On grandmas lap, she heard bedtime stories of Tilak….Swati Shinde Gole
Twenty-year-old Chaitrali Tilak did not grow up hearing regular bedtime stories like children of her age. Instead, her grandmother told her tales of valour and Indias freedom struggle, especially of her great great grandfather, Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak.
As a child I would see photographs of Lokmanya Tilak in my house and read about him in history books. Still, it was the stories that my grandmother, Nilima Tilak told me that fascinated me the most, says 20-year-old Chaitrali, a fifth-generation Tilak.
This third-year student of Fergusson College in Pune is aware shes studying in the same college where Tilak studied. Chaitrali remembers tales of Tilak being imprisoned in Mandalay jail in Burma where he started writing Gita Rahasya (Lord Krishnas advice to Arjuna is unravelled here). One day, British officials came and took away all the material Tilak had written. But his memory was so strong, he wrote it all over again. The book completed 100 years in June this year.
She reveals a facet of Tilak few people know about. He was conscious of his built. In fact, after his matriculation, he took a year off and concentrated on building his physique, she says. He also had a strong sense of right and wrong. When he was in school, some students had eaten peanuts and littered the classroom. His teacher asked who had created the mess. No one owned up. The teacher started caning every student, but Tilak refused to put out his hand and told the teacher that since he hadnt littered the classroom, he would not take the punishment.
She is very proud of her lineage and feels thrilled every time Tilaks photographs flash on TV or come in newspapers. He participated in Indias freedom struggle at a very early age. The Gandhis and Nehrus came later, yet he is not remembered as much as he should on his birth or death anniversaries, she regrets.
She herself isnt too interested in politics, despite many of her family members being in it. I want to do something different, says this student of kathak for eight years. Shes now trying her hand at hip-hop. Once I finish graduation, I will study fashion marketing, a relatively new field in India. I am preparing for admission to universities in Italy. But not forever. She will come back and pursue a career here.