The old people of the Sangh often mention this incident in informal conversations that if the episode related to Nizam had not happened in the life of Guru Golwalkar, then perhaps the Sangh would not have got a charismatic leadership like him. It is also very interesting that due to the Nizam’s government, Dr. Hedgewar’s family, living in a village in Telangana, also moved to Nagpur. Even today his village is Muslim dominated. Although Dr. Hedgewar never had direct contact with the Nizam, Guru Golwalkar had made such a dent in the reputation of the Nizam that not only in India but also in the foreign media, Guruji’s courage was discussed, even though he was not associated with the Sangh.
Actually, Guru Golwalkar i.e. Madhav’s father Bhauji wanted to make him a doctor. So he got admission in science subject in Fergusson College, Pune. But suddenly the college issued a circular that only students from that province would be able to study in this college. He had to leave that college and go to Hislop College, Nagpur. He started studying at his maternal uncle’s house in Nagpur. Often he would point out the mistakes of his professors as well, like he got Professor Gartner corrected when he gave a wrong reference to the Bible, similarly when the Zoology professor told everyone in the class that this species of plant is no longer found in this area, at that time Madhav remained calm, but the next day he came to the class with that plant.
Told everyone that this plant was found under the old bridge of the city. After completing Intermediate (Science) from that college in 1924, Madhav went to BHU to pursue B.Sc. Madhav was hungry for knowledge and Banaras Hindu University was an ocean of knowledge, there were more than 1 lakh books in its library. Madhav took full advantage of it, he was not limited to science but increased his knowledge of Sanskrit manifold since childhood. Started studying subjects like Economics, Sociology also. Together they started trying their hands in various disciplines like swimming, yoga, flute, sitar etc. Not only did he study Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Vivekananda in depth, he also started visiting the Theosophy Center which had just opened in Kashi. His loose fitting white kurta pajama became his identity.
Even after completing B.Sc. in 1926, he was not ready to leave Kashi, so he took admission in M.Sc. When his MSc was completed in 1928, he joined the Aquarium of Madras (Chennai), which was part of the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, to do research for his PhD. His research topic was “Morphology and Bionomics of Indian Marine Fishes”. It is also interesting that father wanted to become a doctor with patients and Madhav was going to become a doctor with professor after doing PhD. However, Honi had something else in mind. Although he did not become a doctor, he definitely became the successor of Dr. Hedgewar.
Read here: Every story of this special series related to hundred years of RSS
The story of Nizam’s intrusion into his life while he was in Madras is very interesting. The aquarium where Madhav worked was the premier fisheries research center of the British Indian government, where entry fees were mandatory for public viewing (4 annas for adults, 2 annas for children). This money was used for the maintenance of the station.
Mir Osman Ali Khan (the last Nizam of the princely state of Hyderabad, ruler from 1911–1948) wished to visit this aquarium in Madras during his tour of South India in late 1928 or early 1929. The Nizam came with his royal advisors and soldiers – a total party of 25-30 members. Nizam and his entourage reached the aquarium without prior notice. Only Madhav was on duty at the main gate, as he was working as the supervisor/guide of the station at that time. Madhav asked for entry fee from Nizam’s group as per rules. The Nizam’s advisors said, “We are with the Nizam, why the fee?” Madhav replied in a calm but firm voice: “The rules are the same for everyone. Be it a Nizam or a common man, there is no entry without fee.”
When young Madhav stopped Nizam
Nizam also refused to pay the fee, Madhav stopped everyone at the main gate. It was natural for the Nizam to be angry, angrily the Nizam asked, “Do you know who I am?” The answer given by Madhav not only surprised Nizam, but later it became a big news for the media also. Madhav replied calmly, “I know you are the Nizam, but here rules are king.” Nizam found this answer more insulting that this person was not refusing me unknowingly but he was refusing me despite knowing the power and status of Nizam. Nizam felt that staying here for longer time would mean more insult. The next day, about the Nizam who was featured in magazines around the world for his wealth and status, The Hindu in India published a headline, “The Man Who Stopped The Nizam”.
This was such an incident that it was talked about a lot, no British official publicly said anything negative about Madhav, but the media praised that someone did. Who is so serious about following the rules. Many claims have been made regarding this incident that the Nizam complained to some British officials and those British officials got Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar’s research ended. However, Madhav wrote a one-line letter to the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute that “could not complete the research due to financial reasons… sorry”.
Golwalkar kept becoming a scientist
However, it is true that shortly after this incident, his father Sadashiv i.e. Bhauji was to retire, which also happened. In such a situation, he was to get only Rs 50 pension. Madhav was also getting almost the same amount of money for research, but more money was being spent on his living expenses and research related activities. Secondly, there was so much excitement in Kashi, there was no one speaking Hindi here, there were other problems too. Due to which he may have made up his mind to leave this research. If Nizam had done something, he would have told it himself. It is also possible that Nizam may have played some game in such a way that no one, not even Madhav, has any suspicion. Because the Nizam did not seem to forget such a huge insult to his staff. However, due to this incident, Madhav’s bravery and honesty started being discussed among all his colleagues.
So in this way Madhav continued becoming a scientist. Hoye Soye So Ram Rachi Rakha, if he had become a scientist then perhaps Dr. Hedgewar Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh There is no such better and stronger successor to take it forward. By the way, the climax of this incident is even more interesting, later Nizam had sent the entire fee of all his associates to that institute, so that tomorrow no one would print that Nizam had created so much controversy for four annas.
Back story: Had Guru Golwalkar been born in today’s times, he would have become TV’s ‘Google Boy’.
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