Bal Gangadhar Tilak Jayanthi

 Bal Gangadhar Tilak

Born: 23 July 1856
 Passed Away: 1 August 1920
Contributions Bal Gangadhar Tilak was a social reformer and freedom fighter. He was one of the prime architects of modern India and strongest advocates of Swaraj (Self Rule). He was universally recognized as the "Father of Indian Movement". Tilak was a brilliant politician as well as a profound scholar who believed that independence is the foremost necessity for the well being of a nation.
Life: Bal Gangadhar Tilak was born on July 22, 1856 in a middle class family in Ratnagiri, a small coastal town in southwestern Maharashtra. Tilak's father, Gangadhar Shastri, was a noted Sanskrit scholar and school teacher at Ratnagiri. His mother's name was Paravti Bai Gangadhar. In 1886, following his father's transfer, the entire family shifted to Poona.
Tilak was a brilliant student and also very good in mathematics. Since his childhood, Tilak had an intolerant attitude towards injustice and he was truthful and straightforward in nature. Though, he was among the India's first generation of youth to receive a modern, college education Tilak was a critic of the educational system, the British had provided for the Indians. According to him, the education was not at all adequate. After graduating from Deccan College, Pune in 1877, Tilak also cleared the L.L.B. from the Elphinston College, Mumbai. Later, he helped found a school that laid emphasis on nationalism.
Social Reforms
After completing his education, Tilak spurned the lucrative offers of government service and decided to devote himself to the larger cause of national awakening. He was a great reformer and throughout his life he emphasized on the concepts of women education and women empowerment. Tilak educated all of his daughters and did not marry them till they were over 16. To inspire a sense of unity, he introduced the festivals like 'Ganesh Chaturthi' and Shivaji Jayanti'. Today, Ganesh Chaturthi is considered as the prime festival of the Marathis. It is a sheer tragedy that for his allegiance towards extremism, Tilak and his contribution were not given the recognition, he actually deserved.
Newspapers
Towards his goal, Bal Gangadhar Tilak launched two newspapers called 'Mahratta' (English) and 'Kesari' (Marathi). Both the newspaper stressed on making the Indians aware of the glorious past and empowered them to be self reliant. In other words, the newspaper actively propagated the cause of national freedom.
In 1896, When the entire nation was gripped by the famine and plague, the British government declared that there was no cause for anxiety. The government also rejected the need to start a 'Famine Relief Fund'. The attitude of the government was severely criticized by both the newspapers. Tilak fearlessly published reports about the havoc caused by famine and plague and government's utter irresponsibility and indifference. 

Extremism
Bal Gangadhar Tilak joined the Indian National Congress Party in 1890. Realizing that the constitutional agitation in itself was futile against the British, Tilak opposed the moderate views of the party. This subsequently made him stand against the prominent leaders like Gopal Krishna Gokhale. He was waiting for an armed revolt to broom-away the British. His movement was based on the principles of Swadeshi (Indigenous), Boycott and Education. But his methods also raised bitter controversies within the Indian National Congress Party and the movement itself.

As a result, Tilak formed the extremist wing of Indian National Congress Party. Tilak was well supported by fellow nationalists Bipin Chandra Pal in Bengal and Lala Lajpat Rai in Punjab. The trio was referred to as the Lal-Bal-Pal. A massive trouble broke out between the moderate and extremist factions of the Indian National Congress Party in the 1907 session of the Congress Party. As a result of which, the Congress split into two factions.

During 1908-1914, Bal Gangadhar Tilak spent six years rigorous imprisonment in Mandalay Jail, Burma. He was deported because of his alleged support to the Indian revolutionaries, who had killed some British people. Following his growing fame and popularity, the British government also tried to stop the publication of his newspapers. His wife died in Pune while he was languishing in Mandalay prison.

Tilak returned to India in 1915 when the political situation was fast changing under the shadow of World War I. There was unprecedented jubilation in India after Tilak was free and back in India. After seeing such a grand welcome, Tilak decided to re-unite with his fellow nationalists and founded the All India Home Rule League in 1916 with Joseph Baptista, Annie Besant and Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

Death
Tilak was so disappointed by the brutal incident of Jalianwala Bagh massacre that his health started declining. Despite his illness, Tilak issued a call to the Indians not to stop their movement no matter what happened. He was raring to lead the movement but his health did not permit that. Tilak had become very weak by this time. In mid-July 1920, his condition worsened and on August 1, he passed away.

Even as this sad news was spreading, a veritable ocean of people surged to his house. Over 2 lakh people gathered at his residence in Bombay (now, Mumbai) to have the last glimpse of their beloved leader. 

