continued to walk inside accompanied by Secretary, District Legal Services Authorities, and the Jail Superintendent, I saw towards my left, a few playing carrom, few sitting in the veranda of the barrack and few others inside the hall enjoying an afternoon nap. On my right were a few more rooms where some construction was going on. To my relief, at the far end, I saw a net hanging against two temporary poles, covered on all sides with ploughed land. But there was no action on the court.

Then a few members trickled in near the court without much enthusiasm. They were wearing yellow and blue jersey. Superintendent Sir gave me a typed piece of paper duly signed with players’ names of two teams who were going to play a match that day. Reluctantly, one by one the team members entered the court. Except two, none of the players were willing to speak, which made things more difficult for me. From a distance, I could see, everyone was staring towards the court, curious to know what I was trying to manipulate. I may not be right in my judgement but from their look it felt like, they were 100% sure this man had a hidden agenda and no way were they are going to allow this man to fool them.

Fortunately, I was accompanied by three BVL volunteers: Chamuwa Sir, Deba Da and Humen. With their help, I first installed the new net and strengthened the poles by filling the base with mud and stones. I requested the fellow onlookers, if they could help us. They did and that was our first success.

Superintendent Sir planned for a formal introduction but somehow, we managed to convince him to skip the ceremony and start the match. We started with an underhand drill competition to decide which team will serve and which one I will be representing.

I wanted to mobilize the crowd before we started the game. It was a difficult task, but I kept insisting everyone to come near the court. A few came closer but many initially ignored my request. I insisted that if they didn’t come near the ground, we wouldn’t start the match. I requested everyone, encouraging individually for them to participate. The individual request probably made them feel important and they obliged. It was our second success of the day.

I was excited to teach everyone the underarm hand position, the basic drill in volleyball. I insisted that everyone, including the spectators, learn the drill. I took some time and went to almost all the humans who gathered to watch the match. I held their hands, corrected their posture and helped them to take the perfect position. Within minutes, almost everyone inside the four walls was following the instruction sincerely “knee bend, hand straight …up and down…up and down” . It was our third success of the day…I could see smiles in the crowd growing and so did was my confidence

The game started…. I was in the yellow team and Humen in the blue team. As my team was trailing, the excitement was growing. A few friends of blue team members came closer to support their team. I could feel the environment changing, so I took the opportunity to tease a few of the blue team supporters. They immediately reciprocated roasting us with few local idioms. I enjoyed it! However, there was a bigger challenge …. two of my team members were completely silent refusing to smile no matter how hard I tried.

We lost the first set. Probably for the first time in my life, I enjoyed losing a set. The next set was important for us to win, so I tried my best, but the July afternoon heat was taking a toll on me. I was getting exhausted but still trying my best to help my team win (I was playing a volleyball match after ages!). My team members saw my plight and probably realized my struggle. To my surprise, the two team members who until recently was not ready to even smile, suddenly gave me a high five to cheer me up. We won the second set!

By the time the third set started, I could see more enthusiasm from the spectators than the players. There were more roasting, more applause and more actions from spectators of both sides. It was neck to neck. I am sure most of them were wanting my team to lose but because of some extraordinary performance from the two non-smiling team members of our team, we won the match.

For a moment, we all felt like playing a local tournament with our villagers supporting us. After the match, I invited everyone to the ground and requested three minutes of their time. In short, I told them about our BVL story and how people from different villages of Assam are helping us to help our children play volleyball. I requested them to help us in our mission so that our children can win a medal. I could see everyone nodding.

At the end, I asked them a question “How did they feel in the last one and a half hours while watching the match” … they all responded positively …few expressed their happiness, some said they forgot all their sorrow for a while and above all many of them felt that they should have also played the game of volleyball….…that was the biggest gift of my life!

Finally, when I requested them to clap for 10 seconds if they enjoyed the game…. they continued their clapping for more than 30 sec, sounds of which must have been heard across the four walls of the Dhemaji jail for the first time ever…. The environment completely changed in just an hour …..that’s probably the power of sports...
For the others, who did not get the opportunity to play volleyball this time, we are organizing a six-team tournament among all the members of District Jail, Dhemaji in Nov 2026. If you are curious and not nervous and want to witness the championship contact a certain Abantee in advance ! 

That afternoon,  as I walked out of the prison gates, I carried with me a lesson far greater than the result of a volleyball match. Life may place us on different sides of walls, but it cannot change the essence of our humanity. More often than not, it is circumstance—not character—that shapes our destiny. And in the end, every human being longs for the very same things: love, respect, hope, and the dignity to live a life of purpose.

I returned home humbled and enlightened !