Friday 31 December 2021

Swaraj Amrit Mahotsav : IIT Kharagpur Grads Help 1 Lakh Homes Cut Power Bills by 40%

IIT Kharagpur graduates Pranesh Chaudhary and Sushant Sachan are the founders of Zunpulse, a sustainable startup that helps 1 lakh households save energy through smart utilisation of electrical appliances.


When Pranesh Chaudhary and Sushant Sachan were growing up during the 1990s in Muzaffarpur and Kanpur, respectively, discussions at home were dominated by the lack of regular electricity supply and long power cuts. But this didn't deter the two from obtaining admission into the Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur in 2005. (Above image of Sushant Sachan on the left and Pranesh Chaudhary on the right: They're helping homes cut their power bills.)

Their journey as IITians marked the start of their 16-year friendship. After graduating, they pursued their respective corporate careers until Pranesh decided to leave his job in London and return home.

Before long the duo reconciled and in June 2016 they incorporated their startup Zunpulse, which today helps 1 lakh households save energy through smart utilisation of electrical appliances. They also established ZunRoof Solar Systems, which provides solar energy and Internet of Things (IoT) smart energy solutions.

"As we made our way through the corporate world, other friends of ours were establishing their startups. When we got together to contemplate running a startup, we realised that electricity is a sector which we feel very strongly about. Besides regular access, we believe that electricity supply and consumption are things households shouldn't have to worry about. For example, if you're an upper-middle-class resident living in Bengaluru, Gurugram or Mumbai, you don't even think about these issues. But we need to fix the supply and consumption of electricity in Indian homes. It can't just be about supply, but consumption as well," Pranesh tells The Better India.

Once households have a dependable supply of electricity, it's imperative to ensure that it's consumed in the right and smart way and not wasted away. That is where smart energy monitoring and smart electrical appliances became Zunpulse's focus areas. Although they have a range of products in this line, Pranesh suggests a couple of smart appliances which operate utilising the IoT and machine learning to save on your power bill.

"All told if you get your hands on our smart energy monitor, smart fan and smart plugs for your geyser and air-conditioner, you will start seeing a reduction of 40% to 50% in your electricity bills straight away with a one-time purchase of less than Rs 10,000," he claims.

Saving Energy At Your Fingertips

Zunpulse divides its smart appliances into four categories. What binds them is that they all operate through the Zunpulse app and require a regular Wi-Fi internet connection.

Lighting: They have smart bulbs, smart downlights and smart strip lights, where along with having the ability to remotely switch on and off, consumers also have the ability to change their colours (approximately 16 million colour options) and offer mood lighting depending on the occasion whether it's a party with friends or reading a book.

"We've attached these lifestyle elements to these devices because you can't force-feed energy efficiency to people. It's imperative to cater to their needs. If you've forgotten to switch off the lights, all you need to do is get on the app and switch them off. You can also schedule these appliances to switch on or off automatically at a given time through the app," says Sushant.

Control is the most important category in the Indian context. These are smart plugs and smart remotes, which allow consumers to convert their older appliances into smart ones. After all, it's sometimes not practical to get rid of your old appliances and go all in on an IoT-based smart system. You would want a way to convert these old appliances into smart ones as well.

These are retrofit products for Indian homes for a lack of a better word. This is where Zunpulse's smart plug and remote come into play. The smart plug looks like any normal three-pin plug that any of us use. You take the smart plug, insert it into the socket and attach your geyser or AC plug to it. The smart plug pairs with the Zunpulse app, and then it gives you all the control over the geyser. You can remotely switch the geyser on and off through our app or you can schedule it to switch on at a given time. For example, you can schedule your geyser to run from 8 am to 8.10 am every morning, following which it automatically switches off.

You don't have to think about manually doing them. Besides energy savings, the task at hand is already done for you. Similarly, their smart remote allows you to control your AC or TVs.

With regards to ACs, for example, through the app, you can schedule it to run at a certain temperature for a given period of time, following which it runs at a higher temperature or switches off altogether. Another product under their 'Control' category is the smart brushless DC (BLDC) fan. By the very fact that it uses a brushless DC motor, it consumes 40% less electricity than conventional fans. Once again, you can use the app to control the speed of the fan. Three weeks ago, they launched our smart water heaters in the Delhi-NCR region.

"That completes our home portfolio. We have a smart doorbell, camera, lock and security sensor, which addresses security requirements," says Pranesh.

The smart energy monitor, which is installed next to your electricity meter, reads your appliance level energy consumption every 30 seconds. For example, if you consume 5.7 kWh of power in a day, it will tell you how much your AC in your parent's bedroom is consuming. This was the first IoT-based product Sushant and Pranesh made.

"Starting out, we installed this smart monitoring system for free in about 30 apartments in Gurugram to train our software and keep the costs low. Instead of reading the metre every millisecond, we decided to go with a 30-second interval to lower the cost of sensors and data transfer. In this experiment, we wrote machine learning algorithms to find out appliance level power consumption. Our product was not initially met with great fanfare because not everybody wakes up each day thinking about their bill. We will have to find use cases that will impress the homeowner/end user and then save electricity in the back end," says Pranesh.

Today, this product is accepted widely by small hotels, residential homes, paying guest accommodation owners and electric vehicle startups. They also have smart air purifiers and smart water purifiers in the product list as well which work on the same principle as the rest.

Besides the smart lock, the rest of Zunpulse's products are plug and play devices. Among the plethora of products, what does a household need to save on their power bills?

