That time belonged to sea-green, incorruptible supermen like V.V.S. Aiyar, Sri Aurobindo, Mohandas Kharamchand Gandhi, and Subramania Bharati. No wonder we hail them as Maharishi Aiyar, Mahayogi Sri Aurobindo, Mahatma Gandhi and Mahakavi Bharati. For them patriotism was religion and the phrase ‘Vande Mataram' was mantra . V.O. Chidambaram Pillai (1872-1936), the intrepid nationalist from south India, was a disciple of Tilak and there existed a warm relationship between the two. Pillai referred to Tilak aptly as Maharishi.
Political guru
Venkatachalapati, to whom we owe many important retrievals from the past, has brought back to print the life of Tilak written by Pillai for Veerakesari of Ceylon. Tilaka Maharishi carries a critical introduction as also five appendices of vital interest to assess the flow of historical events. A fervent admirer of Tilak, Pillai had also suffered in prison willingly and had trod with a bleeding brow the patriot's way. He was an excellent speaker and writer in English and Tamil. The preface to the biography is actually a Tamil translation of Pillai's article published in the third volume of Reminiscences of Bal Gangadhar Tilak (1927). The words come out clear and ring true: “Lokamanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak is my political guru. From my 21st year … I was closely following his writings and speeches on politics. They made me feel that India was my country, that the British were wrongfully retaining it and that it must be got back from them.” How to do it?
Pillai went to the Surat Congress to meet Tilak and get guidance. The preface relates cogently the historical happenings in the Congress, the rise of Indian Nationalism, the loving ways of Tilak and their last meeting. “When I was about to leave him, how he embraced me I cannot express except by tears from my eyes.”
The biography brings back familiar scenes: Tilak's parentage that instilled in him patriotism and integrity; the founding of the Deccan Educational Society; Tilak's rejection of casteism but objection to governmental interference in Hindu customs; the nationalist resurgence thanks to powerful journalism, the Shivaji and Ganapati festivals; the Surat split; the 1908 trial and deportation to Mandalay.
Honestly recorded
All this and more we get from Pillai who notes that Tilak's faith in Annie Besant was misplaced. It is an inspiring and honest record of contemporary events by a writer wedded to truth. Appropriately hailed as “Tilak of Tamils”, Pillai was inherently opposed to violence. He often speaks of the cultured manner in which Tilak dealt with his critics in the Congress.
Given this background, perhaps Venkatachalapati should have avoided referring to Tilak's group in the Congress as “extremists” ( Theeviravaadhi ), a term which today has a connotation not applicable to the nationalists of the early decades of the 20th century. Pillai himself uses the appropriate term, Desiyavaadhi . For the rest, the book is a role-model for editors of historical documents.
