Nashik has produced many well known , eminent personalities in literature, art, social  workers, film makers, dramatists, musicians etc. However, the brightest among these pearls is the memorable personality - Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. Each and every   Nashikite is extremely proud of him.

• His Childhood 
• His Struggle for freedom 
• His Reading Habits 
• Pioneer 
• Purification of Mother Tongue 
• His Literature

 

Vinayak Damodar Savarkar is known to people as one of the fervent freedom fighters of India. But he was not just a freedom fighter. He was a bold warrior, good orator, prolific writer, a  poet, a historian, a philosopher, a social worker, a cautious leader, a bard and staunch supporter of  Freedom and much ore. The following article is a glimpse of  what we mean by his multifaceted personality. His biography  is like a thrilling  novel. It inspires readers with patriotism.  

He hailed from Maharashtra,. Born in Bhagur, Dist. Nashik on 28th May 1883, he spent his youth in  fighting against British Raj. As an extremely brilliant, outspoken and confident school boy, he was  famous amongst his teachers and friends. In 1898 when Chaphekar brothers were hanged for  assassinating the British Officer - Mr. Rand, Savarkar was just 15 years old. But Chaphekar’s  martyrdom  impressed him  and he decided   the freedom of the country as his foremost aim. 
 

His struggle for freedom  

After matriculation in 1901, he took admission in Fergusson College of Poona. He was however more  interested in India's freedom from British rule. The young college students in Poona were charged by the  speeches by the patriots and political leaders like Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bhopatkar etc. The news papers in Poona were also actively participating in creating anti-British atmosphere in the society and  appealing   society’s  feelings of Nationalism.   Savarkar was the uncrowned leader of the youth in this movement. In 1905 he burnt the imported clothes as a token of India’s protest to imported clothes. In May 1904, he  established an International  Revolution Institute named "Abhinav Bharat". His  instigating patriotic speeches and activities irritated the British Government. As a result his B.A. degree was withdrawn by the Government. In June 1906 he left for London to become Barrister. However, once in London, he united and  inflamed the Indian students in England  against British. He believed in use of arms against the  
 foreign rulers and created a network of  Indians in England, equipped with weapons . Although he  passed Barrister Examination in England, because of his anti-government activities, he was denied the  Degree.  

 He was the prime inspiration for the Indian students to rise against British rule. The British Government  Officers were waiting for some opportunity to arrest him. He was arrested in London on 13 March 1910  on some fabricated  offenses. The case against him was to be heard  by the court in India. So he was to be sent to India. During his travel in a ship, as the ship neared Marseilles in France, he jumped  through a porthole and swam to the port. This was on 8 July 1910. As per the plan, his colleagues were  to reach there beforehand. However, they  reached  late and  he was caught by French Police. The  French Government denied him asylum.  

 After the case was decided  in India, he was sentenced to 50 years  rigorous life imprisonment in   Andaman on 24 December 1910. Since 4 July 1911, he was in  Andaman Jail in solitude. On 2nd May 921 he was brought to India from Andaman. Since 1921 to 1922, he was in Alipur (Bengal) and  Ratnagiri (Maharashtra) Jails. On 6th January 1924, he was released from the jail on two conditions viz. a) He will not actively participate in politics and b) he will stay in Ratnagiri District. He was in house  arrest at Ratnagiri.  

 Thereafter he spent his life in different  fields of social work.  He  breathed his last  at the age of  83, on  Saturday, February 26, 1966. "Prayopveshana" , meaning fast till death, was what he observed and  refused  any intake of food. His death  was like a true warrior. Death did not grab him, he approached  death with erect head.  
 

His Reading Habits  

Right from his childhood  he used to like reading. Invariably found in Library, he used to read the news papers like Kesari, Kal, Dnyanprakash etc. He read "Short History of the World" in  childhood. He  studied History of India from Vedic time. History was his favorite subject.  He had good command over Sanskrit and thoroughly read Sanskrit  as well as English literature.  Amongst other books, he was  impressed by the biographies of Mazini, Garibaldi, Napoleon etc. He read Bible, and Holy Koran,   philosophers like Spencer, Mill, Darwin, Huxlay , Emerson etc. He also studied Economics, Geology  etc. He could by heart half of  Ravindranath Tagore’s literature. He had also carefully studied Lenin and   Trotsky. 
 
Pioneer

He is proved to be  pioneer in many fields such as -

• He studied the original records available in London about India’s history and  proposed  that the "mutiny" of 1957 in India, as stamped by British,  was not a mutiny but  a freedom fight.
• While in Andaman Jail, he took lead in uniting the prisoners and  made representation to the British  Government against the  subhuman conditions of the jail and worst treatment given to the prisoners. This persuaded the Government to  improve the jail conditions and some  facilities were sanctioned to the prisoners.
• He made history in Marathi Poetry by writing an epoch making poetry "Kamala" , in Andaman Jail. He was a gifted poet who wrote  poems, which can be compared to those of Kalidas in Sanskrit.
• He was the pioneer to get back the converted Indians  to Hindu Religion.
• To follow the guiding principle of  "Swadeshi movement"  by Lok Manya Tilak , he was the first to set  ablaze imported clothes.  