"For an Indian middle-class household to attain some electricity saving, they need to start with the smart energy monitor. Each home only needs one such monitor. Research by a couple of startups in the United States and Germany suggests that if you closely monitor electricity consumption using smart energy monitoring, your power bill comes down by about 20%. Next is our smart fan, which we are on the cusp of launching in January 2022. Finally, I would go with the smart plug and remote for your geyser and AC. These appliances are the biggest energy guzzlers in Indian homes since most don't have dishwashers or use microwaves/ovens for a long time. If required, you can add more products to the list," claims Pranesh.

Raising Funds & Running a Business

Thus far, Zunpulse has raised four rounds of funding. The first two were angel rounds, while the other two were institutional. The first angel round of funding came from Pranesh and Sushant's IIT-KGP seniors, which is a great network to leverage when starting up.

The next angel round of funding came courtesy Intellecap Impact Investment Network (I3N or I-cube-N), a global network of impact investors, led by Pradeep Tharakan, the Principal Energy Specialist (Climate Change) at the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Gaurav Gupta, Dalberg's Regional Director for Asia, and Ramakant Sharma, founder of Livespace.

These angel investors and their cohort of friends funded Zunpulse from 2016 to 2018. In 2019 and 2020, they raised two follow-on rounds from Godrej Family Fund led by Pirojsha Godrej, Executive Chairman, Godrej Properties.

"In these two rounds combined, they've put in close to USD 4 million of equity into our venture. Since our inception, we have raised about USD 5 million in equity funding. Business, meanwhile, is on a solid footing. In our last financial year, we did about Rs 41crore in revenue, and this year we will look to close on a very strong footing," claims Pranesh.
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कथा : विवेकानन्द केन्द्र { Katha : Vivekananda Kendra }
Vivekananda Rock Memorial & Vivekananda Kendra : http://www.vivekanandakendra.org
Read n Get Articles, Magazines, Books @ http://prakashan.vivekanandakendra.org

Let's work on "Swamiji's Vision - Eknathji's Mission"

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मुक्तसंग्ङोऽनहंवादी धृत्युत्साहसमन्वित:।
सिद्ध‌‌यसिद्धयोर्निर्विकार: कर्ता सात्त्विक उच्यते ॥१८.२६॥

Freed from attachment, non-egoistic, endowed with courage and enthusiasm and unperturbed by success or failure, the worker is known as a pure (Sattvika) one. Four outstanding and essential qualities of a worker. - Bhagwad Gita : XVIII-26

Thursday 30 December 2021

Swaraj Amrit Mahotsav : Saudi Arabia's new curriculum to include Ramayana, Mahabharata

As part of the Vision 2030 of the Saudi Prince, other significant elements of Indian culture like yoga and Ayurveda apart from the Ramayana and Mahabharata will also be included in the school curriculum, according to media reports.

A tweet about Prince Mohammed bin Salman's new vision for the education sector in Saudi Arabia, Vision 2030, involving the history and culture of different countries in the country's curriculum, has gone viral.

The tweet by Nouf Almarwaai included screenshots of son's social studies exam with questions about Hinduism, Buddhism and Hindu epics the Ramayana and Mahabharata. "Saudi Arabia's new #vision2030 & curriculum will help to create a coexistent,moderate & tolerant generation. Screenshots of my son's school exam today in Social Studies included concepts & history of Hinduism, Buddhism,Ramayana, Karma, Mahabharata Dharma. I enjoyed helping him study," the tweet, with the screenshots of the question paper, read.

As part of the Vision 2030 of the Saudi Prince, other significant elements of Indian culture like yoga and Ayurveda apart from the Ramayana and Mahabharata will also be included in the school curriculum, according to media reports. The English language has also been made mandatory under the new vision, the reports claimed.

Nouf, who is also a Padma Shri awardee for being the first certified yoga instructor in Saudi Arabia, tweeted about the new curriculum on April 15. Since then, the tweet has been doing rounds on social media platforms for the diversity in curriculum adopted by the Islamic state. The tweet was also appreciated and retweeted by Rajya Sabha MP Dr Vinay Sahasrabuddhe. Nouf, who was born with an autoimmune disease, has been known to play a crucial role in legalising yoga in Saudi Arabia.

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कथा : विवेकानन्द केन्द्र { Katha : Vivekananda Kendra }
Vivekananda Rock Memorial & Vivekananda Kendra : http://www.vivekanandakendra.org
Read n Get Articles, Magazines, Books @ http://prakashan.vivekanandakendra.org



Let's work on "Swamiji's Vision - Eknathji's Mission"

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मुक्तसंग्ङोऽनहंवादी धृत्युत्साहसमन्वित:।
सिद्ध‌‌यसिद्धयोर्निर्विकार: कर्ता सात्त्विक उच्यते ॥१८.२६॥

Freed from attachment, non-egoistic, endowed with courage and enthusiasm and unperturbed by success or failure, the worker is known as a pure (Sattvika) one. Four outstanding and essential qualities of a worker. - Bhagwad Gita : XVIII-26

Wednesday 29 December 2021

Swaraj Amrit Mahotsav : Sudha Murthy- An Iconic Women




O India! Forget not that the ideal of thy womanhood is Sita, Savitri, Damayanti. - Swami Vivekananda

An eminent writer in English and Kannada, born on 19 August 1950, Sudha Murthy is a Social Worker. She worked with many organizations for the welfare of the common man. She was popular for her benevolent work through Infosys Foundation.

