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Published by eBooks, 2022-08-03 08:35:28

Jyotipunj-Eng

Jyotipunj-Eng

251

Vasantrao was a man of action, and learning. His mother
tongue was Marathi, but he adopted Gujarati as if it were his
mother tongue. He had acquired correctness and purity of the
language due to his association with the Sangh; moreover, he
was an authorized signatory of the Sangh in the region. Looking
at his aptitude in learning, he was assigned the responsibility
of the Sadhana weekly. He would go about the town on his bicycle
to propagate and expand the Sadhana in order to draw more
and more readers to it. He also made effort to seek
advertisements in order to make the weekly financially stronger.
He continued to do this work for close to 25 years.

Vasantrao was a man of learning. He was an ardent seeker
of knowledge. As soon as he was assigned the responsibility of
the Sadhana, he started to make effort in order to cultivate the
required qualities in himself. To do his job well, he did a course
in journalism when he was as old as 45 years. It requires courage
for a man of his age to study sitting together with children aged
18-20 years, but he did it perfectly well. His unfathomable loyalty
to his work alone gave him this courage.

Vasantrao continued to realize the mantra Jahan kum, wahan
hum (we are where there is a deficiency), in his diverse ways.
During his tours, he would deliver the news like a reporter,
change information into news and, at times, take over the
responsibility of the editor on his return from tour. He would
sometimes proofread, and sometimes sit down to paste
wrappers and stamps in order to send the weekly by post. He
even packed the weekly in bundles as well as delivered the
bundles to the post office.

Vasantrao led a ‘happy-go-lucky’ life. He led a life free from all
types of bonds. Due to his forgetfulness, numerous instances used
to take place in the Sangh life that were the source of humour.

If you needed to understand ‘to die for ideology’, then you
would need to look at the focus that Vasantrao had for the
Sadhana. The special characteristics of his life were to fill
everything with lightness and make feel the entire life green

252

and lively. During his work with the Sadhana, we could witness
his witty nature every moment and in every instance.

One day, two photographs were published in the Sadhana.
One photograph pertained to the conference of saints and sages
in Bihar, in which a physically healthy saint was adorning the
stage. Next to him was the photograph of the famine-stricken
people in Odisha. Due to an error in the editor’s department,
the captions for both the photographs got interchanged. Under
the healthy saint was written ‘The famine-stricken of Odisha’
and under the famine-stricken was written ‘The conference of
saints and sages’. On this occasion, Vakil Saheb, the Prant
Pracharak of Gujarat, taunted Vasantrao rebuking him at such
a grave error. At this, Vasantrao very coolly replied, “Vakil
Saheb, I am responsible for the proofreading, if there is any
error on that part, you can certainly blame me.” This was how
he created wit even in otherwise serious situation, and thus
lightened the entire environment.

The Sadhana was published on Wednesday, and he did
everything to ensure that it was published regularly under all
circumstances. From Monday to Wednesday, he did not have
time to breathe even, that’s how we can describe his hard work.
It was not possible to employ a proofreader due to financial
crisis, so he would look at the proofs himself, set them in pages,
and proofread them finally; only this made the publication of
the Sadhana feasible.

Vasantrao lived the life of a saint. His life was free from all
types of bonds. Due to his habit of forgetting things, a number
of interesting incident occurred. If you happen to start relating
his instances witty, you would have to laugh for hours together,
interesting incidents. Sometimes, he himself would become a
part of such humour, and thus made the entire environment
lively with his witty comments, and enlightened the entire
atmosphere.

He had habit of forgetting things. If he visited somebody’s
house and he found a bunch of keys on the table, he was wont
to pick it up, play with it while talking with the host, and while
getting up, would put it in his pocket before leaving thinking it

253

his own. In his cupboard, you could find a large collection of
bunches of keys. He himself did not know which bunch
belonged to whom. The host was bound to be troubled at the
loss of the key-bunch. Gradually, the people came to know of
this habit of his, and they would care for their keys when
Vasantrao was scheduled to visit them.

