Bhagat sing

              He is referred to as Shaheed Bhagat Singh by all Indians. This outstanding and unmatchable revolutionary was born on the 28th of September, 1907 in a Sandhu Jat family in Punjab’s Doab district. He joined the struggle for freedom at a very young age and died as a martyr at the age of only 23 years.

 

  Childhood Days

      

      -    Bhagat Singh is popular for his heroic and revolutionary acts. He was born in a family that was fully involved in the struggle for Indian Independence. His father, Sardar Kishan Singh, and uncle, Sardar Ajit Singh both were popular freedom fighters of that time. Both were known to support the Gandhian ideology.

Bhagat Singh’s Education

          -  His father was in support of Mahatma Gandhi at and when the latter called for boycotting government-aided institutions. So, Bhagat Singh left the school at the age of 13. Then he joined the National College at Lahore. In college, he studied the European revolutionary movements which inspired him immensely.

Bhagat Singh’s Participation in the Freedom Fight

         

             - Bhagat Singh read many articles about the European nationalist movement. Hence he was very much inspired by the same in 1925. He founded the Naujavan Bharat Sabha for his national movement. Later he joined the Hindustan Republican Association where he came in contact with a number of prominent revolutionaries like Sukhdev, Rajguru and Chandrashekhar Azad.

           Then inspire people to come out in masses to oppose the British. This affected Bhagat Singh deeply. Therefore, loyalty towards the country and the desire to free it from the clutches of the British were inborn in Bhagat Singh. It was running in his blood and veins.

       He also began contributing articles for the Kirti Kisan Party’s magazine. Although his parents wanted him to marry at that time, he rejected this proposal. He said to them that he wanted to dedicate his life to the freedom struggle completely.

       Due to this involvement in various revolutionary activities, he became a person of interest for the British police. Hence police arrested him in May 1927. After a few months, he was released from the jail and again he involved himself in writing revolutionary articles for newspapers.

Aanandibai Gopal

Anandibai Gopal

   

          Anandibai Gopalrao Joshi was the first female Indian physician. She was also the first woman in India to complete her studies in western medicine from the United States. Anandibai has a rich legacy and inspired many women to pursue the field of of medicine in India and in the United States.

Anandibai also became the first woman from Bombay presidency of India to study and graduate with a two-year degree in western medicine from a foreign country.Anandibai was born with the name 'Yamuna' but was later given the name anandi by her husband Gopalrao Joshi. She was born in a family of landlords and due to parental pressure, she got married at the young age of nine.

      In the 1800's, it was very unusual for husbands to focus on their wives' education. Gopalrao was obsessed with the idea of Anandibai's education and wanted her to learn medicine and create her own identity in the world.

        One day, Gopalrao walked into the kitchen and threw a fit of rage when he saw Anandibai cooking instead of studying. This made her even more focussed on her education.Gopalrao took the decision of sending Anandibai to America to study medicine in utmost detail with a missionary from Philadelphia named Mrs. Carpenter.

        Before she went to United States, Anandibai addressed a public hall in 1883, where she expressed her dissapointment for the lack of women doctors in India. She said,"I volunteer myself as one", in the gathering.She had also expressed her views on how midwifery was not sufficient in any case of medical emergency and how the instructors who taught women had conservative views.

        After her motivating speech in the public gathering, she expressed her views on studying medicine in America. She also stressed the need of female doctors in India and stated that Hindu women can be better doctors for other Hindu women.Anandibai's health had started to decline but Gopalrao had urged her to go to America so that she can set an example for other women in the country.

Sant Gadge Baba

           Most of the lower class people in villages were uneducated and poor. They worshipped khsudra gods like Maraai and Shitala Devi. Lambs, hens were sacrificed to keep the Gods happy, to cure a disease or for a good crop.

           Debuji was born in such society. Though uneducated, he fought against animal sacrifice and untouchability. He taught the importance of cleanliness and hygiene through practice. He built numerous dharmashalas, Gorakshan centers, food donation centers for handicapped and old homes all over Maharashtra.

            Debuji was the only child of Zingraji and Sakhubai. After the death of Zingraji he and his mother went to live with his maternal uncle. Within years he became an excellent farmer, herdsman, singer and swimmer.He was married to Kuntabai and had four children. A lover of animals, he opposed animal sacrifice since childhood. Even when his friends, relatives and the people of his caste forced him to sacrifice animals, he preferred to face their anger rather than kill the animals.

           Debuji was a very courageous man. Once a Saukar came with his guards to take hold of Debuji’s farm. Despite the fear expressed by his family and the villagers he single handedly fought them all.