She works toward the betterment of the society and rural development. She aims to provide the government aided schools with computer education and library facilities. Apart from all her social works, she even taught Computer Science. She is also a renowned author of many fiction novels. She is also a member of healthcare initiatives of the Gates Foundations.

Early Life– Sudha Kulkarni Murthy

Sudha Kulkarni Murthy was born to Dr. R.H. Kulkarni and Vimala Kulkarni in Shiggaon, Karnataka. Sudha Murthy had done her BE in Electrical Engineering from B.V.B College of Engineering and Technology. She was the only girl student of his college which is having 599 male students. She obtained first in her class and received the gold medal from the then Karnataka Chief Minister, Sri Devaraj Urs.

After completing her studies, she pursued M.E. in Computer Science from the Indian Institute of Science. She obtained the gold medal from the Indian Institute of Engineers for coming first.

The first female engineer – Career graph of Sudha Murthy

Mrs. Murthy became the first female engineer hired India's largest auto manufacturer TELCO (Tata Engineering and Locomotive Company) now Tata motors. She worked as Development Engineer in various locations like Pune, Mumbai, and Jamshedpur. She was the first lady engineer of the company and opened the door for all other women also.

She then worked as Senior System Analyst in Walchand group of Industries in Pune. After being in Pune from 1974- 1981, Sudha Murthy moved to Mumbai. Sudha Murthy had contributed her Rs. 10,000 savings to the firm Infosys, in the founding of the company.

In 1996 she started with the Infosys Foundation and continues to be a Trustee of Infosys Foundation. She still loves teaching hence pursue her interest in providing knowledge and training to students in PG Center of Bangalore University as Visiting Professor as well in taught in Christ College.

While working in TELCO in Pune, she met her soul mate Mr. Narayana Murthy and they got married. They have two kids Akshata and Rohan. She is the pillar for the success of Infosys Foundation. She is still associated with her husband to build up the company.

Social Commitments

Sudha Murthy is famous for many of philanthropist works.  She aims to empower women. She spreads the awareness of rural education, public hygiene, poverty alleviation and much more. She imbibes the need to maintain clean India, hence building up toilets for public. She has been passionate in helping people in flood affected areas too.

Being an Author, Mrs. Murthy has published many stories. Her writing had a flavor of common lives. She wrote on hospitality, her childhood, realizing views on donations and charity. Many of her Kannada books got translated into English and some got adapted into TV series.  Many of her works were children's series. Sudha Murthy is a bountiful fiction author in Kannada as well English. Most of her publications were through Penguin.

One of her famous work was the "How I taught my grandmother to read and other stories ". The book was translated into 15 other languages. It reflects her childhood association with her paternal grandparents. Her first novel titled House of Cards narrates the turmoil faced by the wife of a lucrative doctor.

She  is  the  chairperson  of  Infosys Foundation and has handled 13 national disasters in the last 23 years. She studied in a Kannada-medium school till the 10th standard and fell in love with the language. Her strong ties to the language and its people led her to establish more than 60,000 libraries in Karnataka. She also strongly believes in creating awareness for social causes and has passionately traveled the world for this purpose including universities  and  gatherings  in  USA,  Columbia,  Kuwait,  Saudi  Arabia,  Pakistan,  New  Zealand,  Australia,  England,  Thailand,  Vietnam,  China,  Tibet,  and  Singapore.  A  prolific  writer  in  English  and  Kannada,  her  books have been translated into all major Indian languages and have sold over 26 lakh copies around the country. She is a columnist for English and Kannada dailies with 30 books and more than 200 titles to her credit  –  including  novels,  non-fiction,  children's  books,  travelogues,  technical  books,  and  memoirs.  She  has  also  received  seven  honorary  doctorates.  Some  of  her  awards  include  the  R.K.  Narayan  Award  for  Literature,  the  Padma  Shri  in  2006,  the  Attimabbe  Award  from  the  government  of  Karnataka  for  excellence  in  Kannada  literature  in  2011,  and  most  recently,  the  Lifetime  Achievement  by  Crossword  Book Awards in 2018. She lives by the belief that "Generosity of a few is hope for millions".

From the start of her education, she had won many prestigious awards. Sudha Murthy got recognized for the Raja-Lakshmi award by the Sri Raja-Lakshmi Foundation in Chennai in 2004. She won the award for her outstanding performance is Social works. She won the Padma Shri, the fourth highest ranking official as per the Government of India and even obtained a doctorate for her publications.
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कथा : विवेकानन्द केन्द्र { Katha : Vivekananda Kendra }
Vivekananda Rock Memorial & Vivekananda Kendra : http://www.vivekanandakendra.org
Read n Get Articles, Magazines, Books @ http://prakashan.vivekanandakendra.org

Let's work on "Swamiji's Vision - Eknathji's Mission"

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मुक्तसंग्ङोऽनहंवादी धृत्युत्साहसमन्वित:।
सिद्ध‌‌यसिद्धयोर्निर्विकार: कर्ता सात्त्विक उच्यते ॥१८.२६॥

Freed from attachment, non-egoistic, endowed with courage and enthusiasm and unperturbed by success or failure, the worker is known as a pure (Sattvika) one. Four outstanding and essential qualities of a worker. - Bhagwad Gita : XVIII-26

Tuesday 28 December 2021

Swaraj Amrit Mahotsav : The Quantum Indians


In his lecture 'The Cosmos' Swami Vivekananda said:
At the beginning, the intelligence becomes involved; and in the end, that intelligence gets evolved. The sum total of the intelligence displayed in the universe must, therefore, be the involved universal intelligence unfolding itself. This universal intelligence is what we call God. Call it by any other name, it is absolutely certain that in the beginning there is that Infinite cosmic intelligence. This cosmic intelligence gets involved, and it manifests, evolves itself,until it becomes the perfect man, the ..........Then it goes back to its own source. That is why all the scriptures say, 'In Him we live and move and have our being.' That is why all the scriptures preach that we come from God and go back to God.