Vasantrao had an amazing wit. Once Vakil Saheb was
returning from Akola. Vasantrao’s mother lived in Akola and
was a devoted worker of the Rashtriya Sevika Samiti. Vakil
Saheb met her there. When Vakil Saheb came across Vasantrao,
he said, “I met your mother, she was worried about you. Why
don’t you write her?” At this, Vasantrao remarked, “Vakil Saheb,
can it ever happen? I write her letters regularly, but I forget to
post them.” Saying this, he took about 40 letters from his
cupboard and placed before Vakil Saheb.

After Vasantrao was released from his responsibility in the
Sadhana, he became active in the Sangh work again. On this
occasion, the trustees of the Sadhana held a farewell party for
him. He was leaving after his dedicated work over 25-30 years.
The trustees decided to present him a wristwatch on this
occasion for his long distinguished service. It is natural for a
farewell to be a emotional occasion. When Vasantrao stood up
to address the gathering, he said, “I worked in the Sadhana for
25-30 years, still the trustees of the weekly could not recognize
me well enough. Had they recognized me, they would not have
given me a watch, rather they would have given me the calendar,
because I was never careless about the time, the difficult thing
is that I often forgot the date.” It often happened with Vasantrao
that he went to a place on Monday or Wednesday when he was
supposed to be there on Tuesday. His greatness lay in the fact
that he admitted his mistakes openly before others, without any
pretension.

Once Vasantrao fell ill and his back was stiff. He was forced
to bend down 90 degrees and walk. He had to do all his things
this way. About this time, a Sangh official came on tour. He found
Vasantrao sitting in the wheelchair bending at 90 degrees. He
felt very sad at this. Very sentimentally he said, “Vasantrao, what

254

happened? You can’t even stand upright, can you?” Vasantrao
immediately retorted, “If you are out to unite the Hindu nation,
you have no other way but to bend down.” He set his suffering
in metaphysical terminology, made his physical suffering into
bliss and stared into the difficulties in a witty outlook; maybe
Vasantrao was an amazing personality to perceive life
quite rightly.

If during a meeting, Vasantrao shared a room, it was certain
that something would go missing, like shirt, towel or the like.
Everybody knew if a thing had gone missing, they ought to
search Vasantrao’s bag. It often occurred that Vasantrao kept it
in his bag. If anybody taunted him for this, he would say,
“Brother, why don’t you arrange your things well, why do you
throw them here and there? How long can I continue to arrange
them? Still I do it and you all know it that all lost things find the
same destination; if you have lost something, come and search
with me.”

His memory was so sharp that he could repeat or write a speech
verbatim, in exactly the same sequence. His attachment, devotion
and dedication to his work was so profound that he was often fully
absorbed in it without caring for what was happening around. He
was not bound by any limitations in his ordinary life, he knew
how to lead an eternally blissful life.

One day, a youth Pracharak returned after the tour of a
village. It was the dinner time. Vasantrao said to him, “Come, I
have an invitation to a wedding party. You too accompany me.
We shall eat there.” The youth Pracharak thought that it was a
nice thing to happen. “Had I come late, it would have been
difficult to arrange for food,” he thought. Both rode their bicycles
towards the party. The host had his (tailor) shop at a little
distance from the party hall. He noticed that the shop was open
and the host was still at his shop. He stopped his bicycle and
asked, “Arre, what are you doing here? It is the wedding day,
isn’t it?” The host was surprised. He said, “No, no, there is no
wedding today.” Vasantrao said, “How can it be so? I have an

255

invitation card.” Saying this, he took out the invitation card from
his bag, only then he saw that it was a year old. Everything was
correct in terms of date, time and venue, but its year was one
year before. The poor Pracharak had to sleep on a hungry
stomach that night.

