Bal Gangadhar Tilak
Bal
Gangadhar Tilak (birth name: Keshav Gangadhar Tilak) was born on July
23, 1856. Whatever designation given to him is less whether we call him
Indian nationalist, journalist, teacher, social reformer, lawyer or
independent thinker or social activist. He is from the very first
movement of Indian Independence League and was popularly given the name
of “father of the Indian unrest”. He strongly advocated Swaraj as the
birth right. He is also considered as father of Indian National
Movement.
Childhood
Bal
Gangadhar Tilak was born in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra in a Brahmin family
to Gangadhar Ramachandra Tilak. Since childhood he had a very bold,
strong and intolerant attitude towards injustice. He also did not like
circumlocution of things but straightforward and honest.
Education
He
loved mathematics and was a brilliant student. He was scholar of Indian
history, Sanskrit, Hinduism and Astronomy. He joined the
Anglo-Vernacular School in Pune and got education from some of the
well-known teachers. After passing matriculation, he joined the Deccan
College and earned his degree in B.A. Mathematics and with first class
but still continued his studies and did LL.B degree in 1879.
Career
Immediately
after graduating, Bal Gangadhar Tilak started teaching mathematics in a
school in Pune. Not sticking to the job, he switched to becoming a
journalist. He became a critic of education. He found education to be
the most important tool to mold anybody’s thinking especially of youth
because Indian system of education gives you moral and values. For
imparting education, he founded Deccan Education Society.
Later
he joined Indian National Congress in 1890. He was a tremendous social
reformer. Being a member of Bombay Legislature and elected member of
Bombay University, he issued in public interest to ban child marriage.
He wanted to eradicate all social evils and improve the condition of
Indian society. He also supported and welcomed widow remarriage. In all
these matters he became very active and thus, appeared as a threat to
the then British government. He was convicted and sentenced to jail for a
period of one and half year. As soon as he got released from the jail
he launched Swadeshi Movement (urging people to use natively produced
goods only). He tried to create awareness through newspapers and upto
some extent he became successful too. As a result, he got arrested on
the charges of sedition for a period of six years in Burma.
At the end
His
interests in books lead him to write ‘Gita Rahasya’, which he wrote
while in jail. After being released from the jail, he spent most of his
time reuniting people for the fight of Swaraj. He went from village to
village and created awareness about his goal and got positive response
from people. He continuously travelled without realizing his age and
taking care of his health. He was so focused on his goal that he forgot
everything surrounding him and his environment. Bal Gangadhar Tilak died
on 1st August, 1920, while propagating the Indian Independence
movement.
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