Most of the greats of our country came from humble backgrounds, small towns and remote villages. From the grassroot levels they rose to the heights of the skies. Hence the background of the greats deserve to be narrated in detail to correctly illustrate the career graph to show their incredible progress and rise.
Family background and birth
Gopal Krishna Gokhale was born on 9th May, 1866 in Kotluk village of Ratnagiri district in Bombay Presidency (Today’s Maharashtra). The Gokhale family originally belonged to Tamhanmala village of the same district. For business reasons it had migrated to Kotluk village.
Gopal Krishna was born to the couple Krishnarao and Satyabhama (alias Valubai, the traditional name). They were not rich people. There’s was a middle class family. The village Kotluk was infact Satyabhama’s parental home.
Krishnarao was working for Kagal fiefdom of Kolhapur State. He joined the service in the capacity of a clerk. He had worked hard to earn promotion to reach the post of a police inspector in the Law and Order department. But the salary he received was meagre. Hence, his becoming the police inspector did not mean any financial gains for the family.
Krishnarao had some landed property in his ancestral village. The land was not profitable as that area suffered from excess rains perennially. It was good for special kind of fruits and vegetables that thrived on excess water. But that cultivation demanded a lot of care and expertise which the Gokhale family was not endowed with. They were Brahmins for whom farming was as distasteful job as the wrestling was for women.
Krishnarao in all had six children, two sons and four daughters. Eldest son Govindrao was five years senior to the new born Goapalrao (Gopal Krishna) who was younger to the girls as well.
The time when Gopal Krishna was born the country was passing through a negative phase. Seven years earlier, the first freedom effort of Indians 1857 Mutiny as called by the Englishmen had failed. The British East India company was able to crush the uprising by brutal repression. The people of India were in despair and a mood of frustration and helplessness was writ large on every native face. No ray of any hope was visible.
Queen Victoria had taken over the rule of India from the East India Company and the country had become a colony of the British Empire to be run by a Viceroy appointed by the crown of England. The Queen had promised some reforms, better administration and some powers to the natives. But most of the people had little faith in the announcements emerging from London.
Krishnarao was very conscious regarding the education of his sons. He made it a point to be communicative with his sons. He would sit with them, talk with them and exchange thoughts although the sons were very young. He would encourage them to spell out their problems and suggest solutions. He was not the one to force his views on his children.
His wife Satyabhama was a traditional woman more confined to religious activities, festivals, celebrations and the domestic chores. A typical Hindu wife, she was. She would firmly believe that whatever her husband did with their sons should be for their and the family’s good. The close ties between the father and the sons pleased her.
Forging friendly relationship with sons showed how Krishnarao was aware of the developments around and understood the need of the hour.
After the failure of 1857 freedom effort a lot of thinking had been gone through. The conclusion was that unless the Indians got educated in the real sense they will never be able to gain freedom. Because the main cause of the Indians being slaves was their ignorance and the plethora of social evils born out of illiteracy. And only education could spread political awareness among the common folk to understand their human rights and the injustice of the colonial rule. And the social evils the very cause of the poverty and the slavery could be eradicated through education. Only the educated minds could plan the downfall of the British rule. Then, if freedom was gained the country would need armies of educated people to run the government. The awareness about the need of the modern education first was realised by the leaders and prominent people of Maharashtra, the home of Gokhale.
Hence, the schools and colleges were coming up all over Maharashtra by the efforts of the leaders and the Christian missionaries.
The primary education of Gopal Krishna began in the school of Kangla. By nature he was a truthful and an honest boy. These qualities he had inherited from his parents.
When Gopal Krishna was in third class, his conscientiousness become evident when the teacher checked the homework note books of the students. The teacher was surprised to see that except Gopal Krishna no other student had worked out correct answers to the questions assigned as home work.
The teacher chastised the other students and asked them to follow the example of Gopal Krishna. He praised the boy and patted his back in appreciation.
Suddenly, Gopal Krishna burst out in tears to the shock of the teacher and the surprise of boys. The teacher asked him the reason for his crying.
Gopal Krishna revealed that the pat he received was not deserved by him. He admitted to having got the home work done by his brother and asked for appropriate punishment for cheating.
The teacher was impressed with the boy’s honesty and the sense of responsibility. He again patted Gopal Krishna.
Gopal Krishna become a well known figure in the school for his uprightness.
After completion of the primary education Gopal Krishna went to Kolhapur along with his elder brother Govindrao for further education. Kohlapur was the nearest town to Kangal where there were good facilities for education in English language. The study of English had become vital as it had become the channel to the modern ideas, thinking, overseas communication and the industrial technology. And it was the medium of prevailing administrative systems and constitutional plus legal processes. All the technical and modern subjects could be learnt only through English.
Krishnarao was very keen on his sons becoming educated in modern sense to be able to make something meaningful out of their lives. He was ready to do any sacrifice for it which basically meant financially tightening up the belts. His children needed the protection of his love, understanding and the material support for making headway.
But the fate was not kind. Krishnarao Gokhale suddenly feel ill and passed away leaving his children and wife to the mercy of their fates. It was a crippling blow to the family.
At the time of his demise in the year of 1879 Govindrao was 18 years old and Gopalrao only 13. The elder brother Govindrao was a married young man as a result of the custom of early marriages during that period. It was one of the evils of Hindu Society.