In the OTC, Vasantrao held the responsibility of examining
debate. He was capable enough to shake every strand of learning
of anyone in his topics for debates, and he enjoyed these
moments. One day, he assigned the Swayamsevaks the topic—
‘the difference between Hom, Havan and Yajna’. All
Swayamsevaks were confused. At this time, Vanikar was the
chief observer listening to the debate. Vasantrao kept sending
the Swayamsevaks to Vanikar for the right answer. He kept
sending the Swayamsevaks to different officials, but none of
them knew the distinction. Such an answer required insight and
profound learning. Vasantrao posed such questions in order to
test and sharpen the intellectual capability and logic of all his
companions as well as participants in the course.

The Shivirs (training camps) enjoy a unique place in the
Sangh work. Its environment is very suitable for inculcating
qualities for leading a collective way of life. The Swayamsevaks
themselves pitch the tents in order to hold the Shivirs. A large
Shivir was held every year in Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium in
Ahmedabad. It was held that year too. It was the winter season.
After rain, the tents were all wet and it grew colder. Still, all the
Swayamsevaks attending the Shivir slept on the wet ground in
such a chilling cold. Everybody remembered this Shivir as quite
troublesome. After the Shivir came to a close, and everything
had been packed, an officer remembered that the pits dug for
cooking were yet to be filled up. Vasantrao alone took over this
responsibility. He filled up all the pits with earth with his hands
as he had no tools to do it. There was nobody to ask them had
they left the pits unfilled, yet they did not do it. This is the special
quality of the Sangh.

An atmosphere of high ideals prevails in the Sangh so as to
attain purity in behaviour. There is a system for the Pracharaks
to submit their income and expenditure account every month.

256

Vasantrao was very lazy when it came to keeping the accounts.
His accounts rarely matched, as he often forgot where he spent
the money, or sometimes he washed 5-10 rupee notes in the
clothes. At the end of every month, he used to grope in dark
about his income and expenditure report, but he never failed to
submit his accounts. He submitted his accounts something like
this:

1.80: bus fare
0.50: peanuts
0.10: glass of water
1.00: chappal repair
0.80: a bar of soap
34.30: GK
Every account statement of his contained the head ‘GK’.

As naturally he lived, as was his witty life. He had a detached
attitude, with a tendency to be free from all bonds. He lived a life
free from all expectations, without seeking favours, a happy-go-
lucky life – all these qualities had another name – Vasantrao. If
ever an effort is made to compile all the true anecdotes that occurred
in his personal life, a thick book can be written which will be a
treasure of entertaining jokes, such memorable are his anecdotes.

In this way, he spent 80 per cent of his expenditure under
the head of GK. When this head occurred repeatedly, the account
manager drew the attention of Vakil Saheb towards it. Vakil
Saheb called Vasantrao and asked about it, “What is this GK
head in your statements? What is that expenditure?” Everybody
in the meeting wished to know this mystery. Finally, Vasantrao
revealed this mystery. He said, “GK means ‘God Knows’. I
cannot recall where I spent that money, so the total amount I
cannot recall, I just write it under the GK.” How authentic he
was in his dealing, he took God as witness to all his deeds.

One day, a senior Pracharak was writing his account of
expenditure. Once, he was not able to match 25 paise. He
murmured a sweet song Nirmanon ke pawan yug mein… and kept
calculating, but the difference of 25 paise eluded him. He kept

257

repeating just one line of the song trying to account for the
difference of 25 paise, but could not. Vasantrao was looking at
him doing this. The witty Vasantrao kept a coin of 25 paise in
his hand and said, “Now you have the account for those 25 paise,
now complete the song, you are stuck at the same line.”

This instance shows how easily he took every situation.
There is a multitude of such anecdotes in his life.

During our life at Dr. Hedgewar Bhavan, the Sangh office,
a formula given by Vasantrao was quite popular – ‘P for P in P
by P on P…’ If a stranger came, he had to struggle much to
understand what this formula meant. This formula uttered at
the breakfast time meant: ‘Poha for Pracharak in Prantik
Karyalaya by Premji in Pot.’ Vasantrao played with words in
such a witty manner, which is like a lively memory of our
Sangh life.