           Fed up with the material world, one day he left his home. He kept wandering from village to village. He worked for alms. Took up cleaning villages. He also started building Ghats on the river Purna. Slowly people started joining him in his cleaning activity. He preached the villagers on the importance of hygiene.

             He found many followers. Among them were people like Dr. B R Ambedkar, Acharya Atre. Money started pouring in the form of donations. This was used for building activities.

             Realizing the plight of Harijans, he built a dharmashala for them in Pandharpur, Nasik, Pune, Alandi and Dehu. To stop the slaughter of cows he built a Gorakhan center in Vidarbha. He started food donation centers for the handicapped, and poor. He built homes for the old who had no place to go. He also worked for the upliftment of the people suffering from leprosy.

                

Jyotiba Phule

           

           Mahatma Phule, as he was also known, was an Indian social reformer and an activist who worked towards equality regardless of caste.Jyotirao Govindrao Phule was a thinker and a writer. His work related mainly to eradication of untouchability and caste system, emancipation and empowerment of women, reform of Hindu family life.

            He coined the word “Dalit” for the downtrodden lower caste people of India. He also formed in 1873, the satyashodhak samaj for demanding equal rights for people from lower castes.Phule is considered as one of the most prominent personalities who brought social reforms in Maharashtra.

           Along with his wife, Savitribai Phule, he is regarded as pioneers of women’s education in India. They were the first native Indians to open a school for girls in India way back in August 1848.Jyotirao Govindrao Phule was born in 1827 in Satara district of Maharashtra.His family belonged to Gorhe caste, which was considered lowly. Due to their expertise in growing and selling flowers, they took up the surname Phule or flower-dealer.

They also delivered flowers to Peshva Baji Rao 2, who granted them 35 acces of land. His father Govindrao and mother Chimnabai also grew and sold flowers. Jyotirao was the youngest of two brothers.Jyotirao attended primary school and then left further schooling to do his family work of growing and selling flowers. He was married at the age of 13, to a girl of his community.

           He was persuaded to attend the local Scottish Mission High School, from where he completed his English schooling in 1847.In 1848, an incident occurred that changed his life. Phule had gone to attend the marriage ceremony of one of his Brahmin friend.He was insulted by his friend’s parents that as he belonged to the low caste, he should have stayed away.

           Phule visited the first girls’ school in Ahmadnagar which was run by Christian missionaries. He was also influenced by Thomas Paine’s book Rights of Man.He realized that lower castes and women were the most disadvantaged sections of society and only education can emancipate them.

He encouraged and helped his wife Savitribai to read and write. Then the couple started the first indigenously-run school for girls in Pune.Since they were ostracized by their community, they stayed in the home of their friend Usman Sheikh and his sister Fatima Sheikh, in whose premises the school was run.

He started schools for the Mahar and Mang castes, which were considered untouchables.Phule also worked for widow remarriage and in 1863, opened a home for pregnant Brahmin widows to give birth in a safe and secure place.He opened an orphanage to avoid infanticide.He also tried to eliminate untouchability and opened his house and use of his well to people from the lower castes.

          Phule considered the Aryans as a barbaric race who suppressed the indigenous people and instituted the caste system as a framework for subjugation and ensure the pre-eminence of the Brahmins. He had  similar views for the Muslim conquest of India.He considered the British as relatively enlightened and liberal. In his book, Gulamgiri, he thanked them to make the lower caste realize they were worthy of human rights. He dedicated his book to the people of America who were abolishing slavery. Phule saw Rama as a symbol of oppression stemming from the Aryan conquest. He also attacked the Vedas and considered them to be a form of false consciousness.

Swarajyarakshak Sambhaji Maharaj

Swarajyarakshak Sambhaji Maharaj

  

            14th May is the birth anniversary of Sambhaji Maharaj, the second ruler of the Maratha Kingdom, and is celebrated as Sambhaji Maharaj Jayanti across Maharashtra and other parts of the country.

        Sambhaji Bhosale, the eldest son of Shivaji Maharaj, became the second ruler of Maratha Kingdom after his father’s demise. Sambhaji Bhosale was born on May 14, 1657. The second leader of the Maratha Kingdom was born to Shivaji and Saibai. He lost his mother at the age of 2 and was raised by Jijabai, who instilled in him the same values and strong spirits that Chraprapati Shivaji Maharaj boasted. Sambhaji led the Maratha army for the first time in the victorious campaign of Maratha occupation of Kolwan in 1672 along with Peshwa Moropant Pingle

          Every year on 14th May people celebrate  Sambhaji Maharaj Jayanti as a tribute to his contributions to the Maratha reign. Sambhaji’s journey to the throne was also filled with an array of challenges, but he went on to rule for 9 years. His rule was largely shaped by the ongoing wars between the Maratha kingdom and Mughal Empire as well as other neighbouring powers such as the Siddis, Mysore, and the Portuguese in Goa.

