When Dr. KB Hedgewar, the founder of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, handed over the command of the Sangh to relatively young Madhav Sadashivrao Golwalkar, many people across the country were surprised. Whereas Madhav was not among those who were with Dr. Hedgewar since the inception of the Sangh. In such a situation, if you know the stories of his childhood today, you will definitely agree that no one could have been better than him. Whether it was the Bible or Ramcharit Manas, whether it was Shakespeare’s literature or the verses of ‘Ramraksha Stotra’, he memorized it in such a way in his childhood that even his Christian teachers were proved wrong in front of him. It is true that if he had lived in today’s times, he would have been the favorite ‘Google Boy’ of TV channels.
He was the fourth child of his parents, but he survived alone. His elder brother Amrit survived till the age of 15, but later he also left him alone. Like Dr. Hedgewar, his ancestors were priests. Originally belonged to ‘Golwali’ village of Konkan. So he changed his surname from ‘Padhya’ to Golwalkar. First the whole family went to Paithan, then from there one branch went to Nagpur, one to Raipur, one also settled in Pandharpur, but the village remained together forever as ‘Golwalkar’.
But his grandfather and father used to work. Grandfather Balkrishna was a reader in Kawardha Court, due to his death in an accident, the burden of the entire family soon fell on the head of his father Sadashivrao. Everyone used to call him ‘Bhauji’ and his wife Lakshmibai as ‘Tai’. After matriculation he had to leave his studies and started working in the post and telegraph department. After that, when he got a job as a government teacher, he got a job in a distant village (presently in Chhattisgarh). There was not even a proper road till that village. Tanga or bullock cart were the only support, it would be within 80 km from Raipur also. But there was a lot of tension in this entire family regarding studies and writing.
Due to this perseverance, Madhav’s father gave the intermediate examination after 20 years, and then graduated after 7 years. In such a situation, it was natural for Madhav to be affected by all this. In a small village, his family was his only world, when Madhav was left alone, his parents equipped him with almost all the scriptures from Ramayana, Mahabharata to the stories of Panchatantra. Madhav also started getting interested in all of them. When he was in middle school, it often happened that his teacher would find Madhav reading some other book in the class. A teacher made him stand and asked him to tell what he taught, Madhav stood up and not only told all that but also told about the future. The teachers were surprised that this boy is not only ahead of his fellow children but also walks two steps ahead of the teachers. However, his father started seeing his intelligence since childhood, when Madhav was 6 years old, his father brought him ‘Ram Raksha Stotra’.
Every story of this special series related to hundred years of RSS
Although his mother used to recite his verses sometimes, so he remembered a little bit. Madhav told his father to recite it completely to me once, I will remember it. Madhav immediately told him in full. Sadashiv was surprised that how a 6 year old child could recite 38 difficult Sanskrit verses at one go, he was also happy in his mind that the child was his. He must have been surprised even when Madhav had memorized the entire Ramcharit Manas while studying in middle school. Whereas his mother tongue was not Hindi, it was Marathi. In this way the discussion about Madhav gradually started. However, as his father kept getting transferred to Hindi speaking areas like Durg, Khandwa, Raipur etc., along with Marathi, he also started gaining command over Hindi. But his command over Awadhi, Sanskrit and English was also established during his school days.
An incident from his life related to English is very interesting. His elder brother Amrit had to speak on a topic in English in school, but at the last moment Amrit’s health deteriorated and the school teachers got worried. Then Madhav said, I will speak in place of brother. Doubtful teachers had no other option because school inspectors etc. officials had to be present in the program. The inspector was so pleased with Madhav’s address that he even gave him an award. Once a British inspector was about to inspect Madhav’s school, suddenly Madhav’s health deteriorated and he took leave from school. The teachers became worried as to who would answer the inspector’s questions, so they ran to Madhav’s house and insisted on bringing the sick Madhav to school. Then Madhav gave all the answers to the inspector’s questions, only then he regained his breath.
There was also a student conference in 1917, in the debate competition, Madhav was chosen the best speaker. The surprise was when the renowned jurist Mulana, who was present at that program, was so impressed that he reached his school to hear his speech again. Before he went to study at Hislop College, Nagpur, he had read the entire literature of Shakespeare. There he surprised Gardner, an English professor, in his class by saying that the reference he had given from the Bible was wrong. Imagine how upset a Christian professor would be by taking knowledge of the Bible from a Hindu student. Even more surprised were the fellow students that either this guy was crazy or very intelligent.
But Gardner was not at all ready to accept defeat, he went out of the class, brought a Bible from the library or the principal’s room and in the class itself, in front of everyone, searched for the same page and found that Madhav was right. He admitted his mistake and called Madhav to him and praised him a lot. He was also happy that Hindu children understood his subjects better than him.
It is a different matter that Guru Golwalkar’s critics have been targeting him for ‘Bunch of Thoughts’, but they never mentioned that even after becoming the Sarsanghchalak, Guru Golwalkar often used to relate Jesus Christ or give examples from the Bible in his addresses. Even when Hislop was studying in college, he used to go to another library to study Hindu texts. His hunger for knowledge took him to Ramakrishna Mission Swami Akhandananda.
But it was not that he did not have the same hobbies as ordinary students, tennis was his favorite sport, he liked swimming so much that he used to swim across the Ganga in Kashi, he also learned to play the flute and also used to go to gymnasiums. But reading books was on top of all these, Kashi Hindu University fulfilled his wish. Taking one book every day and returning it after reading it till the next day and taking another one again was his regular work except during the examination days. Translating a book of 180 pages in a day could only be possible for a genius. Anyway, he came to be known as ‘Ek Pathi’ i.e. one who reads once, memorizes it.
Back story: War with China and Guru Golwalkar’s ‘Seva Diwali’
—- End —-