Vasantrao used to camp at Bombay for a couple of months
preceding Diwali for seeking advertisements for the Sadhana
weekly. He created a large section of customers for the magazine.
One year, he secured advertisements from Bombay worth
` 50,000. Vasantrao was extremely happy about it. It was a joyful
occasion in the Sadhana office too. Finding Vasantrao satisfied
about this accomplishment, the volunteers staying with him in
the Bombay Sangh office demanded a party from him, which
he obliged. All of them went to a hotel together. It was no new
thing for a hotel in Bombay to serve non-vegetarian food. The
waiters too normally presented the non-vegetarian menu. “Will
you take non-veg food?” somebody asked. To show his ego,
Vasantrao said, “Yes, why not.” After this, everybody ordered
for their favourite dishes. When it came to Vasantrao, he asked
what all was there in the menu. The waiter listed fish, chicken,
omelette and the like. At this, Vasantrao said, “Call the
manager.” He asked the manager what all things there were in
the menu. The manager repeated all those foods that the waiter
had said. At this, Vasantrao remarked, “Is that all? Will you
serve me such ordinary animals? I want to eat tiger’s roasted
flesh or lion’s soup. Do you have that?” The manager kept
looking at his face in confusion only to utter softly, “No, sir, we

258

don’t have any of these.” Vasantrao said, “Well, then, do one
thing, bring fried lady’s fingers and paranthas.”

Vasasntrao was a vegetarian. Still he surprised his
companions and made them enjoy the occasion. Even the hotel
staff came to see him one by one.

In one way, he used to forget events, things. Yet, his memory
was so sharp that he could write down a speech, that he had
heard, that too in the correct sequence. His attachment and
devotion to work was so exalted that he was often absorbed in
his work without any anxiety of the surroundings. In his normal
life, he was not bound in any limitations. He knew how to live
a blissful life. In my memory, there is no man who ever
complained against Vasasntrao. In such a long period, he had
cultivated a personality which helped him enter any situation
as smoothly as water. He never got stuck in a corner or got
stagnated in life. His presence always enlivened the atmosphere.
Even his absence did not allow the atmosphere to go empty.
And perhaps, this was the outcome of his most exalted state of
his journey of life.

For years, he had not used any other transport other than a
bicycle. As the Sangh work expanded, the means too became
available. The younger Swayamsevaks working under him rode
scooters, but Vasantrao never touched any other transport than
a bicycle to go around. However, he always took care to ensure
that his junior workers enjoyed a good facility.

If the bicycle broke down, Vasantrao would hire a bicycle,
but he often forgot which shop he hired it from, so he had to
enquire from five-six shops to which it belonged. We find a
wonderful assimilation of high intelligence, simplicity, hard
work, attitude to wit, detached sentiments in his personality.

In the final couple of years, he suffered from paralysis; still
he did not break away from his work. To the final day of his
life, he kept himself busy in learning, working for purity of
language and joining words. Despite his suffering, he tried his
best to attend every programme that he could. He suffered from
paralysis close to two years, still he did not mention about his
suffering to any Swayamsevak or visitor in the Sangh office. If

259

ever somebody enquired after his health, he would just change
the topic.

In the final stage of his life, we could see on his face the joy
of the outcome of Gujarat elections as well as the satisfaction of
having voted himself. Just twenty-four hours before his death,
I had taken a box of sweet to him to celebrate the victory in
election. He congratulated me for the victory and ate sweet.
But that day he looked different, still he did not want to tell
about his suffering to anybody. He appeared to be a little more
reserve than he normally was. His wit did not last long, as if he
had been sent some divine indication that he was waiting for
the victory in Gujarat, soon after which he seemed to have
started to pack his body for the long journey. As I had been
related with him for years, an idea struck me that I should get
him admitted to a hospital. I took him to a hospital, but the
outcome was what I feared about. With the joy of victory, he
had started to palliate himself into eternity.

