Bal Gangadhar Tilak

“ Nor does ever fear raise its muscular contortions. His forehead is spacious and it becomes that which hides behind a brain conspicuously capacious. It is only those who had the advantage of watching Mr. Tilak stand supremely cool and motionless on the congress platform at Surat amidst a sea of turmoil that can recognise the courageous beauty of that Lion of Indian's face. ”

“ However, born in an imperfect world with small imperfections in our own nature which lend to evil-doers pegs on which to hang for a time their own theories of our wickedness, we have ever to stand erect in our honesty of purpose, and through Jgood report and bad, fight the battle ultimately to reach the haven where the very evil-doers and calumniators do stand trembling in their own evil-doing and sin. Mr. Tilak had a great friend known as Shri Baba Maharaja. That was a great aristocrat of Maharashtra, a first-class Sirdar of Poona. ”

“ Yet he became the leader of the forward party at the time and all the calumny consequent on the holding and the break up of the Surat Congress was heaped on his devoted head. Keeping with the moderates in their ideals, Mr. Tilak had yet to break away from them and suffer, to say the least, very many indignities. There is only one reason that can be thought of for such a state of affairs. Mr. Tilak embodied and even to-day embodies in himself the spirit of democracy. ”

“ Tilak was a sight worth one's life to see. Over and over again the mind runs to catch a glimpse of that calm, serene, satwic face and those motionless limbs which, in their absolute muteness, loudly proclaimed utter defiance of all danger and turmoil. The seething ocean of free-fight made absolutely no impression upon the nerves of that astute warrior-politician and there was not as much as a wrinkle of a muscle in the face. The second factor in the situation was an equally grand endurance on the part of the uncrowned king of the place Mr. Mehta the Lion of Bombay. ”

“ Thanks to the labours of Mahatma Gandhi and his no less illustrious band of sufferers and followers including the noblest of men and women India has ever produced, the reputation of the Indian as a self-respecting member of humanity had also immensely risen and the western world, including the whilom. oppressors in the colonies, had been staggered into defeat by the superb Passive heroism of India's illustrious sons and daughters. This was the world's atmosphere into which Mr. Tilak emerged from his life in jail. ”

“ Tilak himself has had the advantage of being free to do much other work in politics and achieve the leadership of India by the most constant sacrifice any one person is ever privileged to exhibit. Mr. Tilak has always aimed at carrying the people with him, and has ever stood against the interference of others and outsiders in matters relating purely to the Hindu Society. ”

“ Tilak took always very great interest in the welfare of the family of Sri Baba Maharaja. So the latter had the greatest regard for a friend whose greatness as a man gave a higher title to respect than anything else others could claim. ”

“ Gandhi is none of these things. He is not a Brahman, but of the humbler Bania caste; he does not come from the Deccan, but from Gujarat, a much less distinguished part of the Bombay Presidency. He does not claim to be anything but a man of the people. He looks small and fragile and his features are homely. He lives in the simplest native way, eating simple native food which he is said to prepare with his own hands, and dresses in the simplest native clothes from his own spinning-wheel. His private life is unimpeachable—the only point indeed in which Mr. Tilak resembled him. ”

“ The split [78] at Surat in December, 1907, irrevocably divided the Nationalists into two parties, and confirmed the younger party in their programme of force. The{183} extremists saw the hand of the Government in the split. Within a few months almost all the leaders were seized and thrown into prison. At Surat, Lajpat Rai, having thrown in his lot with the moderates, was for a time left alone, but Bal Ganga Dhar Tilak, the Mahratta leader, was prosecuted and sentenced to six years’ transportation. ”

“ WHILE the Social Reformers were remarrying widows and breaking castes with the ultimate object of making the people fit for political rights, Mr. Tilak was labouriouly striving to infuse vigour into the public mind by his passionate appeals to the great traditions of our History, Religion and Society. He inaugurated the Ganapati and the Shivaji festivals, which in spite of the bitter attacks of Moderates and the hostile attitude of the Government have now come to form a permanent feature of the social life of Maharashtra. ”