This documentary won the prestigious National Film Award for the best educational film in 2013 in India. President Shri Pranab Mukharjee gave away this award in a glittering ceremony on 3rd May 2014.  It is an award for an extremely efficient and precise analysis of the contributions of three renowned scientists in a manner that not only educates today's generation but also provides insights into complex scientific phenomena in an accessible manner. At the turn of the 20th century, the world was witnessing a renaissance in the area of quantum physics through the work of great scientists such as Max Planck, Albert Einstein, Ernest Rutherford or Neils Bohr. Unknown to the world, three Indian scientists were also making significant contributions to the quantum world with revolutionary deductions, interpretations and theories.

Dr. Satyendra Nath Bose devised a statistical theory of counting photons - a revelation even to Albert Einstein -- that paved the way for the two great minds to work in tandem in formulating fundamental theories as the Bose-Einstein Statistics and Bose-Einstein Condensate. Boson, the class of particles that obey Bose-Einstein statistics, was named after Dr. S. N. Bose. Sir C. V. Raman gave the world what is known as the Raman effect, which redefined how we see light and colour. Another contemporary, Dr. Meghnad Saha produced an equation that explained stellar radiation and is regarded as one of the fathers of modern astrophysics. All the three scientists started their careers at the Calcutta University, became Fellows of the Royal Society, and Raman was the first and only Indian to be awarded the Nobel Prize for physics.

The film is a tribute to the three exemplary minds, the significance of whose contributions was of vital importance during that time, and even today with great strides being made in quantum physics, fibre optics, nuclear science or astrophysics. They were not only great scientists, but were rooted to the social and political realities of the time and dedicated their lives to modern science in India. Along with being institutions by themselves, they built stellar institutions in the country that inspired many great scientists of the following generations.

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कथा : विवेकानन्द केन्द्र { Katha : Vivekananda Kendra }
Vivekananda Rock Memorial & Vivekananda Kendra : http://www.vivekanandakendra.org
Read n Get Articles, Magazines, Books @ http://prakashan.vivekanandakendra.org


Let's work on "Swamiji's Vision - Eknathji's Mission"

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मुक्तसंग्ङोऽनहंवादी धृत्युत्साहसमन्वित:।
सिद्ध‌‌यसिद्धयोर्निर्विकार: कर्ता सात्त्विक उच्यते ॥१८.२६॥

Freed from attachment, non-egoistic, endowed with courage and enthusiasm and unperturbed by success or failure, the worker is known as a pure (Sattvika) one. Four outstanding and essential qualities of a worker. - Bhagwad Gita : XVIII-26

Monday 27 December 2021

Swaraj Amrit Mahotsav : Lance Naik Albert Ekka


Lance Naik Albert Ekka, was born on 27 December 1942 in Zari Village in Gumla district of  Bihar (now Jharkhand). Son of Sri Julius Ekka and Smt Mariam Ekka, he was adventurous by nature and always nursed the idea of joining the Indian Army. His dream turned into reality when he joined the army on 27th Dec 1962 at the age of 2o years. He was recruited into 14th Battalion of Brigade of the Guards, a mechanized infantry regiment known for its fearless soldiers and various battle exploits.  He was a keen sportsman and excelled in various games, especially hockey.

By 1971, Lance Naik Albert Ekka had put in about 9 years of service and had served in numerous counter insurgency operations in the North East region. When the 1971 Indo-Pak war broke out, Lance Naik Albert Ekka's unit got involved in the battle of Gangasagar, which was very crucial in paving the way for the advance of Indian Armed Forces towards their target in Bangladesh.

Indo Pak War: 03 Dec 1971

During the Indo-Pak War in 1971, the 14 Guards was dispatched to capture a Pakistani position at Gangasagar about 6 Kms west of Agartala in Brahmanbarhia district of what was then East Pakistan. It was located on a major railway link to Dhaka and owing to its strategic position was well-fortified position and was heavily mined too. But this position was critical to the Indian Army for the capture of Akhaura on the way to Dhaka.

So 14 Guards launched an attack on enemy positions at on the night of 03 December 1971. Lance Naik Albert Ekka went with the left forward company of the battalion in the attack. The Indian troops were subjected to intense shelling and small arms fire by the enemy. Lance Naik Ekka spotted an enemy light machine gun firing from a bunker causing heavy casualties. Unmindful of personal safety, he charged at the bunker, bayoneted two soldiers and captured the bunker post. He was seriously injured in the exchange, but that did not stop him. Epitomizing the motto of his regiment, the Brigade of the Guards, "Pahla Hamesha Pahla" meaning ,"First Always First", he continued his advance with his company, securing bunker after bunker.

Soon, they reached the northern end of their objective. An enemy medium machine gun opened fire on them, inflicting heavy casualties and once again, Lance Naik Ekka rose to the occasion and threw a grenade into the bunker and bayoneted the remaining enemies, and silenced the weapon. Although grievously injured in these close encounters Lance Naik Albert Ekka continued to pursue the objectives of his company relentlessly. His daring action helped his company in successfully driving the enemy away from Gangasagar. The fall of Gangasagar forced the enemy to vacate Akhaura and consequently the Indian troops soon were on their victorious march towards Dhaka.