         

Savitribai Fule

Savitribai Phule

          Savitribai Phule, the first female teacher of the first women’s school in India is a pioneer figure. She relentlessly fought against the dominant caste system and worked towards the upliftment of the marginalized.

           Savitribai Jyotirao Phule was born on January 3, 1831 at Naigaon, about 50 kms from Pune. She was the eldest daughter of mother Lakshmi and father Khandoji Neveshe Patil. In 1840, at the age of 10, she was married to Jyotirao, who was 13 at the time. After marriage Savitribai and Jotiba lived in a Dalit-working class locality in Pune. Jyotirao educated his wife at home and trained her to become a teacher. The responsibility of Savitribai’s further education was taken up by Jyotirao’s friends Sakharam Yeshwant Paranjpe and Keshav Shivram Bhavalkar (Joshi). Savitribai also had taken teacher’s training at Ms. Farar’s institute in Ahmednagar and in the Normal School of Ms. Mitchell in Pune.

           Savitribai went on to become India’s first woman teacher and headmistress. It is her struggle and story that marks the beginning of modern Indian women’s public life in India.

           The extraordinary couple was engaged in a passionate struggle to build a movement for equality between men and women and a fight against the caste system. They dedicated their lives to spreading education and knowledge. They started the first school in the country for girls and the ‘Native Library’. In 1863, they started a ‘home for the prevention of infanticide’ in their own house, to ensure the safety of pregnant and exploited widows. They also established the Satyashodhak Samaj (Society for Truth Seeking), initiating the practice of marriage without dowry or overt expenses. They were against child marriage and supported widow remarriages. They had no children of their own but adopted a child of a Brahmin widow, educating him and arranging an inter-caste marriage for him.

            Savitribai and Jotiba built a revolutionary social education movement for shudra and atishudra women of the country. After starting the school in 1848 and training Savitribai Phule, Jotiba started a school for the Mahars and the Mangs. But within six months, his father threw them out of the house and the school work came to an abrupt halt. Govande came to Pune and took Savitribai with him to Ahmednagar. After she came back, Keshav Shivram Bhavalkar took up the responsibility of educating her. Jyotirao and Savitribai focused on providing girls and boys vocational and practical education, to make them capable of independent thought. They believed that an industrial department should be attached to the schools where children could learn useful trades and crafts and be able to manage their lives comfortably and independently.

They insisted that ‘education should give one the ability to choose between right and wrong and between truth and untruth in life.’ They took special efforts to create spaces where the creativity of boys and girls could bloom. Their success is evident from the fact that young girls loved to study under their guidance, so much so that their parents would complain of the girls’ dedication to studies.

Tanhaji Malusare

       Tanaji Malusare is known for his role in the Battle of Sinhagad (1670).

              In 1665, as Mughal forces led by the Rajput commander Jai Sinh I besieged Shivaji at the Purandar fort in Deccan, the latter was forced to sign the Treaty of Purandar. Under the agreement, Shivaji had to hand over important forts to the Mughals, including Purandar, Lohagad, Tung, Tikona, and Sinhagad (then called Kondhana).

            Historian GS Sardesai describes Sinhagad’s strategic importance in his 1946 book ‘New History of the Marathas’: “Of all the forts surrendered to Jay Sinh the most important was doubtless Sinhagad, for it was looked upon as the capital of the western regions and a key in the hands of those who had to govern them. Purandar ranked next to it. That is why Jay Sinh had insisted that Sinhagad should be the first to be handed over by Shivaji personally… He who possessed Sinhagad was the master of Poona.”

             As part of the treaty, Shivaji had agreed to visit Agra to meet the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, which he did in 1666. Here, Shivaji was placed under house arrest, but was able to make a daring escape back to Maharashtra. Upon his return, Shivaji began to recapture the forts ceded to the Mughals under the treaty.

