Sojjourn

Tilak had become physically very weak. He badly needed rest and a period of recuperation to recover physically and emotionally.
So, after his release Tilak went to Singhgarh hills with his wife and other members of his family. There was a famous Singhgarh fort from where the Maratha hero Chhatrapati Shivaji had fought famous battles against the might of Mogul rulers of Delhi-Agra and the forces of the Bijapur Empire of south. Those hills had always been a great source of inspiration for Tilak.
Besides being spiritually lifting, the cool air of the hills and general salubrious surroundings were blessings for good health. Tilak’s condition dramatically improved. Walks on the winding paths of hills accompanied by his wife were very soul satisfying.
The husband and wife had never felt more closer to each other as on these occasions.
During the walks the couple would often sit on the flat rocks on the hillocks to watch the sun set and the bird fly overhead. The two seemed to try to retrieve the magical moments of marital bliss that politics had robbed them of. They could realise what they had lost working for the sake of others and the country.
By watching the birds fly home, in complete silence they would say so many things to each other, express how much they had to thank each other for, how much apologies they owed to each other, how many griefs they had to share and how many dreams and sentiments for each other lay buried in them which were praying to be translated into the words.
They felt no necessity to use words.
Their hearts felt and understood all without troubling the tongues and the lips.
Those were the moments which came as compensation for every thing they had missed in their segregated lives.
Bal Gangadhar Tilak returned to Poona having fully recovered his health and the mind.
He was feeling rejuvenated.
Trust case
Back in business of the life, the first task he undertook was to meet a widow in whose affairs he had unwittingly been dragged in.
The widow was called Tai Maharaj. She was a 16 year old widow of the Late Sardar Baba Maharaj of Deccan who had willed his entire property into a trust. And he had appointed Bal Gangadhar Tilak as its main trustee.
The property was to remain bound into the trust until its heir did not become a major person. The heir was the child Tai Maharaj was carrying in her womb sired by her late husband.
Tai Maharaj gave birth to a son in due course but unfortunately the new born died only a few days hence after birth. To create a heir Tilak persuaded Tai Maharaj to adopt a son. She did.
The name of the adopted son was Jagannath.
Some villainous characters misled Tai Maharaj into believing that Tilak was in some way cheating her. The simpleton woman Tai Maharaj had become a pawn in the hands of villains. As tutored by the evil persons Tai Maharaj reversed her decision regarding the adoption of Jagannath.
She refused to accept him as her adopted son claiming that she had been tricked into the adoption exercise by Tilak.
The death of the legal heir had made the will of Baba Maharaj inapplicable. In this way those villains were scheming to usurp the trust property by fooling Tai Maharaj and implicating Bal Gangadhar Tilak in fraud case.
They made Tai Maharaj challenge the locus standi of Bal Gangadhar Tilak in the Trust. The fact was that the trust property was heavily under debt. To save the trust from liquidation Tilak had mortgaged his own property and put his money in it.
Tai Maharaj’s naivity and the dishonesty of the people behind her pained Tilak.
Bal Gangadhar Tilak decided to fight the conspiracy to save his investment which really was the money of his wife and the children. Besides, he had to clear his name.
A tricky British official saw a great chance to take advantage of the problem of Tilak. He helped Tai Maharaj file a case against Tilak charging him with embezzlement of the trust money and the property. The official and the magistrate connived and Tilak was sentenced to a jail term of one and a half years.
Tilak appealed to the higher court and got bailed out. Later, the higher court dismissed the case when it found that there was no prima facie evidence.
But in terms of time and the mental agony Tilak had lost a lot. Tai Maharaj episode had eaten away four precious years of his life and career.