Lance Naik Albert Ekka was martyred and his heroic action in the battle of Gangasagar changed the course of the war in India's favour. Lance Naik Albert Ekka was given the nation's highest gallantry award, "Param Vir Chakra" for his cold courage, unyielding fighting spirit and supreme sacrifice. He is survived by his wife Balamdina Ekka and son Vincent.

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कथा : विवेकानन्द केन्द्र { Katha : Vivekananda Kendra }
Vivekananda Rock Memorial & Vivekananda Kendra : http://www.vivekanandakendra.org
Read n Get Articles, Magazines, Books @ http://prakashan.vivekanandakendra.org



Let's work on "Swamiji's Vision - Eknathji's Mission"

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मुक्तसंग्ङोऽनहंवादी धृत्युत्साहसमन्वित:।
सिद्ध‌‌यसिद्धयोर्निर्विकार: कर्ता सात्त्विक उच्यते ॥१८.२६॥

Freed from attachment, non-egoistic, endowed with courage and enthusiasm and unperturbed by success or failure, the worker is known as a pure (Sattvika) one. Four outstanding and essential qualities of a worker. - Bhagwad Gita : XVIII-26


Sunday 26 December 2021

Swaraj Amrit Mahotsav : तु में एक रक्त - Balasaheb Deshpande



Shri Ramakant Keshav Deshpande alias Balasaheb Deshpande was born on 26th December 1913 (Margashirsh krushna 14 shake 1835) in Amaravati, Maharashtra.

His primary education was in Sagar in Madhya Pradesh as well as in Akola and Narsingpur in Maharashtra. He passed his matriculation examination from Kashi Hindu Vidyapith. He acquired Bachelor's degree in arts (B. A.) in 1935 and later got degree in law in 1937 before starting his law practice. He further did his masters in arts in 1938. (M. A.)

Balasaheb Deshpande had a very active role in freedom struggle. After independence, he got opportunity to work as a Regional co-ordinator for state department for welfare of backward communities at Jashpur in Madhya Pradesh. It was vision of Thakkar Bappa who feared anti national movement in Jashpur that Balasaheb was asked to take appropriate responsibility. After sad and sudden demise of respected Thakkar Bappa, Shri Deshpande left government job and resumed his law practice. Shri Deshpande had several occasions to have fruitful interaction with Sarsanghchalak, revered Guruji and during one such interaction idea was mooted to establish a dedicated institution for Vanavasis.

Accordingly on 26th December 1952 which happened to be birthday of Shri Deshpande,  Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram (VKA) was founded in Jashpur. Royal family of Jashpur patronised VKA's mission right from its inception. In 4 years of its setting up, VKA received acclaim of then Honourable President of India Dr. Rajendraprasad during a convention held at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

VKA work which started in Jashpur, Madhya Pradesh, soon extended to nearby states like Bihar and Orissa. Emergency declared in 1975 appeared like a setback and an administrator was appointed for VKA while Shri Deshpande and many others were jailed. But emergency proved to be boon in disguise as VKA extended its operation to the entire country soon after emergency was called off. In 1981 VKA operations extended further to include all 7 north eastern states.

It was vision of Shri Deshpande that on the birthdate of Swami Vivekanand on 12th January 1987, it was decided to institute a sports event 'Eklavya Khelkud'. Hitraksha – protection of rights – has been one of the main purpose (Ayam) pursued by VKA. This work also started during tenure of Balasaheb Deshpande.


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कथा : विवेकानन्द केन्द्र { Katha : Vivekananda Kendra }
Vivekananda Rock Memorial & Vivekananda Kendra : http://www.vivekanandakendra.org
Read n Get Articles, Magazines, Books @ http://prakashan.vivekanandakendra.org

Let's work on "Swamiji's Vision - Eknathji's Mission"

Follow Vivekananda Kendra on   blog   twitter   g+   facebook   rss   delicious   youtube   Donate Online

मुक्तसंग्ङोऽनहंवादी धृत्युत्साहसमन्वित:।
सिद्ध‌‌यसिद्धयोर्निर्विकार: कर्ता सात्त्विक उच्यते ॥१८.२६॥

Freed from attachment, non-egoistic, endowed with courage and enthusiasm and unperturbed by success or failure, the worker is known as a pure (Sattvika) one. Four outstanding and essential qualities of a worker. - Bhagwad Gita : XVIII-26

Friday 24 December 2021

Swaraj Amrit Mahotsav : India’s industrial revolution


The Indian Institute of Science gave rise to many industries, some of which are still around. Its scientists were instrumental in setting up and leading many of independent India's PSUs. It also counts among the world's leading institutions of scientific researchIn1893, a monk and an industrialist – Swami Vivekananda and JamsetjiNusserwanji Tata – met on the steamship 'Empress of India' enroute from Japan to Chicago. Their conversation sowed the seeds ofIndian Institute of Science (IISc) in Tata's mind."Ivery much recall at this moment your views on the growth of the ascetic spirit in India, and the duty, not of destroying, but of diverting it into useful channels. I recall these ideas in connection with my scheme of a Research Institute of Science for India, of which you have doubtless heard or read," Tata wrote to Vivekananda onNovember 23, 1898. By then, he had constituted a ProvisionalCommittee under the leadership of Burjorji Padshah, who would go onto become a central character in the setting up of IISc.Padshah,who had visited many countries to understand how universities function, wrote after his tour: "...such a university might be the crown of the existing universities." He noted that the presence of a large number of young Indians at Oxford, Cambridge and other colleges and hospitals in London and Edinburgh demonstrated the demand for postgraduate education, mostly because "European degrees have a money value superior to that of Indian degrees; but the difference in the money value is itself the result of the difference sin educational efficiency."Thecommittee, on December 31, 1898, presented a draft to viceroy-designate Lord Curzon. Services of Sir William Ramsay, aNobel laureate, were sought to pick the institute's setting.Bengaluru – where it still stands on a campus of 400-plus acres –was chosen because of the city's good climate. Next, SriKrishnaraja Wodeyar IV, the maharaja of Mysore, donated more than 371acres. Viceroy Lord Minto granted a formal approval for the institute, and the vesting order to enable it to function was signed on May 27, 1909.

