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From towering statesmen, illustrious rajas and ranis, to scientists and scholars, and unforgettable singers and
actors, Maharashtra’s who’s who is too large for history to
accommodate. Here are just a few of its luminaries…
Some 25 kilometres
south-west of Pune on top of a steep hill, stands Singarh (the Lion
Fort), Shivaji’s signature on the terrain of Maharashtra.
Shivaji’s forces wrested the fort from the kingdom of Bijapur in
1670. Since the sheer rock face offered no other foothold, the
Marathas are said to have trained giant lizards to carry ropes up the
hillside, a feat not to be forgotten for sheer ingenuity and daring.
By all accounts Shivaji
was a legend, a man carved out to command. A Rajput who saw him in
Agra in 1666 describes him thus: “Deel so hakeer (of
medium stature) par ajaib goro (but strikingly fair), aap
hee rajasi deesoji (looking every inch a king).” Men flocked
to him, seeing in him a leader who never hesitated to risk his own
life in times of danger. Shivaji’s military moves deserve a deep
study even in the present context. And for building up the defence of
the sea coast he is justly acclaimed as the founder of the Indian
navy. Shivaji carved out an extensive state for the sons of the soil.
The very idea was a Maratha gift to the country. In course of time,
the movement launched by Shivaji was to snowball into a struggle of
epic proportions, ultimately changing the political map of India.
The fiercely
nationalistic spirit of Shivaji stayed alive and surfaced again and
again. When Indian leaders failed to achieve independence through
constitutional means, they realized that struggle was the answer.
Among the stalwarts, the first to see the writing on missionary zeal
and pioneering work of social upliftment, chiefly widow remarriage.
Another men remembered as an emancipator of untouchables and a
crusader against social injustice was Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. A
jurist and minister in Pandit Nehru’s cabinet, he also helped
frame the Constitution of India. Maharashtra has also nurtured many
top bracket scientists and one name that immediately comes to mind is
that of internationally known astrophysicist Jayant Vishnu
Narlikar, who does not support the popular Big Bang theory of the
origin of the Universe. Narlikar is a believer in the steady state
theory, according to which the universe remains constant at all
times. Matter in the forms of stars, galaxies and other bodies is
uniformly distributed all over the Universe. New matter is created to
fill in gaps that may arise because of the motion of a galaxy or
other bodies. Narlikar has long been associated with the Tata
Institute of Fundamental Research. He writes science fiction and has
done much to popularize science among the people.
Like so many institutions
in Bombay the TIFR is a gift of the Tatas, the world renowned Parsi
family of industrialists. J.R.D. Tata, often referred to as
simply JRD, was one of Idnia’s top industrialists. The first
Indian to qualify as a commercial pilot, he launched Air India and
for many years occupied the post of Chairman. A man with a vision, he
gave a name and direction to many premier industrial concerns in
India.
Migrating from Persia in
the long distant past, the Parsis have also made their mark in the
political field. Dadabhoy Naoroji (1825-1917) is rightly known
as the Grand Old Man of India’s renaissance. Thrice president of
the Indian Natinoal Congress, the first Indian to be selected a
member of the House of Commons, he founded some 30 educational
institutions in Maharashtra. Of him Gokhale once said, “If
godliness be possible in man, Dadabhoy has it.”
Many Maharashtrians have
distinguished themselves in the field of commerce and industry. Two
names that come to mind straightaway are Kirloskar and
Garware. But there are many more who have helped to make
Bombay the commercial capital of India.
Dr. Salim Ali was
born in Bombay and spent most of his life there. He is remembered the
world over as a pioneer bird watcher, highly knowledgeable
ornithologist and president of the Bombay Natural History Society.
But he was something over and beyond this – a naturalist and
conservationist, deeply concerned with the environment. Highlighting
the fact that birds in their role as pollinators, insect eaters and
scavengers are great benefactors of man, he pointed out that since we
are all equally dependent on air, water and food, the extinction of
one particular species should be a cause for general alarm.
Not many are aware of the
fact that Salim Ali was a keen sportsman who did shoot for the pot
and to collect specimens for study. Maharashtra has also given us
sportsmen of another kind. Our batting phenomenon Sunil Gavaskar
(Little Master) has been ranked with the all time greats of the
cricket world. He holds the world record for scoring century in each
innings of a test match on three separate occasions, also for scoring
34 centuries in test cricket and the highest number of runs (more
than 10,000) in 125 test matches. A formidable performance indeed! At
birth the baby Gavaskar was, by mistake, interchanged with the baby
of a fisherwoman. It was only an alert nana (maternal
grandfather) who spotted the error and may thus claim credit for
helping the cricketer’s genius to flower.