Writer of the day

John Ruskin

Born in London, John Ruskin is mainly known for his magnificent work in the field of art, literature and architecture. A fervent art critic, Ruskin is also remembered for his ideas of socialism and immense contribution towards promoting Gothic architecture. He gained popularity as a social critic and a poet in the Victorian and Edwardian eras. 

Childhood & Education

John Ruskin was born in London on 8 February 1819. His father was a wine importer who owned a company that later became known as Allied Domecq. The only child of his father, John Ruskin began his education at home and then enrolled in to King’s College in London. Later he took admission in Christ Church, Oxford University to further his studies, where he won the Newdigate Prize for his poetry. Though he was never an outstanding performer, the University granted him a voluntary fourth class degree.

  

Initial Work & Controversies

John first wrote for an Architecture Magazine in 1836-7 which was published as The Poetry of Architecture and soon afterwards, in 1839, his work the Transactions of the Meteorological Society was published. His initial work was not of much significance and went unnoticed, before his first major writing Modern Painters came in 1843. The work, which was published under the unspecified identity, became promoter of modern landscape painters- specifically J.M.W. Turner, who in Ruskin’s opinion, were far greater than several old artists of that era. As an artist, John himself was very close to nature and his painting often revolved around his observation of nature, such as clouds, trees seas and water. The remark brought him under fire and drew criticism from the people who had discarded Turner’s work as meaningless mess. The remark was taken as an affront to the great artists of that era. However, According to Ruskin-unlike old masters-Turner expressed a more thoughtful knowledge of truths of the nature.

 

In another controversy, Ruskin was alleged to have destroyed several paintings of Turner, who was a member of the Royal academy and a friend of John Ruskin- because of their obscene theme. However, the recent findings have proved these claims wrong. After working upon nature for sometime, John shifted to the subject of architect. His two major writings on the subject were The Seven Lamps of Architecture and The Stones of Venice, where he strongly viewed that architecture can not be separated from integrity. These writings were published in his name and became his road to the fame.

 

Marriage & Personal Life 

In 1848, John Ruskin married Effie Gray- the girl he had fancied and wrote his early novel The King of the Golden River dedicating to her. The marriage was unsuccessful though, and finally broke up in 1854. Later, Effie Gray- who had demanded divorce on the ground of his so-called impotency- married the artist John Everett Millais. 

 

Ruskin’s and Millais association goes long back in later 1840’s, when one of Millais’s paintings Christ in the House of his Parents came in to controversies. Ruskin defended Millais until the intimacy between Effie Gray and Millais was disclosed. Millais, who was a co founder of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood- an organization highly influenced by the ideas of John Ruskin- denounced the organization, while the other Pre-Raphaelite artists continued to receive financial and written support from Ruskin.

 

Ruskin again fell in love. Rose La Touché, a deeply religious girl met him in 1858. After a long period of ambivalence, she finally rejected him in 1872 and died soon after. Devastated by her death, Ruskin slipped into a state of mental illness and despair and suffered several breakdowns.

 

Ruskin as critic & Socialist

In 1885, John Ruskin established the School of Art in Sidney Street, Cambridge which later became known as Anglia Ruskin University. Meanwhile he continued to write critical reviews of the art work exhibited every year. He advocated the Gothic style for modern culture and urged architectures to adopt the same. He had great respect for old buildings and he strongly advocated the conservation of the ancient buildings.

 

A fervent critic, Ruskin renounced art criticism in later years of 1850’s and embarked upon commentary on politics. His idea of socialism matured during this period and he gave away most of his assets after his father’s death as he believed that a rich person can not be a socialist. In 1870, he established a charity Guild of St George and supported it with his art collection worth millions. During this period, he was a visiting faculty and became the first Slade Professor of Fine Arts in 1869 at the Working Men’s College, London.   

 

Ruskin’s outlook in socialism played a key role in the growth of Christian socialism. He believed that the best deserves first. That is, the employment system should be such that the only best worker gets employed first, rather than one who offers to do the work at half the rate. He endorsed the fixed wage system, which, in his opinion sustains the quality work and promote a healthy competition.

 

Later Life

In his later life, Ruskin continued writing contemptuous reviews and articles that often made him face legal consequences. In one of such cases, he was sued by James McNeill Whistler in 1878. Though he was ordered to pay only a small amount as compensation, Ruskin’s reputation was badly affected after the incident. 

During the Aesthetic movement and Impressionism Ruskin estranged from the modern art world and began writing on other issues and continuing his support humanitarian movements, such as Home Arts and Industries Association. In his later life, Ruskin lived in Brantwood, a house on the shores of Coniston, where the Ruskin Museum was established in 1901 after his death on 20 January 1900.