Driver of industrialisation

At IISc's foundation ceremony in 1909, Wodeyar IV said, "The institute should make some provision for students, who, though they possess no capital, are likely to turn a scientific training into a useful account." The first batch was admitted on July 24, 1911, in the departments of general and applied chemistry headed by Norman Rudolf, and electro-technology under Alfred Ray.

From the start, IISc's focus has been on research and the institute has featured in national and international rankings over the years. In 1913, Sir M Visvesvaraya, the dewan of Mysore, was nominated to its Council. He urged researchers to carry out studies that would realise his dream of an industrialised Mysore. "His association had an immediate impact on the nature of research," IISc says. "In five years, six factories were started as a direct result of the investigations carried out here: an acetone factory in Nashik; a thymol factory in Hyderabad (Sind); a factory to make straw boards from bamboo in Bengaluru, a soap factory in Bengaluru, and sandalwood oil factories in Bengaluru and Mysore." The success of the sandalwood oil and soap factories made sandalwood and its products synonymous with Karnataka.

Nursery of institutes

Prof P Balaram, IISc director from 2005 to 2014, told TOI: "In the 1940s, when World War-II ended, it was clear that you needed a lot of technology in India. And many engineering departments at IISc were started in the 40s and 50s. These came much before the IITs. In fact, people from here went on to create many other institutes and programmes."

During WW-II, IISc contributed by training personnel, manufacturing military and industrial goods, and collaborating with Hindustan Aircraft Limited (now Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) to repair and maintain British and American warplanes. "This period saw an expansion of research in engineering, and new departments such as those of Aeronautical Engineering, Metallurgy, and Mechanical Engineering were added," IISc says.

Between the 60s and the early 80s, under director Satish Dhawan, IISc's research areas grew to include materials science, computer science and automation, molecular biophysics, and interdisciplinary work under the Centre for Theoretical Studies, which eventually led to the formation of other centres in ecology, atmospheric and oceanic sciences, and more.

The social impact of advancements in science was a key focus during this period, particularly under the Cell for Application of Science and Technology to Rural Areas (ASTRA), which continues today as the Centre for Sustainable Technologies.

Eminent minds

Dhawanis just one of the many big names associated with IISc. Its first director MW Travers was an associate of Sir William Ramsay. Three of its directors were knighted – Sir AG Bourne, Sir Martin O Fosterand Sir CV Raman, who also won a Nobel.IISccounts among its former students and faculty several eminentscientists like Homi J Bhabha, founder of India's nuclear programme, Vikram Sarabhai, founder of India's space programme,meteorologist Anna Mani, biochemist and nutrition expert KamalaSohonie, and solid state and materials scientist CNR Rao, to name a few."Oneof the most important things to come out of IISc is the people. While the contributions of Bhabha, Sarabhai and Dhawan are well known,there are many more," Balaram said, adding that IISc also played a key role in establishing other academic institutions, including theIITs and organisations like BARC and Isro."Immediatelyafter Independence, GN Ramachandran started the physics department inMadras University, S Ramaseshan started the department in IIT-M. PKKhelkhar started IIT-Bombay as project officer and then IIT-Kanpur as first director, while JC Ghosh was the first director ofIIT-Kharagpur," he added. Other prominent IISc-ians include Prof Roddam Narasimha, who conceivedIndia's Light Combat Aircraft, Tejas; Prof Rohini Godbole, a physicist with multiple international awards known for her work on the Higgs Boson (God Particle), for which physicists Francois Englertand Peter Higgs won the Nobel in 2013; CV Vishveshwara, who sepredictions nearly 50 years ago were credited by scientists from LIGOafter discovering gravitational waves for the first time, and VMGhatge.Balaramsaid all of India's PSUs in the initial years of Independence,including HAL and NAL, had people from IISc, and many institutions –NCBS, JNCASR, ICTS, to name a few – were conceived here as their founders were trained at IISc.

21st-century research

 Moving into the 21st century, IISc has set up an undergraduate programme, several new departments and centres in the areas of brain research, nanoscience and engineering, hypersonics and more, strengthened ties with industry, and incubated several startups. It has also expanded to include a 1500-acre campus at Challakere in Chitradurga district, Karnataka. It will soon start a medical course, something Padshah had conceived 123 years ago.

In 2015, Bharat Ratna Prof CNR Rao, one of IISc's directors (1984-1994) and a former scientific advisor to the PM, had told TOI: "IISc is the only one in India with the potential of matching the MITs and Harvards."