With the departure of Vasantrao, a witty and laughing
school of learning has bid us farewell. With his death, we lost a
synonym of hardworking life. He did not shine in the eyes of
the world, yet he twinkled like a lamp in order to spread his
light right until the last breath.

As simple was his life, so was his wit. As was his detached
attitude, so was his tendency to emancipation. Free from
expectation, a happy-go-lucky life without seeking any favours;
the other name for this phenomenon was Vasantrao. If the true
anecdotes of his life are ever compiled, it could result into a
thick book containing a whole fountain of recreation, so
memorable his anecdotes have been.

He had so much energy to work at the age of eighty years
that he could inspire even the young people. He has been an
active participant in the journey of development of several
generations in the Sangh. He was the light who attracted a lot
of people into Sangh’s life. The life of Vasantrao was far from
autumn; his memories would make us feel the spring season
even during the autumn; that is what I can say with certainty.

Vande Mataram

(O Mother, I bow to thee. You are filled with fine water of
great rivers and ponds. You are rich. A lot of fruits grow on the
trees growing on you. Whatever exists in your environment is
fragrant and cool like the wind from the Malay mountain. The
fields and granaries spread over you appear pretty in their
greenery. O Mother, I bow to thee.

Your nights replete with silvery moonlight are blissful. My
heart is moved at seeing this beauty. Your green trees possess
blooming flowers and they have fruits, which are indescribable
in words. When I look to them, it feels as if you laugh and talk
sweetly. You are the great welfare-oriented mother, giving all
types of joys and boons. Mother, I bow to thee.

Millions of your sons hail you in a loud sound. Millions of
your sons are standing ready with swords in their hands. How
can anyone call you powerless! You are very mighty. I bow to
thee. You deliver everybody. You eradicate the enemies. Mother,
I bow to thee.

You are learning, you are duty, because everybody in the
world has acquired learning from you, and has learnt duty. You
reside in everybody’s heart; you are the soft heart of everybody.
You infuse might into the arms of your sons. You infuse devotion
in the hearts of your sons. The idols of deities in thousands of
temples are all yours. Mother, I bow to thee.

You are Durga holding numerous weapons. You are
Lakshmi residing on the lotus. You are Saraswati, the source of
learning, art and language. Mother, I bow to thee.

O innocent Mother, you are pretty as lotus. We bow before
you. You are unique in the world. O Motherland rich in water
and fruits, we bow before you.

261

You are dark in colour, you have a simple nature, you
remain blissful always, and you are fascinating with your beauty.
You accept everybody, you hold everybody. You look after
everybody, you fill everybody, and your affection is infinite. O
Mother, I bow before you.)

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Vande Mataram

Vande Mataram
Sujalam sufalam malayaj shitalam

Shasyashyamalam Mataram
Vande Mataram…

Shubrajyotsnapulakityaminim
Fullakusumitdrumdalshobhinim

Suhasini, sumadhurbhashini
Sukhadam vardam Mataram

Vande Mataram…
Koti-koti kanth kalkal ninad karale
Koti-koti bujairdhrit kharkarwale

Abala keno Ma eto bole
Bahubaldharini namami tarini

Ripudalvarinim Mataram
Vande Mataram…

Tumi vidya tumi dharma
Tumi hridi tumi marma
Twam hi pranah sharire
Bahute tumi ma shakti
Hridaye tumi ma bhakti
Tomarai pratima gadi mandire-mandire

Vande Mataram…
Twam hi Durga dashprahardharinim

Kamala kaldal viharinim
Vani vidyadayini

Namami twam namami kamalam
Amalam atulam

Sujalam sufalam Mataram
Shyamalam saralam susmitam bhushitam

Dharini bharanim Mataram
Vande Mataram.


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