The mantle of Sunil
Gavaskar has now fallen on the shoulders of young Sachin
Tendulkar. In 1989, while still in his mid teens, Tendulkar was
selected to play in his first test match against Pakistan. Tendulkar,
along with his school buddy Vinod Kambli, was already a phenomenon in
school cricket, courtesy their partnership which yielded 664 runs. A
world record. At 19, Tendulkar was the youngest player to have scored
a thousand runs in test cricket and what with his recent
multi-million contract with World Tel, sportsmen in India are ever
going to seek new horizons.
Living in India, we are
under the spell of the movies. How can we ever forget the talented
stars, past and present, who hail (ed) from Maharashtra – Smita
Patil, Nutan, Nana Patekar, Rohini Hattangadi, Amol Palekar and
the one and only Madhuri Dixit, to name a few? Many of our
best cine artistes have been groomed at the Film Institute at Pune
and we have Maharashtrian film directors of the stature of Sai
Paranjpe and Jabbar Patel to guide and mould their
performance. Add to this the great tradition of Marathi theatre, with
playwrights and stage directors like Vijay Tendulkar, Satish
Alekar, Vijaya Mehta and Jabbar Patel helping to hone the
histrionic abilities of artistes such as Mohan Agashe, Sudhir and
Meena Kulkarni and Rohini Hattangadi and you have an
impressive stockpile of achievements to the credit of Maharashtra.
The Marathi language has
a rich literary tradition, some of the leading lights being V.S.
Khandekar with his Jnanpith Award winning novel Yayati,
Narayan Apte, Govind Deshpande, Irawati Karve and Leelawati
Bhagwat. But the highly revered saints Namdev, Gnandev and
Tukaram are also ranked among the finest poets in Marathi.
Speaking of saints, Sai Baba of Shirdi is known to have
performed miracles, but these were perhaps less significant than his
compassion for all and the solace he gave to everyone, rich or poor,
who came to him. Though he never left the Deccan he has an all-India
following, with both Hindus and Muslims claiming the saint as their
own.
Lata Mangeshkar
sums up the beauty of this electric faith in her immortal hymn Allah
tero naam, Ishwar tero naam. Today, with some fifty odd years of
singing and some 30,000 songs behind her, Lata’s is one voice
that is heard with pleasure throughout the length and breadth of the
country. This is not to forget that other superbly talented
Mangeshkar sister Asha (Bhonsle) who has absolutely fantastic
control over her voice. Or stalwarts of the order of the Paluskar
father and son duo, Bhimsen Joshi, Hirabai Badodkar and Prabha
Atre.
Maharashtra today has
committed environmentalists and social activists like Baba Amte
and Medha Patkar. And gutsy women like Capt. Sudamini
Deshmukh who recently captained the Indian Airlines Boeing 737
from Bombay to Goa, the first jet with an all woman crew. The truth
is, in every conceivable field of human endeavor, Maharashtra holds
an impressive roll of honour, something which the state itself and
the entire country can be proud of.
Tilak was a close
associate of Gandhiji. So was Gopal Krishna Gokhale, scholar,
professor of English and man with a magnetic personality. Gandhiji
considered him his political guru. A leader of the moderates,
Gandhiji said of him, “The serene Gokhale is like the Ganges,
while the tempestuous Tilak reminds me of the ocean.” Gokhale’s
most important contribution was the founding of the Servants of India
society, which did a great deal of active social work, specially in
areas where flood or famine relief had to be organized.
There were Maratha women
too, who made their mark in an overwhelmingly male dominated society.
Ahilyabai, the 18th century Holkar queen is a
glowing example. A practical, down to earth and humane ruler, a
political strategist who also proved her mettle on the field of
battle, she was a patron of the crafts, chiefly textiles. A deeply
religious person, she desired nothing for herself beyond the simple
lifestyle of a simple family women.
From time to time the
cause of education, specifically women’s education and widow
upliftment has found torchbearers in Maharashtra. There was the
indomitable Anandibai Joshi who defied powerful social taboos
to set sail alone for America, to qualify as India’s first woman
doctor. There were Ramabai Ranade and Pandita Ramabhai
who worked tirelessly for the emancipation of women and towering
above all the others was the simple, shy and humble Dhondo Keshav
Karve, better known as Anna Karve, esteemed to be at par with
Raja Ram Mohan Roy in his the wall was Bal Gangadhar Tilak.
Renowned for his profound knowledge of ancient Indian culture, Tilak
combined the qualities of a thinker and fighter .To draw the masses
into the struggle for freedom, he revived two traditional festivals
of Maharashtra which had been languishing – Ganapati Puja and
Shivaji Utsav. Tilak never supported violence. At the same time he
never tolerated injustice, openly criticizing the British government
for its highhanded ways. Tilak was arrested, tried for sedition and
clamped behind bars. Despite personal sorrow and failing health, he
struggled for freedom to the very end. At the Surat Congress session
in 1917, Tilak roared, “Swarajya is my birthright and I shall
have it”. And his words have passed into history.
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