Today, IISc has more than 40 departments/labs offering PhD and integrated PhD programmes, several master's programmes and a four-year BSc (research) programme. It has dozens of active patents and several tie-ups with industries taking its research into the market while more than 20,000 students have graduated from it over the years. It has become more conscious about translating research into products and has helped host a lot of companies. AstraZeneca, a pharma MNC, began its operations at IISc. "...Wipro's first operation, too, was at IISc. Many of these things are not acknowledged," Balaram said.

The institute, through SID (Society of Innovation and Development), incubates a host of startups in deep science, including those that have won the National Startup Awards.

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कथा : विवेकानन्द केन्द्र { Katha : Vivekananda Kendra }
Vivekananda Rock Memorial & Vivekananda Kendra : http://www.vivekanandakendra.org
Read n Get Articles, Magazines, Books @ http://prakashan.vivekanandakendra.org

Let's work on "Swamiji's Vision - Eknathji's Mission"

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मुक्तसंग्ङोऽनहंवादी धृत्युत्साहसमन्वित:।
सिद्ध‌‌यसिद्धयोर्निर्विकार: कर्ता सात्त्विक उच्यते ॥१८.२६॥

Freed from attachment, non-egoistic, endowed with courage and enthusiasm and unperturbed by success or failure, the worker is known as a pure (Sattvika) one. Four outstanding and essential qualities of a worker. - Bhagwad Gita : XVIII-26

Thursday 23 December 2021

Swadesh Mantra : स्वदेश मन्त्र, Aarti Bharat Mata Ki, Vande Mataram


Tomorrow begins the Samartha Bharat Parva.

25 Dec - Swami ji took Sanyas Diksha on this very day in 1886 renouncing everything for good of others

25 Dec - Swami ji began his 3 days-meditation on rock in mid sea off Kanyakumari shore in 1892 to know the way of rejuvenation of Mother Bharat

We all begin Samartha Bharat Parva tomorrow till 12 January.

Let us chant this 'Swadesh Mantra' and make it part of our life.

Let us sing 'Vande Mataram' thinking on the meaning of the expressions in it and making it part of our life.

And every day also do Sampark with some people taking 'Vivekananda Shila Smarak : Ek Bharat Vijayi Bharat' - inspring story of Vivekananda Shila Smarak, the work Vivekananda Kendra is doing and the eternal message of Swami Vivekananda. 

हे भारत !

केवल दूसरों की हाँ में हाँ में हाँ मिलाकर, दूसरों की इस क्षूद्र नक़ल के द्वारा, दूसरों का ही मुँह ताकते रहकर........ क्या तू इसी पाथेय के सहारे, सभ्यता और महानता के चरम शिखर पर चढ़ सकेगा?
क्या तू अपनी इस लज्जास्पद कायरता के द्वारा उस स्वाधीनता को प्राप्त कर सकेगा जिसे पाने के अधिकारी केवल साहसी और वीर है?

हे भारत !

मत भूल, तेरे नारीत्व का आदर्श सीता, सावित्री और दमयन्ती है।
मत भूल कि तेरे उपास्यदेव देवाधिदेव सर्वस्वत्यागी, उमापति शंकर है।
मत भूल कि तेरा विवाह, तेरी धन-संपत्ति, तेरा जीवन केवल विषय- सुख के हेतु नहीं है, केवल तेरे व्यक्तिगत सुखोपभोग के लिए नहीं है।
मत भूल कि तू माता के चरणों में बलि चढ़ने के लिए ही पैदा हुआ हैं। मत भूल कि तेरी समाज - व्यवस्था उस अनन्त जगज्जननी महामाया की छाया मात्र हैं।
मत भूल कि नीच, अज्ञानी, दरिद्र, अनपढ़, चमार, मेहतर सब तेरे रक्त मांस के है, वे सब तेरे भाई है।

ओ वीर पुरुष !
साहस बटोर, निर्भीक बन और गर्व कर कि तू भारतवासी है। गर्व से घोषणा कर कि "मैं भारतवासी हूँ, प्रत्येक भारतवासी मेरा भाई है। " मुख से बोल, "अज्ञानी भारतवासी, दरिद्र और पीड़ित भारतवासी, ब्राह्मण भारतवासी, चाण्डाल भारतवासी सभी मेरे भाई है।" तू भी एक चिथड़े से अपने तन की लज्जा को ढँक ले और गर्वपूर्वक उच्च-स्वर से उद्धोष कर, "प्रत्येक भारतवासी मेरा भाई है, भारतवासी मेरे प्राण हैं, भारत के देवी-देवता मेरे ईश्वर है। भारत का समाज मेरे बचपन का झूला, मेरे यौवन की फुलवारी और मेरे बुढ़ापे की काशी है।"

मेरे भाई, कह : "भारत की मिटटी मेरा स्वर्ग है, भारत के कल्याण में ही मेरा कल्याण है।"
अहोरात्र जपा कर, "हे गौरीनाथ ! हे जगदम्बे ! मुझे मनुष्यत्व दो। हे शक्तिमयी माँ ! मेरी दुर्बलता को हर लो; मेरी कापुरुषता को दूर भगा दो और मुझे मनुष्य बना दो, माँ !"

~ स्वामी विवेकानन्द
O India! With this mere echoing of others, with this base imitation of others, with this dependence on others, this slavish weakness, this vile detestable cruelty -- wouldst thou, with these provisions only, scale the highest pinnacle of civilisation and greatness? Wouldst thou attain, by means of thy disgraceful cowardice, that freedom deserved only by the brave and the heroic?