              To retake Kondhana (Sinhagad), the Marathas deputed Tanaji Malusare (played by Ajay Devgn in the film), a trusted general of Shivaji, and his brother Suryaji. The fort at the time was held by the Mughal commander Uday Bhan Rathod (played by Saif Ali Khan).  Sardesai describes the challenges that the Marathas would have to endure to retake the fort: “(Shivaji) knew well that the fort could not be taken by any other means than by his brave soldiers scaling the walls by means of rope-ladders stealthily walking in and opening the main gates, through which the storming party could rush in. Sinhagad is the only fort not vulnerable to artillery: there is no room where guns could be brought into position for a bombardment of it. All the sides are steep, upon one of which a narrow path now leads to the main gate for communication with the outside world.”

       In the early hours of February 4, 1670, Tanaji with around 300 soldiers successfully captured the fort, but lost his own life. “A large number headed by Suryaji remained concealed near the main gate and Tanaji himself with his selected followers scaled the walls by means of an iguana and opened the gates by putting to the sword the few sentries that came out to oppose him… A sanguinary action ensued in which both sides lost heavily including their leaders Tanaji and Uday Bhan (sic). The fort was captured and a huge bonfire announced the result to Shivaji at Rajgad,” the book recounts.

       Shivaji, who is known to have grieved Tanaji’s loss heavily, had the fort Kondhana renamed ‘Sinhagad’ in the general’s honour (‘Sinh’ meaning ‘lion’). A bard named Tulsidas was commissioned to write a ‘powada’ (ballad) for Tanaji, and this literary work continues to be popular in Maharashtra.

Chatrapti Shivaji Maharaj

Chatrapti  Shivaji  Maharaj

              Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was the founder of the Maratha Empire in western India. He is considered to be one of the greatest warriors of his time and even today, stories of his exploits are narrated as a part of the folklore. With his valor and great administrative skills, Shivaji carved out an enclave from the declining Adilshahi sultanate of Bijapur. It eventually became the genesis of the Maratha Empire. After establishing his rule, Shivaji implemented a competent and progressive administration with the help of a disciplined military and well-established administrative set-up. Shivaji is well-known for his innovative military tactics that centered around non-conventional methods leveraging strategic factors like geography, speed, and surprise to defeat his more powerful enemies.

             Shivaji Bhosle was born on February 19, 1630 to Shahaji Bhosle and Jijabai in the fort of Shivneri, near the city of Junnar of the Pune district. Shivaji’s father Shahaji was in service of the Bijapuri Sultanate - a tripartite association between Bijapur, Ahmednagar, and Golconda, as a general. He also owned a Jaigirdari near Pune. Shivaji’s mother Jijabai was the daughter of Sindkhed leader Lakhujirao Jadhav and a deeply religious woman. Shivaji was especially close to his mother who instilled in him a strict sense of right and wrong. Since Shahaji spent most of his time outside of Pune, the responsibility of overseeing Shivaji’s education rested on the shoulders of a small council of ministers which included a Peshwa (Shamrao Nilkanth),a Mazumdar (Balkrishna Pant), a Sabnis (Raghunath Ballal), a Dabir (Sonopant) and a chief teacher (Dadoji Konddeo). Kanhoji Jedhe and Baji Pasalkar were appointed to train Shivaji in military and martial arts. Shivaji was married to Saibai Nimbalkar in 1640.

             Shivaji turned out to be a born leader from a very young age. An active outdoorsman, he explored the Sahayadri Mountains surrounding the Shivneri forts and came to know the area like the back of his hands. By the time he was 15, he had accumulated a band of faithful soldiers from the Maval region who later aided in his early conquests.

              Shivaji’s conflicts with the Bijapuri Sultanate and his continuous victories brought him under the radar of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. Aurangzeb saw him as a threat to expansion of his imperial intent and concentrated his efforts on eradicating the Maratha threat. Confrontations began in 1957, when Shivaji’s generals raided and looted Mughal territories near Ahmednagar and Junnar. However, Aurangzeb’s retaliation was thwarted by arrival of rainy season and battle for succession back in Delhi. Aurangzeb directed Shaista Khan, Governor of Deccan and his maternal uncle, to subdue Shivaji. Shaista Khan launched a massive attack against Shivaji, capturing several forts under his control and even his capital Poona. Shivaji retaliated back by launching a stealth attack on Shaista Khan, eventually injuring him and evicting him from Poona. Shaista Khan later arranged multiple attacks on Shivaji, severely reducing his holds of forts in the Konkan region. To replenish his depleted treasury, Shivaji attacked Surat, an important Mughal trading center and looted the Mughal wealth. An infuriated Aurangzeb sent his chief general Jai Singh I with an army of 150,000.

