Bal Gangadhar Tilak was born on July 23, 1856, into an orthodox family settled in Ratnagiri, a coastal town in Maharashtra. His father was a schoolmaster who instilled in him a love for learning. By the time Tilak was 16, both his parents had died. He was married at 15. However, neither family commitments nor his parents’ death could affect his zeal for studies. Only months after his father’s death, he passed his matriculation, after which he joined the Deccan College in Poona to do his B.A (Hons). Completing this with a first class in 1876, he went on to take a
law degree from Bombay University in 1879.
After completing his education, Tilak had lucrative offers of government jobs. However, he had decided to dedicate himself to the larger cause of national awakening. He was distressed by the lack of proper education among the people. In 1880, along with a group of like-minded friends, he founded the New English School, where he taught mathematics, Sanskrit and history. He was a popular teacher.
In 1890, Tilak joined the Indian National Congress. The party’s moderate views, supported by prominent leaders like Gokhale, did not appeal to him. He formed the extremist wing of the Congress, in which he was supported by Bipin Chandra Pal and Lala Lajpat Rai. They came to be known as the Lal-Bal-Pal trio.
had great self-respect. He tried to revive a sense of pride among
Hindus for their ancient culture and tradition. In 1893, he reshaped the annual Ganesh Chathurthi festival, which until then had
been a private family celebration for Hindus, into a grand public event. Under his leadership, the festival served as a meeting-ground for common people of all castes and communities, that too at a time when social and political gatherings were forbidden by the British government, to exercise control over the population.
In 1896, a severe famine struck Maharashtra. The authorities turned a blind eye to the people’s sufferings. Instead of providing relief, they oppressed the populace further by increasing taxes.
Stung by the injustice, Tilak took up the people’s cause. His newspapers carried detailed reports of the famine and its effects. He tried to educate the peasantry and mobilise them to face
the calamity.
The next year, things became worse as the famine was followed by an out-break of plague that killed people in large numbers. Tilak organised relief camps to nurse the sick. The government appointed a British official, Rand, as Plague Commissioner to
investigate the people’s grievances.
In 1906, Tilak was arrested on charges of sedition. He was sentenced to six years’ solitary imprisonment in Mandalay, Burma. He spent much of his time in reading, and wrote a scholarly treatise on the Bhagavad Geeta, entitled Geeta Rahasya. He also suffered a great blow when his wife passed away during his jail term in 1912. But he bore the loss stoically.
But by now, his health was declining. However, his spirit was unflagging and he continued his work. In mid July 1920, he fell seriously ill. On August 1, 1920, the great leader passed away.
