There was a state named Alirajpur in Madhya Pradesh province of India in 1906. There was a village named Bhanvra in that state. Pandit Sitaram Tiwari’s family lived in the village. Here a son was born to the family out of his wife, Jagrani Devi. The child was extremely cute. His face was round and glowed like moon. Fascinated by the likeness of the face of the baby to moon, the mother starting calling her son Chandra Shekhar. ‘Chandra’ stands for moon in Hindi.
The boy’s body was weak inspite of its beautiful face. To be true it was more like a bag of tender bones. The reason was obvious. The family had migrated to this village from an area which had been suffering from famine for some years. Two of the earlier babies of Jagrani Devi had died, born too weak to survive. The famine and starvation had ravaged the bodies of the husband and the wife which reflected in their babies. The orthodox women of the village would advise Jagrani Devi, “Sister! Put a black mark on your baby’s pretty face to wad of evil eyes.”
The simple minded Jagani Devi began putting a large black dot on her son’s moon-face. Somehow it enhanced the beauty of the baby.
The baby received all the love, adulation and care of the parents. There was nothing else to hope for because the family was poor. Sitaram Tiwari’s job didn’t earn him much salary. Sometimes it was difficult for the family to procure enough milk for the baby. The father was a proud man. So, he wouldn’t beg for anything from anyone. Many a time he went to sleep without eating. Still the couple spared whatever was possible for their baby at their own cost.
Sitaram Tiwari was an honest person and was respected by others of that quality. He had a lot of well wishers around him. The area was predominantly tribal who were very traditional in thinking. Blind faiths and weird customs ruled their lives. Many of the beliefs they held were simplistic. One of their beliefs was that if a child was fed tiger meat he would grow into a brave character just like that tiger. So, Sitaram Tiwari was also advised to give it a try. We don’t know how much the belief convinced him but he was ready to do anything that would help hopefully in the making of his dear son into something out of the ordinary. And baby Chandra Shekhar was fed a small amount of the tiger flesh.
The time passed by. Chandra Shekhar grew into a boy. On Diwali festival day he showed his first tigerish trait. The children of the village were lighting up sparkles. The older boys were exploding crackers. A group of young boys was enjoying sparkles with Chandra Shekhar outside his house. A little boy wondered what a great spectacle it would be if a bunch of sparkles were lit at a time. It was a challenge for the kids of that young age. All looked frightened. Chandra Shekhar came forward to do it. He picked up 5-6 sparkles in his little hand and held them in a bunch. As they were lit together a fountain of brilliant sparks of various colours rose up as the excited kids gleefully clapped their hands. It was a great show. The kids squealed and Chandra Shekhara giggled merrily. Suddenly some kid noticed the hand of Chandra Shekhar. His hand was getting burnt by the falling sparks but he was unmindful of it.
The kid screamed, “Chandra Shekhar’s hand is burnt. It’s burnt black look!”
The kids towards Chandra Shekhar. Some kids ran into the house to inform Chandra Shekhar’s mother. But Chandra Shekhar stood smiling with no signs of pain on his face. He called out to the other boys, “Come on, friends! Don’t make a fuss over nothing. It is not serious. Will be alright in quick time.”
Then worried Jagrani Devi came rushing and saw here sons blackened hand. She cried and took her son in to give him domestic treatment.
That was the beginning of Chandra Shekhar’s tigerish innings of life which he continued to very end.
Chandra Shekhar used to go to the primary school of the village with the other kids and his elder brother. After the school Mr. Manohar Lal Trivedi used to teach them at home as tutor. Trivedi was one of those teachers who believed in the use of stick for better results from the students. While teaching he always kept a stick by his side which he used whenever his students erred.
One day, he pronounced a word wrongly while teaching through a slip of his tongue. He went on further without correcting that mistake. His student, Chandra Shekhar picked up the stick and hit the tutor a couple of times with it. The tutor was shocked. The father, Sitaram Tiwari came out in a rush and he wanted to thrash Chandra Shekhar for that outrage. But the tutor intervened and stopped Mr. Tiwari from doing that.
Later Chandra Shekhar explained, “When I make a mistake the tutor canes me. Today he made a mistake and I caned him naturally.”
To Kashi for learning
His thrashing of the tutor for his error showed how seriously he took rules and principles. Even at that tender age he fearlesly applied rules as he understood them. He expressed his wish to go to Benaras (Kashi) for further studies. But the parents were reluctant to allow him to leave home. They wanted to keep their loved son before their eyes and near around them. But Chandra Shekhar had made up his mind to go. So, he want away without announcing his departure to his parents. Once, at Benaras he thought of learning Sanskrit. He wanted to become a scholar if that language led to becoming one. The truth was that he was not sure of what he liked or wished for. May be he wanted freedom. The freedom of the motherland was yet to crystalise in his mind. He hated every kind of slavery and prison. Even to much love of parents had made him feel so imprisoned that he broke away free.
Later, he wrote to his parents—‘I have come to Kashi for studies. Do not worry about me. I am well and pray to God for your well being’.
Kashi i.e. Benaras is a famous Hindu pilgrim centre. And it has been also a centre of learning and education. There were many other poor and resourceless students of Sanskrit studying there. There has been a tradition of generous people providing free meals to such students as a religious charity. Many of them provided some regular financial help also. Thus, the basic needs of Chandra Shekhar were taken care of.
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