           The Mughal forces made considerable dent, sieging forts under Shivaji’s control, extracting money and slaughtering soldiers in their wake. Shivaji agreed to come to an agreement with Aurangzeb to prevent further loss of life and the Treaty of Purandar was signed between Shivaji and Jai Singh on June 11, 1665. Shivaji agreed to surrender 23 forts and pay a sum of 400000 as compensation to the Mughal Empire. Aurangzeb invited Shivaji to Agra with an aim to use his military prowess to consolidate Mughal empires in Afghanistan. Shivaji travelled to Agra with his eight year old son Sambhaji and was offended by Aurangzeb’s treatment of him. He stormed out of the court and an offended Aurangzeb placed him under house arrest. But Shivaji once again used his wit and cunning to escape the imprisonment. He feigned severe illness and arranged for baskets of sweets to be sent to temple as offerings for prayer. 

            He disguised as one of the carriers and hid his son in one of the baskets, and escaped on August 17, 1666. In subsequent times, Mughal and Maratha hostilities were pacified to a large extent by constant mediation through Mughal Sardar Jaswant Singh. Peace lasted till 1670, after which Shivaji launched an all-out offense against the Mughals. He recovered most of his territories sieged by the Mughals within four months.

Zasi Ki Rani Lakshmi Bai

Zasi Ki Rani Lakshmi Bai

             Lakshmi Bai, also spelled Laxmi Bai, (born c. November 19, 1835, kashi, India—died June 17, 1858, Kotah-ki-Serai, near Gwalior), rani (queen) of jhansi and a leader of the Indian  Mutinyo 1857–58.

                Brought up in the household of the peshwa (ruler) Baji Rao 2  Lakshmi Bai had an unusual upbringing for a Brahman girl growing up with the boys in the peshwa’s court, she was trained in martial arts and became proficient in sword fighting and riding. She married the maharaja of Jhansi, Gangadhar Rao, but was widowed without bearing a surviving heir to the throne. Following established Hindu tradition, just before his death the maharaja adopted a boy as his heir. Lord Dalhousie, the British governor-general of India, refused to recognize the adopted heir and annexed Jhansi in accordance with the doctrine of lapse. An agent of the India east company  was posted in the small kingdom to look after administrative matter. 

 

         The 22-year-old queen refused to cede Jhansi to the British. Shortly after the beginning of the mutiny in 1857, which broke out in meerut, Lakshmi Bai was proclaimed the regent of Jhansi, and she ruled on behalf of the minor heir. Joining the uprising against the British, she rapidly organized her troops and assumed charge of the rebels in the bundlekhand region. Mutineers in the neighbouring areas headed toward Jhansi to offer her support.

             Under Gen. Hugh rose, the East India Company’s forces had begun their counteroffensive in Bundelkhand by January 1858. Advancing from mhow , Rose captured Saugor (now sagar) in February and then turned toward Jhansi in March. The company’s forces surrounded the fort of Jhansi, and a fierce battle raged. Offering stiff resistance to the invading forces, Lakshmi Bai did not surrender even after her troops were overwhelmed and the rescuing army of tantia tope , another rebel leader, was defeated at the Battle of Betwa. Lakshmi Bai managed to escape from the fort with a small force of palace guards and headed eastward, where other rebels joined her.

   

             

Sarojini Naidu

              Sarojini Naidu was an Indian independence activist, poet and politician. A renowned orator and accomplished poet, she is often known by the moniker ‘The Nightingale of India’. As a prodigious child, Naidu wrote the play "Maher Muneer", which earned her a scholarship to study abroad. She became the second woman president of the Indian National Congress. She was the first woman Governor of an Indian state after independence. Her collection of poems earned her literary acclaim. In 1905, she published her first book, a collection of poems, under the title of "Golden Threshold". A contemporary poet, Bappaditya Bandopadhyay quoted "Sarojini Naidu inspired the Indian renaissance movement and had a mission to improve the life of Indian woman.”

Sarojini Naidu (née Chattopadhyay) was born on February 13, 1879 in Hyderabad. Her father, Dr. Aghore Nath Chattopadhyay was a scientist, philosopher, and educator. He founded the Nizam College of Hyderabad. Her mother, Varada Sundari Devi was a poetess in the Bengali language. Dr. Aghore Nath Chattopadhyay was the first member of the Indian National Congress in Hyderabad. For his socio-political activities, Aghore Nath was dismissed from his position of Principal. One of his brothers, Virendranath Chattopadhyay, played key role in establishing the Berlin Committee. As a political activist involved in India’s on-going struggle for self-rule, he was heavily influenced by Communism. Her second brother Harindranath Chattopadhyay was a renowned poet and a successful playwright.  Her sister, Sunalini Devi was a dancer and actress

Since childhood, Sarojini was a very bright and intelligent child. She was proficient in multiple languages including English, Bengali, Urdu, Telugu and Persian. She topped her matriculation exams from Madras University. Her father wanted Sarojini to become a mathematician or scientist, but young Sarojini was attracted to poetry. 

