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.
