History is broadly defined as the study of past events. Among this pool of incidents, only a few fish make it to your textbook. And so, many are forgotten. Starting this week, theatre stalwart Mahesh Dattani's play, Snapshots Of A Fervid Sunrise, gets you to take a deep dive into history and pay heed to the lives of Khudiram Bose and Thillayaadi Valliamai — names that are perhaps alien to history books in school. The two died young, but it is their love for the nation that lives on in the soul of the movements fighting for democracy today.

A staunch opponent of British rule in India and their policy of the partition of Bengal in 1905, Bose along with Bengali revolutionary Prafulla Chaki attempted to assassinate the magistrate Douglas Kingsford, who was infamous for hating freedom fighters, by throwing a bomb on his carriage. But accidentally, he blew up the wrong carriage and was hanged to death when he was 18 years old. On the other hand, Valliamai, chose the path of non-violence. Born in Johannesburg, South Africa to immigrant parents, Valliamai had never been to India but inspired Mahatma Gandhi in his fight for freedom. She protested against the apartheid regime and was put into prison. The harsh conditions there led to a long-standing illness and Valliamai passed away shortly after her release.