“ Tilak was the strongest and at the same time the most far-sighted apostle—was an extention of the principle of moral force and a practical realisation of it in action founded upon self-help. It is needless to go, in any great detail, into the history of the new movement. It is sufficient if the cardinal points in the evolution of Indian life are noted. ”

“ Tilak sticking peculiarly to his idea of non-interference by outsiders in matters of development purely Indian—and this phase of thought it is that has very materially contributed to the emphasis he always lays upon self-help in all progress we have yet to make—threw the weight of his opinion and personality on the side of the Orthodox. ”

“ Nagpurkar (one of the Trustees) had not lost his head, he tried his best to keep Tai Maharaj safe from the machinations of these unscrupulous persons. But a time came v/hen he himself went over to these persons and set himself to betray the interests of his deceased master.
"It is these people whom Mr. Lucas, the Sessions Judge, in his judgment, refers to as Mr. Tilak's deadly enemies. These people however knew that they were not sufficiently strong to ruin Mr. Tilak. They, therefore, plotted to bring to their aid a powerful ally, viz. the Government. ”

“ Tilak's incarceration. The only solace to the departing , soul must have been the solace that all Indians of noble lives feel that they can meet their nearest and dearest, if they only cboose, in a better more developed life of the future. To Mr. Tilak the disappearance of such a trusted and worthy comrade during forced absence from home must have been a matter for considerable pain. But the very High Power in which Mr. Tilak always trusts along with all his real Hindu brethren had willed it so. ”

“ To one who thus contemplates in love the great secret of existence and the utter meaninglessness of the socalled privileges of social life, all obstructions, all difficulties, all dangers become mere chaff and straw as against the solid wellbeing of humanity. That Mr. Tilak's first imprisonment gave him this opportunity is provedby the splendid results of his life. On return from jail Mr. Tilak joined Mr. Namjoshi as usual and carried on the work they had set for themselves. The Poona new English School by its very success aroused hopes of a greater and greater expansion. ”

“ But when actual imprisonment has been the trophy of service to the motherland, this small worry of espionage has absolutely no effect upon brave souls like Mr. Tilak. From day to day Mr. Tilak went on as usual. Mrs. Besant had entered the political arena and was striving her best, somehow to bring together the Nationalist and Moderate camps especially as the Congress Session of the Year was to be held in Madras the field of her own just-begun political labors. Mr. Tilak was prepared—as he is always prepared—to do what lay in his power to bring about once more a united Congress. ”

“ Tilak without once at least seeing him with the physical eye is to attempt to realise only half the truth. He is short in stature and thin in build to-day. Both these characteristics indicate and are most often associated with great nimbleness. Look at him as he enters an informal company of friends and you will feel that some very near relation of the group is getting into its midst to give it life and liveliness. ”

“ Mr. Tilak went from Poona to Bombay to help the cause of Mr. Paranjpe. Little did Mr. Tilak think that he was going there only to be arrested in his turn on a charge of sedition, though he had always the suspicion that he must ever be prepared to be handled by the Bureaucracy. On the 24th June the law laid hands on him and he was marched to the jail from the Sirdar Griha, the hotel in which he was putting up. Readers in the Madras Presidency can certainly recollect the times and their nature. ”

“ But the greatest contribution made by the movement to the political life of the country was the fixing of the goal of all our endeavours. Ours is perhaps the first instance in the history of the world, where for a couple of generations, the children of the soil did believe their conquerors to be their deliverers. Mr. Tilak was the first to give a rub to this easy-going faith. His Shivaji festival, with its inevitable suggestion of the ideal of Swaraj was an eye-sore not only to the Anglo-Indians but to the Moderates as well. ”

“ Though the majority of the Congress probably glided unconsciously or without any deliberate purpose from, its earlier attitude of remonstrance and entreaty into violent denunciation of Government and all its works, there had always been a small group determined to drive or to manoeuvre their colleagues as a body into an attitude of open and irreconcilable hostility. That group was headed by Tilak, the strongest personality in Indian politics, who was gradually making recruits among the more ardent spirits all over India. ”