He was against the  influence of  Urdu, English or any other  languages on Marathi - his mother tongue Hence  he professed for use of  pure Marathi Language.  To replace many conversant words adopted   from languages like Urdu, Persian or English, he coined many words and brought them in use. Since Marathi originates from  Sanskrit, which  is a proliferate language, why should  invasion of words from other languages be tolerated, he used to emphasis. The following Marathi words , which we use in  day  to day  language are brought in by Savarkar - Prashala (High school), Aacharya (Principal), Dhani (Malak - Owner), Dinank (Tarikh - date), Upasthita (hajar - present), Nabhowani (radio),   Mahapour (mayor), Vishwasta (Trustee) etc.  

Realizing  the importance and influence of print media, he made appropriate changes in the Devnagari script, so as to ease printing. "Savarkar script"  reduced  print type faces from 200 to 80.  

He was the President of Hindu Mahasabha and toiled for building Hindu Nationalism.  

He campaigned for incorporation of  Hindus  in Indian Military from 30% to 65% during British Raj.pparently this was misunderstood as helping British  for fighting the Second World War. However  military training was very essential for the revolution, which could be used against British Rule on opportune time. That was the purpose of this campaign. This was appreciated by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose saying  that this movement facilitated supply of trained soldiers to his "Swatantra Sena".  

At his instance, Madam Cama represented India in the International Socialists Conference with India’s flag. The participants in the conference not only saluted Indian Flag , but also  agreed that they should  support the freedom movement in India. After India’s independence, while deciding the flag of the country, Savarkar’s suggestion to adopt Dharmachakra on the Sarnath Pillar (Ashok Stambh) was  accepted and implemented. 
 

His Literature  

Savarkar was a prolific writer and poet. His literature from the age of 11 till 70 can be divided in five  parts.  
The first part consists of poems and ballads, mainly related to freedom movement.  
The second part consists of his writings while being in England. Amongst them "Joseph Mazini"- a biography of the famous Italian freedom fighter -  is world famous. Another one is "Sattavanche watryantsamar" - "The freedom fight of 1857", which  is a deep study of the 1857 "Mutiny" (as called  by British) in India . He also wrote "Shikhancha Itihas" (History of Shikhs).  He used to write in the  Indian news papers called "Kal" and "Vihari" on various politics related  topics.
The third part is during his imprisonment in Andaman. While enduring the rigorous imprisonment, he did not get even pen and paper to write. In such adverse conditions he wrote "Kamala" - an epic on the prison walls with the help of shart thorns.
The fourth part is after he was shifted to Ratnagiri under house arrest. The immortal book "Mazi  Janmathep" (My life imprisonment) was written during this period. It describes the dreadful life in prison. This part also includes his "Vidnyannishtha Nibandh" (scientific essays), three dramas named "Ushshap", "Sanyasta Khadga" and "Uttarkriya" regarding imancipation of untouchables, conversion of   religion  and the adverse effects of  extremity of  "Ahinsa" on the nation, "Kale Pani" (Black water) - a   novel based on his experiences in Andaman Jail and "Mala kay tyache" (What do I care?), on the  background of the mutiny of Mopla- Muslims in Malbar. He wrote two books in English named "Hindutwa" and "Hindupadapadshahi" on the history of Marathas.  
After he was released from  house arrest  he became the President of Hindu Mahasabha.His presidential ddresses have been compiled in "Hindurashtra-Darshan" which throws light on his political thinking. In the fifth and the last part, after he retired from day to day political work, he wrote "Hindurashtrachya itihasateel saha soneri pane" (Six golden pages in the History of Hindu Nation) about the critical study of History of  Hindus. So far the impression was that Hindus have always been losing the battle, which is not true. He has quoted the heroism of Hindus, which gives Hindus stimulus and pride of their glorious legacy.
His contribution of Marathi literature is invaluable. Therefore he was selected as the President of Maharashtra Sahitya Sammelan in 1938.
Nagpur University and Poona University conferred on him the Honorary D.Lit. degree on 14th August 1943 and on 8th October 1959 respectively.
After India’s independence, he had to face the judicial  inquiry  for assassination of Gandhiji , since  Nathuram Godse, Gandhiji’s assassinator was the disciple of Savarkar. No charges were proved against him.

 His two very famous poems are Sagara Pran Talamalala and Jayostute.

He was a living "Sthitapradnya" as described in "Bhatwat Geeta"  and used to live as per the philosophy of  "Bhatwat Geeta".

His house in Bhagur , 9 kilometers away from Nashik, is being preserved as National  Monument by the Government of India.