She applied her prodigious literary skills to write a 1300 lines long poem in English titled ‘The Lady of the Lake’. Impressed with Sarojini’s skills of expressing emotions with appropriate words, Dr. Chattopadhyaya encouraged her works. Few months later, Sarojini, with assistance from her father, wrote the play "Maher Muneer" in the Persian language. 

 Gopal Krishna Gokhle

            Gopal Krishna Gokhale was one of the forerunners of the Indian Independence Movement. Gokhale was a senior leader of the Indian National Congress. He was one of the most learned men in the country during his time, a leader of socio-political reforms and among the most influential leaders of the Indian National Congress. Being one of the first generation of Indians to receive college education, Gokhale was respected widely in the Indian intellectual community. He was founder of the Servants of India Society which was dedicated to inspire nationalistic feelings among his fellow countrymen. During his political career, Gokhale campaigned for self-rule and also stressed the need of social reform. Within the Congress, he led the moderate faction of the party that was in favour of reforms by working and co-operating with existing government institutions and machinery.

       

       

 Gokhle in Kothluk in Ratnagiri District, Maharastra to parents Krishna Rao and Valubai. His father was a clerk who had to give up farming due to poor soil conditions. Gokhale received his early education at Rajaram High School in Kothapur and later, in 1884 moved to Bombay to receive higher education.

Gokhale was reportedly one of the first Indians to complete graduation. In 1884, after his graduation in arts at the Elphinstone College, Bombay, Gokhale moved to Poona to take up a teaching job at a school. He later joined as professor of history and political economy at the Fergusson College, Poona. He remained on the staff, finally as principal, until 1902. 

He met his mentor Mahadev Govind Ranade, a renowned scholar and jurist, in Poona. He started working with Ranade in the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha of which he later became the Secretary. He regarded Mahadev Govinda Ranade as his "Guru". Ranade helped Gokhale in establishing the "Servants of India Society" in 1905. The main objective of this society was to train Indians to raise their voice against social evils and and serve their country. Gokhale also worked with Ranade in a quarterly Journal, called "Sarvajanik". The Journal wrote about the public questions of the day in a frank and fearless manner. 

He married Savitribai in 1880. Savitribai was frail and suffered from congenital ailment. Gokhale remarried in 1887. His second wife died in 1900 and Gokhale did not remarry after that. He had two daughters with his second wife, Kashibai and Godubai.

            

Under mentorship of Ranade, Gopal Krishna Gokhale became a member of Indian National Congress in 1889. He got actively involved with the Indian National Congress, and was the joint secretary for some years and in 1905, he was elected the president at the Benares session of the Congress. The higher education made Gokhale understand the importance of liberty, democracy and parliamentary system of the government.

Gokhale was the secretary of the "Reception Committee" of the 1895 Poona session of the Indian National Congress. From this session, Gokhale became a prominent face of the Indian National Congress. For a while, Gokhale was a member of the Bombay Legislative Council where he spoke strongly against the then Government. In 1901, he was initiated into the Imperial Council of the Governor General of India. In the sessions he rallied for the salt taxes and taxes on cotton goods to be reduced, he sought free primary education for Indians as well as absorption of more numbers of Indian in the Civil Services.

  Mother Teresa

             Mother Teresa was the founder of the Order of the Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic congregation of women dedicated to helping the poor. Considered one of the 20th Century's greatest humanitarians, she was canonized as Saint Teresa of Calcutta in 2016.

           

             Nun and missionary Mother Teresa, known in the Catholic church as Saint Teresa of Calcutta, devoted her life to caring for the sick and poor. Born in Macedonia to parents of Albanian-descent and having taught in India for 17 years, Mother Teresa experienced her "call within a call" in 1946. Her order established a hospice; centers for the blind, aged and disabled; and a leper colony. 

              In 1979, Mother Teresa received the Nobel Peace Prize for her humanitarian work. She died in September 1997 and was beatified in October 2003. In December 2015, pope Francis recognized a second miracle attributed to Mother Teresa, clearing the way for her to be canonized on September 4, 2016.

