Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Guru ji Golwalkar


“There are some people whom we start hating without even knowing them. Guru Golwalkar was on the first in my list of such people. Misdeeds of RSS in communal riots, assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, efforts to convert secular India to a Hindu state etc were so many issues I had heard a lot about. Even then being a reporter I could not resist the wish to see him.

“I was imagining that while seeing him I would have to cross various security circles of uniformed volunteers, but there was nothing as such. Not even so, I was under impression that there would be some intelligence guys to note down my car’s registration number, but nothing. The place where he had stayed was a room of middle class family. Outside was a row of shoes and slippers. The atmosphere was surrounded with the scent of incense sticks, as if pooja was being performed there. Ladies were moving around in inner rooms. The sound of utensils, cups & saucers was coming. I get in the room. Wearing pure white dhoti kurtas in Maharashtrian style were sitting 10 – 12 men. About the age of 65, single body, long black curly hairs dancing on his shoulders, mustache covering his mouth, long brown beard, never fading smile and black shining eyes watching through the spectacles, I thought he was Indian Ho Chi Minh. Recently he had surgery on his chest for cancer, even then he seems entirely healthy and happy.

“Being a Guru he must have expecting me to touch his feet, thinking, I bent down but he didn’t gave me any chance. He caught hold my hands and pulled me to be seated near to himself and said, “I am really very happy to see you. I wanted to see you since long.” His Hindi was so pure.

“Me too! Specially, since I read your ‘Bunch of Letters’,” I said with little hesitation.

‘Bunch of Thoughts’, he said correcting my mistake but he didn’t show any will to ask for my views on that book. He holds one of my hands and said – say.”

“I can’t understand where to start? I said- I have heard you avoid media fame and your Organisation keeps itself very secret.”

“It’s true that we don’t want fame, but there is nothing like secrecy. You may ask me anything.” He replied.

So there was open conversation on various issues.
“I took around half an hour of Guruji but I didn’t find any signs of restlessness in him. I asked for leave and he again stopped me for touching his feet by holding my hands in the air.”

“Was I impressed? Yes, I was, I won’t deny. He did not made a slightest effort to convince me of his point of view, instead, he created a feeling in me that they are open hearted to listen or understand any ideology. I accepted the invitation of visiting Nagpur and take stock of actual situation myself. Maybe I could make him agree for accepting of Hindu-Muslim unity as RSS’s missions or may be this could only be a wishful thinking of an innocent Sardar.”

Above mentioned words are of – India’s famous weekly magazine ‘Illustrated Weekly’ ‘s that time editor Sardar Khuswant Singh, who interviewed RSS Chief Shri MS Golwalkar or Guruji (as millions of people used to call him) on 17th November 1972 at Mumbai.


I am around 32 days late to put that account of experience of a famous reporter here on my page but its not at all that much belated as the nation is celebrating Guruji’s birth century this year. I would try to put more about that great visionary as my tribute to him, who lived every tiny second of his last 33 years of his life for our nation “Bharatvarsh”.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Yes, we all make some preconceived notions, and when the come down - its so refreshing