A Glimpse of Patriotism Of Young Keshav (Dr. Hedgewar JI)

Dr. Keshav Rao Baliram Hedgewar Ji was born on 1 April 1889 in a poor Brahmin family of Nagpur. Dr. Hedgewar was of a revolutionary nature and he hated the British.
Keshav Rao Baliram Hedgewar’s father’s name was Pt. Baliram Pant Hedgewar and his mother’s name was Revatibai.
His childhood was spent very dearly. He also had two elder brothers, named Mahadev and Sitaram.

Inspiration from elder Brother:

Keshav’s eldest brother Mahadev was also a good scholar of scriptures and
was also very proficient in the art of Mall-war. He used to go to the arena every day and exercise himself, collecting street children and teaching them the tips and tricks of wrestling.
Mahadev followed Indian culture and ideas very strictly.
The thoughts of elder brother Mahadev had a profound influence on the mind-table of Keshav.

 A glimpse of Patriotism Of Young Keshav:

During the summer holidays in school, young Keshav used to visit his maternal uncle Abaji Hedgewar, a Revenue Inspector in Rampayli near Nagpur.
He started organizing youth there also. He inspired them to participate in the freedom movement.
Every year effigies of Ravana were burnt in Rampayli. That year Keshav joined & added the song of Vande Matram in the festivities along with his young friends.

He gave a very powerful speech on the occasion. “Today’s biggest painful and shameful thing is to be ruled by foreigners. Foreign rule and our continued slavery are the biggest Adharma. The greatest sin is to tolerate injustice from foreigners.
Today we need to stand together against British rule and throw out the Britishers from our country.
Saying Ravana in today’s context is equivalent to ending the British rule.”

The air resonated with the chant of ‘Vande Mataram’. The police and local administration swung into action as soon as they heard about this incident. A round of repressive measures ensured in order to prevent the revolutionary spirit from spreading further.

When Whole School Chanted Vande Matram.

After this incident, the activities of Keshav were monitored closely by the government. District administration banned his public speeches. During that time, to curb the rising protests of youth, the government released the Risley Circular which banned the chanting of Vande Matram.

Keshav’s school also enforced this circular. Keshav along with his young team decided to challenge this circular.

All the plans were kept secret. As soon as the inspector of the education department along with the headmaster of the school entered for an inspection in his 10th. class, all students with full confidence raised the slogan of Vande Matram in full voice.

This slogan echoed in every class the inspector went angrily. Who planned this? Who is the leader? How did all this happen?

The government officials decided to punish all students severely. At this point, Keshav revealed his name to save other students.

He told authorities that he had masterminded this all and speaking Vande Matram was their birthright. He said that he would not apologize. He was expelled from the school.

Conclusion:

This unexpected, daring love for the motherland has given a special place in the heart of every student and teacher. Going forward he participated in many freedom movements, Along with strengthening the nation, it is very important to make Hindu society organized, disciplined and powerful. He considered untouchability, a sense of inferiority, a lack of spirit of mutual cooperation, narrow view of local leaders as a terrible disease.

The purpose of the Sangh branch is to get away from all these evils and organize every person of the country for character building and service to the country along with Hindutva.

Today Sangha has branches all over the country with a dream of patriotism, in which lakhs of volunteers are engaged every day to make our country superior in all directions.

Reference:
1. Hedgewar-Founder-of-RSS (BY RAKESH SINHA)

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