“ Tilak's room while both of us were students of Law at Bombay; and I don't remember a single occasion when he gave expression to any unworthy thought." Happy the youth which, like a lotus, can grow, unsullied and uncontaminated, in the muddy water of worldly life and which, the moment it is full blown is dedicated to the service of the Motherland. For such sacred worship, only the freshest, the most fragrant and unsmelt flowers are necessary. Mr. Tilak passed his LL. B. in December 1879. ”

“ It emphatically lays down, as a beautiful sloka in Raghuvamsa puts it, that man is made to enjoy the good things of the world in proper time. Only our Gurus tell us we should never be slaves unto our desires. Mr. Tilak in all the life that he has led has truly exemplified the truth and significance of our ancient wisdom. Though simple in habits and simpler in appearance, he has never advocated abnormal renunciation either by word of mouth or by action in life. ”

“ Mr. Tilak 's first experience of law's tyranny came to him in company with his friends and co-workers Agarkar and Chiplunkur. A little while after they started the Maharatta and the Kesari they had to take up cudgels against the Kharbari of the state of Kolhapur. As Maharattas still holding dear in memory the greatness of the house of Shivaji they could not reconcile themselves to the treatment accorded to H. H. Shivaji Rau the Maharaja. ”

“ An aged brother-disciple of mine who has just come back to Vrindaban after visiting Kedarnath and Badrinath met Gangadhar. Twice did Gangadhar ascend up to Tibet and Bhutan. He is in great happiness and felt overwhelmed and wept at the meeting. He spent the winter at Kankhal. ”

“ He had the intention of thoroughly co-operating with the officials and concerting measures of relief. But authority is always suspicious of men who may capture the hearts of the people. So any little cause that may show itself is enough to make it discredit the honest work of sincere friends of mankind. The same thing happened in the case of Mr. Tilak. As Mr. Tilak was trying to get to, the official imagination and influence it to do something effectively, there was a little flutter in the dovecots of the bureaucracy on account of the criticisms passed by the Sarvajanaick Sabha. ”

“ But from the foregoing account it must be abundantly clear that, not jealousy or intolerance but the great principle of self-sacrifice on which Mr. Tilak would brook no compromise was responsible for Mr. Tilak's separation from his colleagues. The incident, however deplorable or painful brought happy results; for the loss of the D. E. Society was the gain of India. One need never lament the day—howsoever unpleasant the circumstances attending the event—when Mr. Tilak decided to give that to this country which he had so unselfishly and ungrudgingly given to the school and the college. ”

“ Tilak possesses to satisfy the demands of personal friendship as well as to safe-guard the interests of those dear and near, he took upon himself the task of guiding the affairs of the Maharaja's family. The air that surrounds aristocratic families in general and Indian aristocratic families in particular, is, as is well-known, not very congenial for strictness and goodness to thrive. When the situation is complicated by the appearance of a young widow as the heir to the property, the position becomes certainly much worse. ”

“ Tilak has himself framed the following rule for his Servants of India Society:—
(Rule IX d) That he (a member of the Society) will be content with such provision for himself and his family, if he has any, as the Society may be able to make. He will devote no part of his energies to earning money for himself.
What Mr. Tilak insisted upon, in all the acrimonious controversies which his opponents in the D. E, Society thought fit to indulge in, was only this that a Life-Member of the Institution will devoie no part of his energies to earning money for himself. ”

“ Tilak. During the last hundred years, India has produced a number of patriots whose distinguished abilities and remarkable services to the cause of India's freedom will forever lie recorded in our History. If, out of these many persons. Government singled out Mr. Tilak for their kind attentions, what does the fact show? It was not by mere accident that Mr. Tilak was thus persecuted for well nigh two decades. It was because the Government dreaded the personality and the prestige of this Poona Brahmin that they went out of their way in using the Tai Maharaj case for their political vendetta. ”