In a Marathi school of Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra province, Gangadhar Pant served as its Headmaster during the period Indian’s first freedom attempt was building up to explode into 1857 Mutiny.
His wife was in the family way.
On 23rd July, 1856 she gave birth to a son to the delight of the Headmaster, Gangadhar Pant. The parent fondly started calling the child ‘Bal Gangadhar’.
Barely nine months and a week later 1857 uprising began. After a lot of bloodshed British were able to crush the uprising. While Bal Gangadhar was bawling for his milk the countrymen were crying in despair at the failure of the first freedom attempt.
Bal Gangadhar grewup up adding years to his life in such atmosphere of dejection and frustration. The father, Gangadhar Pant was a nationalist to the core and his heart bled for his slaving country. The failure of 1857 uprising had deeply hurt him. He found consolation in telling his child about the state of the country, the miserable conditions and brutal repression of the natives by the colonial British. Bal Gangadhar was getting some symbolic picture in his childish mind, of fairy tale variety, like Indians being troubled by a horrible white sorcerer. In this way Bal Gangadhar grew up to the school going age.
The father got him admitted to the school.
To the amazement of the other kids he would reveal to them that their country was not free. Someone would ask, “What do you mean not free?”
“We are slaves. White Englishmen are our masters.”
“Who told you about it?”
“My father tells me everything. He has read many thick books on it. Once he went to Pune and saw the white men with his own eyes. He says that they were tall like monsters and wore caps of funny shape called hats. Those men were ordering Indian soldiers who had guns of very dangerous type.” Bal Gangadhar informed.
Indian soldiers? Why were they obeying the whitemen? A boy wanted to know.
“The Indian soldiers were under whitemen’s spell. Father says those whitemen are very powerful. I think they know some weird sorcery.”
Thus, Bal Gangadhar had become popular among the kids for being source of strange informations. He had made many friends besides having fans who thought that he was the best informed kid in the whole world. For the kids ‘whole world’ was slightly bigger than Rantagiri area.
Enthused by the attention little Bal would proudly declare that he will grow up to drive the whitemen out of the country. He had many half-baked plans in the furnace of his kid brain. One of them was acquiring mind boggling occult powers to undo the whitemen’s spell over Indian soldiers. For kids it was as fascinating as a fairy tale. Many kids volunteered to be his future soldiers.
After shouting and crying the kids would return home. On the way, the war against the whitemen would be a forgotten thing and their own childish quarrels would take over.
One evening, Bal Gangadhar returned home to find his father in grim mood. The boy sensed that something new had happened. His father called the boy to him and gave the upsetting news, “Son, I have been transferred to Pune. Our days here are over. We shall have to shift to that place.”
“We?” the boy protested, “But my school is here. How can I come to Poona?”
“Child, you will come with me because your mother will also be accompanying me,” the father spoke and assured. “Don’t worry about school. In Poona you will go to a bigger and better school.”
Bal Gangadhar was panicky, “But I have my friends here. I won’t come to Poona”.
The father, Gangadhar Pant perhaps didn’t understand the dilemma of a sensitive child who had taken all the father had told him about British colonialists very seriously. And who had in his own childish way pinned his hopes in his kid friends who had promised to be his soldiers of their future war against the white Englishmen. Child Bal Gangadhar was seeing the disintegration of his army even before its coming of age. He could not accept it .
The Head Master, Gangadhar Pant said to his stunned son, “Dear child, no one will be here to look after you and cook food for you since your mother would be with me. As far as friends are concerned you will make friends at Poona, new friends. You shouldn’t worry on that score.”
Thus, forced by the situation, Bal Gangadhar had to go to Poona. A boy who had invested so much thought in his earlier place was bound to face adjustment problems. After sometime his mind settled in the new environment. The memories of the old place and the friends began to fade away as new friends came into his life. Soon he was feeling at home and hopeful again.
Then, suddenly a tragedy struck which traumatised Bal Gangadhar. His mother passed away. Time is a great healer. The boy also accepted the life without mother and moved on. An aunt had walked into the family and taken charge of the household. Father, aunt and sisters provided the needed comfort. The life again became normal and peaceful.
The boys of Poona school were far more clever than the boys of the earlier school. They knew about the British rule in India. Discussing whitemen problem with new friends was more exciting and educative. Because his friends also had good ideas about how to drive out whitemen from India. Most of the boys disliked the foreign rule. Sometimes teachers also dropped hints on the foreign rule and the necessity to gain freedom. They didn’t advocate freedom openly because they were servants of those very white foreign rulers who were providing them the teaching jobs and salaries.
And there were some teachers and students also who thought that British rule in India was good for the country. Their argument was that Indians were ignorant and stupid who were steeped in blind faiths and indulged in horrendous social evils and castism. For the progress and reforms the presence of the Britishers in the country was essential, they would say and make fun that only thing the Indians were capable of was quarrelling among themselves.
There was some truth in what they were saying. Bal Gangadhar could see that whitemen were opening schools and colleges to educate the young people all over the country. And those institutions were teaching some useful subjects, no one could deny that. At the some time repression of the Indian people and the police brutality was also a fact. The situation was very confusing especially for a youngster like Bal Gangadhar.
