Poot’s feet are visible only in the cradle. This was the childhood story of Dr. Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, founder of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. His childhood and adolescence were full of turmoil. Who knows how many children would have seen the Union Jack (British flag) fluttering on the Sitabuldi Fort in Nagpur every day when they were in school, but Keshav and his friends were shocked by it. He felt that the saffron flag of Chhatrapati Shivaji should be there.
Immediately a plan was made to build a tunnel to the fort and through that tunnel, the saffron flag should be hoisted in place of the Union Jack. But where should the tunnel be dug? After several days of deliberations, the group decided that Shree Ganesh could be held at the house of their favorite teacher, Mr. Waze. The fort was near Waze’s house and he had given these children his study room to study, even when the family was not at home, the children used to study there.
The children would wait for the family to go out and start digging. One day an opportunity came and the digging started. This program continued for many days, now even though he was at his house, he closed the room and started digging. Mr. Waze became suspicious as to why they lock the room. In such a situation, one day when he opened the room and saw that a tunnel was being dug, he was shocked. Obviously Keshav and his friends must have had to listen to a lot.
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But inside, Waje was very happy that the children were at least thinking about the country. Later, the same Mr. Waje kept narrating this story of Keshav’s childhood for years by linking it with Chhatrapati Shivaji, his guru Samarth Ramdas and Saint Dhyaneshwar. But this sentiment shows that in that area of Vidarbha, people were not ready to accept anyone other than Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj as their king, especially the youth like Keshav.
Why didn’t you take the box of sweets?
That’s why when the order came to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Queen Victoria becoming Queen in every school in India, Keshav did not like it. Imagine, this anniversary was on 22 June 1897, and at that time Keshav was just 9 years and 2 months old. Apart from government programs, in every city and village, programs were organized in honor of Victoria in every school. After the program all the children were also given a box of sweets. As soon as Keshav came home, he threw the box in the dustbin. Seeing Keshav serious and sad, elder brother Mahadev asked why are you sad? Didn’t you get the box of sweets? Mahadev was also stunned to hear the answer of little Keshav. Keshav said, “Yes, but what kind of celebration is there in celebrating the defeat of Bhonsle Empire at the hands of the British Raj? What is the joy in celebrating our own defeat?”
Time passed but there was no decrease in Keshav’s attitude. Four years later, in 1901, a nationwide announcement was made to celebrate ‘Coronation Day’ for Prince Edward VII. There used to be a textile mill ‘Impress Mill’ in Nagpur. Jamsetji Tata started it. At that time, the industrialists in slave India did not have the courage to speak against the British government. Anyway, business cannot be done by corrupting the governments. In independent India itself, Tata had to move its Nano factory from Bengal to Gujarat. That mill, which was started in 1977, was also named Impress Mill because of Queen Victoria.
It is a different matter that Tata made that mill better than the British mills. The best machines of that time were installed, a medical dispensary was established there for the poor laborers and the people of the surrounding areas and in 1886, this was the first mill in Nagpur to start a pension system compared to other mills.
It’s a shame… celebrating the coronation of a foreign king.
But when there was pressure from the English government to celebrate the ‘Coronation Day’ of Edward VII, the mill administration organized a grand fireworks ceremony for him. Most of the people who were slaves of the foreign king came happily to see him. Keshav’s friends were also discussing about going there, then Keshav said, “It is a matter of great shame that we are celebrating the coronation of a foreign king. I do not want to take part in such a shameless event.”
Memories of Ratan Tata
Then his friends were disappointed and only after that a plan was made to hoist the saffron flag on Nagpur Fort. An interesting fact is that the same Jamsetji Tata, on the advice of Swami Vivekananda, had established the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, which is today the number 1 university of India. He also laid the foundation of Tata Steel. When Jamsetji’s grandson Ratan Tata came to Nagpur Sangh headquarters, he offered flowers on the statue of Dr. Hedgewarji. It is also interesting that when Impress Mill was closed in 2002, it was sold to a Mumbai realty firm. About 20 years ago, it was converted into a residential colony and named ‘Empress City’, meaning the Queen Victoria connection is still intact.
Back story:When Hedgewar had resigned from the post of Sarsanghchalak, then ‘Bharat Milap’ happened!
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