Some politically conscious people decided to put Kanpur on the political map of the country. A political conference was organised at Kanpur. Vidyarthi took active part in the effort. Pundit Iqbal Narain Guttu was nominated as the chairman of the meeting. Gokarnnath Mishra was invited to speak on the occasion. Mishra was a renowned orator. His speeches used to be full of wit, honour and sarcasm. That had earned him a great popularity.
His participation made the conference a success.
Inspite of its being the first political event of Kanpur it attracted a massive participation of the people After the end of the conference Ganesh Shankara Vidyarthi said to his close circle of friends, “Pals! What do you say if I also start public speaking?”
“That would be the best thing,” the friends spoke in chorus. One said, “Infact you must. You are an excellent writer. You just have to speak those words. It should come to you naturally.”
Vidyarthi nodded his head. But he frankly revealed, “I have never spoken on any meeting. I feel a bit of the stage fright.”
A friend said humorously, “You will overcome it easily. Just consider that the people sitting in front of you are asses.” They all laughed. Everyone of them had heard or read about that formula.
Sometimes after this event, Homerule Movement started in India. In its wake Mr. Arundale, Mr. Wadia and Annie Basent were arrested. Their arrest raised a storm of protest throughout the country. Everywhere public meetings were being organised to condemn the government’s act. U.P. was no exception.
The protest meeting were organised in Kanpur also. In one such meeting Vidyarthi also began his public speaking innings. There was no problem. After a bit of initial hesitation his speech smoothened up and ended like a song. He was an idealist. He had his own style of putting forward his view. The people also appreciated his speech. He could sweet talk and had natural persuasive quality which evoked the approval of the listeners.
His patriotic spirit enriched his speech that could draw repeated applauses.
During that period a whole lot of reformist movements were going on in the country; Vidyarthi did not approve of the movements and the social reformers who were preaching against everything Indian and brazenly praising the western tongues and the culture. Vidyarthi had nothing against the reforms. Infact he considered fighting social evils to redeem the Indian society. What he was against was effort to destroy the entire Indian thought and culture in preference to the alien culture and social manners. The blank condemnation of native values was doing more harm than good. Their efforts looked like a conspiracy to turn physically slave Indian society into mental slaves as well. Aping west was an unworthy act for Vidyarthi.
Vidyarthi was particularly popular among the young generation and the students. He was one of them in spiritually and could give a voice to their feelings.