        

   

              Mother Teresa was born on August 26, 1910, in Skopje, the current capital of the Republic of Macedonia. The following day, she was baptized as Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu.

     

       Mother Teresa’s parents, Nikola and Dranafile Bojaxhiu, were of Albanian descent; her father was an entrepreneur who worked as a construction contractor and a trader of medicines and other goods. The Bojaxhius were a devoutly Catholic family, and Nikola was deeply involved in the local church as well as in city politics as a vocal proponent of Albanian independence.

     

      In 1919, when Mother Teresa — then Agnes — was only eight years old, her father suddenly fell ill and died. While the cause of his death remains unknown, many have speculated that political enemies poisoned him.

      

       In the aftermath of her father's death, Agnes became extraordinarily close to her mother, a pious and compassionate woman who instilled in her daughter a deep commitment to charity. Although by no means wealthy, Drana Bojaxhiu extended an open invitation to the city's destitute to dine with her family. "My child, never eat a single mouthful unless you are sharing it with others," she counseled her daughter. When Agnes asked who the people eating with them were, her mother uniformly responded, "Some of them are our relations, but all of them are our people."

KALPANA CHAVLA

           The tragic loss of the space shuttle Columbia killed seven astronauts. One of those, Kalpana Chawla, was the first Indian-born woman in space.

Born in Karnal, India, on July 1, 1961, Chawla was the youngest of four children. The name Kalpana means "idea" or "imagination." Her full name is pronounced CULL-puh-na CHAV-la, though she often went by the nickname K.C.

               Chawla obtained a degree in aeronautical engineering from Punjab Engineering College before immigrating to the United States and becoming a naturalized citizen in the 1980s. She earned a doctorate in aerospace engineering from the University of Colorado in 1988, having previously obtained her masters degree from the University of Texas. She began working at NASA's Ames Research Center the same year, working on power-lift computational fluid dynamics.

               In 1994, Chawla was selected as an astronaut candidate. After a year of training, she became a crew representative for the Astronaut Office EVA/Robotics and Computer Branches, where she worked with Robotic Situational Awareness Displays and tested software for the space shuttles.

Chawla's first opportunity to fly in space came in November 1997, aboard the space shuttle Columbia on flight STS-87. The shuttle made 252 orbits of the Earth in just over two weeks. The shuttle carried a number of experiments and observing tools on its trip, including a Spartan satellite, which Chawla deployed from the shuttle. The satellite, which studied the outer layer of the sun, malfunctioned due to software errors, and two other astronauts from the shuttle had to perform a spacewalk to recapture it.

   Sindhu Tai Sapkal

        -   The story of Sindhutai Sapkal is an evidence of similar dejection. Born on 14th November 1948, Sindhutai saw this world from the eyes of a cattle grazing family in the Wardha district of Maharashtra. Always considered unnecessary, she was named ‘Chindi’, which means a torn cloth, by the society. But the young Sindhutai’s hunger to learn more was omnipresent. Her father was keen to educate her, but her mother opposed this. Hence was able to complete her education only till Class 4th and at the nascent age of 10 years, she was married off to a man of 30 years.

                Even after being crushed and chained by the shackles of child marriage, young Sindhutai never lost hope. Instead her passion to the help the helpless and wronged aggravated. Settling in the Navargaon forest in Wardha after marriage, she strongly opposed the exploitation of village women, who collected cow dung, by the Forest department and the Landlords in 1972. Little did she knew, that her fight would change her life for the worse.

              During her pregnancy, a nasty rumor of infidelity was circulated by an angry landlord. This raised a rejection for her from the community. Even her husband abandoned her. Beaten, she gave birth to her daughter Mamta on 14th October 1973 in a cowshed. Sindhutai went back to her maternal home, but there too she faced an unapologetic rejection from her mother. Feeling lost and betrayed, Sindhutai started singing and begging in trains and on the streets just to make ends meet. She continued to fight for herself and her daughter’s existence and made train stations, cowsheds and cemeteries her home.

              In this constant tussle to survive, she found herself in Chikaldara, situated in the Amravati district of Maharashtra. Here, due to a tiger preservation project, 84 tribal villages were evacuated. Amidst the confusion, a project officer impounded 132 cows of Adivasi villagers and one of the cows died. Sindhutai decided to fight for a proper rehabilitation of the helpless tribal villagers. Her efforts were acknowledged by the Minister of Forests and he made appropriate arrangements for alternative relocation.

                Even today, at the age of 67, Sindhutai Sapkal works relentlessly to shape the future of these orphans because she believes that a deprived child means a deprived nation.

Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan

 Dr.Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan

          -    Dr.Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was born in Tirutani on 5th September 1888 into a poor Brahmin family. His father sarvepalli veeraswami was employed on a mearge salary in the zamindari. His mother's name was sitamma. It was a mearge income and to take care of a large family.

                Radhakrishnan went through most of his education on scholarships. He initially went to school in Tirutani and then to the Lutheran mission school in Tirupati for his high school. He joined the voorhee's college in Vellore but switched to the Madras Christian College at the age in 17. 

              He choose philosophy as his major and attained a B.A and M.A. in the field. He was afraid that his M.A. thesis "The ethics of the vedanta" would offend his philosophy professor Dr.A.G. Hogg instead Dr.Hogg commented Radhakrishnan on doing an excellent job. Radhakrishnan's M.A. thesis was published when he was only 20  Radhakrishnan was married to sivakamuamma at the age of 16. 

                While still in Vellore, Radhakrishnan's accepted an assistant lectureship at Madras Presidency college in 1909.while at the mastered the classics of Hindu philosophy, namely the Upanishads, Bhagvad Gita, Brahmasutra and commentary of Sankara, Ramunuja and Madhava. He also acquainted himself with Buddhists and Jain philosophy. At the same time he read philosophical commentaries of plato, Plotinus, Kant, Bradly and Bergson, later on in his life, he studied marxism and existentialism. 

                 Dr.  Radhakrishnan died on 17April 1975.

Social worker

Social worker- Baba Amte

                

                 

              - Baba amte lived his early life in luxury and born in a wealthy jagirdar family. After getting degrees and diplomas in agricultural sciences, law and literature from various universities, he came in contact with the poor tribal Adivasis  and discovered the country's poor and hard life. 

Since then for 60 years he worked for poor Adivasis and downtrodden of the society. He also worked for the rehabilitation and empowerment of the outcast lepers.

                    Baba started health programmes for leprosy patients in Anandvan ashram and created different support activities to make the lepers live with dignity and self- respect. In 1973 Baba founded Lok Biradari Prakalpa for the tribals, Madia Gonds , of Gadchiroli . He undertook educational, agriculture and eco-friendly programmes for the tribals in Hemalkasa.

Diwali

Indian Festival - DIWALI

             -    DIWALI celebrated in the month of Ashwin. It is the greatest Hindu festival. The festival lasts for four days and is celebrated all over India. Diwali means rows of lighted lamps, it is a festival of lights, but all Indians celebrate it joyfull . It falls in the month of October or November. people clean and decorate their houses and shops long before the festival arrives.

                     

                 The festival lasts for four days. The first day is celebrated to remember the killing of the demon narakasur by lord Krishna. Everyone gets up early in the morning, takes scented bath and sweets are prepared in every home. Women draw beautiful rangoli design in front of their houses.

Celebration of DIWALI 💥

              -  The second day is Lakshmi poojan. People worship Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, on this day. The third day is observed as Bali Pratipda. It is the Hindu New Year Day. People wish "Happy New Year" to their friends and relatives. They send greetings too. It is the day of meetings, greeting and feasts Bhaubeej is the next day. Sister wish long Life to their brothers and  brothers give them gifts. 

                 During Diwali the young and old,the rich and poor, all enjoy themselves greatly.

    An Indian Festival

         

        -    India is a land of fasts and festivals. Indian men and women observe these festivals throughout the year. These festivals are being observed from the dawn of human civilization.

             The  major festivals are Dussehra, Kali puja, Ganesh chaturthi, Basantpanchmi, Makar sankranti, Janmastmi, Ram Navmi, Akshay Tritiya, Holi and others to name only a few. These festivals are observed by the Hindus but there are other festivals also such as Eid-UL-Fitr, Eid-ul-Adha and Muharram observed by the Muslims, The Christmas Day and New Year's Day are observed by the Christians and the Guru Nanak Jayanti is observed by the Sikhs or Punjabis. 

  Celebration Holi, Raksha Bandhan, Ganesh chaturthi, Eid, Christmas and Dussehra.

             

        -  In this way Indian Festivals have a great religious and social significance. They teach a moral lesson to the people and unit them. People forgot all their differences and observe these festivals with a sense of togetherness. 

                 National festivals like republic day, independent day, Gandhi Jayanti etc. Are celebrated with great patriotic zeal. These days have been declared as national holiday and are celebrated in all part of the country with a lot of enthusiasm. 

Celebration of Republic Day or Independent Day