Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak, whose real name was Keshav Gangadhar Tilak, was born 165 years ago today on July 23. He was a freedom warrior, social thinker, philosopher, and educator who was instrumental in India’s Independence effort. Tilak was born in 1856 in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra, and was a fervent supporter of Swarajya throughout the liberation fight.
He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics with honours from Deccan College in Pune in 1877. In 1879, Tilak graduated from Government Law College with an LL. B and established the Deccan Education Society in 1884 to impart nationalist principles to young people.
On the special anniversary of his birthday, let us look at 10 inspiring quotes by him:
1. Swaraj is my birth right and I shall have it.
2. Our nation is like a tree of which the original trunk is swarajya and the branches are swadeshi and boycott.
3. It may be providence’s will that the cause I represent may prosper more by my suffering than by my remaining free.
4. If we trace the history of any nation backwards into the past, we come at last to a period of myths and traditions which eventually fade away into impenetrable darkness.
5. If God is put up with untouchability, I will not call him God
6. Swadeshi and swadeshi will be our cry forever and by this, we will grow in spite of the wishes of the ruler.
7. Religion and practical life are not different. To take sanyas (renunciation) is not to abandon life. The real spirit is to make the country, your family, work together instead of working only on your own. The step beyond is to serve humanity and the next step is to serve God.
8. Life is all about a card game. Choosing the right cards is not in our hand. But playing well with the cards in hand determines our success.
9. The problem is not the lack of resources or capability, but the lack of will.
10. After all, our Killers are our …Brothers!!??
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