Sh. Bal Gangadhar Tilak: a great life, a great man
Poem or Essay
Answers
Bal Gangadhar Tilak was a conscientious man with a purpose in life. He was very straightforward in his dealings and truthful too. He could never put up with injustice. He applied these resourceful traits not only in his life but also for the cause of a whole nation. When endowed with resources such as these, how many of us take time to share it with our fellow citizens let alone a nation! And that too for a just cause!
India was under British rule, exploited and influenced by Western interest and culture. India has a wealth of natural resources. The British were taking advantage of the same and using it for their own advantage. They sent raw materials like cotton etc. to their country where they would use the same to run their factories and sent it back here for commercial purposes to be sold in India. In the process they could employ their people in factories for work while labourers in India had to do without work and face the consequences, leading to poverty. They were also selling western stuff leading to their own profits but only unwanted influence in our country.
Bal Gangadhar Tilak was a great man who realised the significance and necessity of independence for the well being of a nation and devoted himself to working towards that cause. To achieve such a goal, he floated his own newspapers – Mahratta in English and Kesari in Marathi. The newpapers set about stressing the point of the significance of being an independent and self-reliant nation. They did this by making people of India aware of their own rich heritage and culture and advocated the cause of national freedom. Thus, Tilak is still remembered as ‘Father of Indian Movement’.
Tilak went to jail thrice for being vocal about his views on injustice meted out by the British. He used his newspapers and his speeches as a medium for such protests to reach out to people. He also opened Deccan Education Society to meet the country’s needs of better education, promoted khadi to discourage use of foreign products. His messages to the nation were:- Boycott of western goods, National Education, Self Government, Self reliance which he called Swadeshi.
His vision to bring people together on a single platform through cultural events and other such kind like Ganesh Chaturthi, Shivaji Jayanthi, which is followed even today is par excellence. It shows the brilliance of his thinking.
We owe a lot to such a great man with such fruitful life, the benefits of which is still being reaped by a whole nation.
Tilak was born as Keshav Gangadhar Tilak in a Brahmin family in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra. Due to his leadership capabilities and contribution to the Indian freedom struggle, he was later conferred the title of Lokmanya, which means “accepted by all people (as their leader)”.
Tilak could in fact be said to be the first freedom fighter. Due to his radical approach to the freedom struggle and encouragement of violent means to achieve freedom, he was called by the British authorities as the “Father of the Indian unrest”.
While Tilak is well known as a freedom fighter, most people are unaware of his other accomplishments. Many of his initiatives continue to this date. Tilak was a teacher, a social reformer and a lawyer, having obtained his LL.B degree from the Government Law College in Pune, in 1879. Tilak started two weeklies, Kesari (literally meaning "The Lion") in Marathi and Mahratta in English. He used these 2 weeklies to connect with the people of India and to disseminate his views about the path to Swaraj (self-rule). Kesari later became a daily and continues to be published to this day.
In 1894, Tilak transformed the household worshipping of Lord Ganesha into a grand public event, comprising of several days of processions, celebrations, music and food. This continues till date in Maharashtra. In fact, Ganeshotsava is a big festival in Maharashtra. In 1895, Tilak also founded the Shri Shivaji Fund Committee for celebration of Shiv Jayanti, the birth anniversary of Chhatrapati Shivaji, the founder of the Maratha Empire. Tilak effectively used both these events to build a national spirit.
He also founded The Deccan Education Society which till today runs educational institutions in Pune such as the well known Fergusson College.
The Swadeshi Movement started by Tilak at the beginning of the 20th century guided the import substitution policies of the Indian Government until the 1990s, when under pressure from the International Monetary Fund, the then Congress Government was forced to open up the economy.
One could also watch the feature film Lokmanya: Ek Yug Purush based on his life.