O India! Forget not that the ideal of thy womanhood is Sita, Savitri, Damayanti;

Forget not that the God thou worshippest is the great Ascetic of ascetics, the all-renouncing Shankara, the Lord of Uma;

Forget not that thy marriage, thy wealth, thy life are not for sense-pleasure, are not for thy individual personal happiness;

Forget not that thou art born as a sacrifice to the Mother's altar;

Forget not that thy social order is but the reflex of the Infinite Universal Motherhood;

Forget not that the lower classes, the ignorant, the poor, the illiterate, the cobbler, the sweeper, are thy flesh and blood, thy brothers.

Thou brave one, be bold, take courage, be proud that thou art an Indian, and proudly proclaim, " I am an Indian, every Indian is my brother. " Say, " The ignorant Indian, the poor and destitute Indian, the Brahmin Indian, the Pariah Indian, is my brother. "

Thou, too, clad with but a rag round thy loins proudly proclaim at the top of thy voice: " The Indian is my brother, the Indian is my life, India's gods and goddesses are my God. India's society is the cradle of my infancy, the pleasure-garden of my youth, the sacred heaven, the Varanasi of my old age. "

Say, brother; " The soil of India is my highest heaven, the good of India is my good, " and repeat and pray day and night, " O Thou Lord of Gauri, O Thou Mother of the Universe, vouchsafe manliness unto me! O Thou Mother of Strength, take away my weakness, take away my unmanliness, and make me a Man! "

-Swami Vivekananda

[ The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Vol. 4 [Page:479], MODERN INDIA ]
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कथा : विवेकानन्द केन्द्र { Katha : Vivekananda Kendra }
Vivekananda Rock Memorial & Vivekananda Kendra : http://www.vivekanandakendra.org
Read n Get Articles, Magazines, Books @ http://prakashan.vivekanandakendra.org

Let's work on "Swamiji's Vision - Eknathji's Mission"

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मुक्तसंग्ङोऽनहंवादी धृत्युत्साहसमन्वित:।
सिद्ध‌‌यसिद्धयोर्निर्विकार: कर्ता सात्त्विक उच्यते ॥१८.२६॥

Freed from attachment, non-egoistic, endowed with courage and enthusiasm and unperturbed by success or failure, the worker is known as a pure (Sattvika) one. Four outstanding and essential qualities of a worker. - Bhagwad Gita : XVIII-26

Sunday 7 November 2021

Swaraj Amrit Mahotsav - वन्दे मातरम्


'Vande Mataram' is well known as the National Song of our country. Utterance of the words 'Vande Mataram' gave freedom fighters and the common public the strength to withstand lathi blows on their heads and whiplashes on their open bodies. It was these words themselves that made the English rage with anger. Curzon's chela, i.e. the Governor of Bengal had imposed a legal ban on uttering the words 'Vande Mataram'. This ban resulted in 'Vande Mataram' getting nationwide importance. It became a National Mahamantra.

Written by: Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Written on: November 7, 1875, Published on: 1882, Music by: Jadunath Bhattacharya, Raga: Desh, Translated to English by: Sri Aurobindo Ghosh, First publication of translated version on: November 20, 1909,  First Performed on: 1896,  First Performed by: Rabindranath Tagore

The national Mahamantra Bankimchandra wrote the song 'Vande Mataram' on 7th November, 1875.This lunar day was Kartik Shukla Navami! This song had been published in the novel 'Anandmath' by Bankimchandra. The said book contains information about the violent revolt of Sanyasis against injustice inflicted by Muslims and the British in Bengal in the year 1772.

In the year 1905, Lord Curzon declared the division of Bengal. Whole of Bengal revolted furiously in order to revoke this division. These two words encompassed the whole of Bengal. It was these words themselves that made the English rage with anger. Curzon's chela, i.e. the Governor of Bengal had imposed a legal ban on uttering the words 'Vande Mataram'. This ban resulted in 'Vande Mataram' getting nationwide importance. It became a National Mahamantra.

It became the favorite word of the freedom fighters. On 6th August 1906, a daily newspaper was brought out in the name 'Vande Mataram'. Any program related to the freedom struggle would be concluded only after saying 'Vande Mataram'. The National Flag decided upon by Sister Nivedita at the Kolkata Congress and the one hoisted by Madam Cama at the International Communist Conference held in Germany had these words boldly encrypted on it in the Devanagari script. The sessions of the All India Congress would start with the song 'Vande Mataram'.

Utterance of these words gave freedom fighters and the common public the strength to withstand lathi blows on their heads and whiplashes on their open bodies. In 1905, the 21st session of the Congress was held at Varanasi (Benaras). During this session, the famed Bengali poetess and singer Sarladevi Chaudhurani sang the entire 'Vande Mataram'. Nowadays, we just sing the first stanza of 'Vande Mataram'.



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कथा : विवेकानन्द केन्द्र { Katha : Vivekananda Kendra }
Vivekananda Rock Memorial & Vivekananda Kendra : http://www.vivekanandakendra.org
Read n Get Articles, Magazines, Books @ http://prakashan.vivekanandakendra.org

Let's work on "Swamiji's Vision - Eknathji's Mission"

Follow Vivekananda Kendra on   blog   twitter   g+   facebook   rss   delicious   youtube   Donate Online

मुक्तसंग्ङोऽनहंवादी धृत्युत्साहसमन्वित:।
सिद्ध‌‌यसिद्धयोर्निर्विकार: कर्ता सात्त्विक उच्यते ॥१८.२६॥

Freed from attachment, non-egoistic, endowed with courage and enthusiasm and unperturbed by success or failure, the worker is known as a pure (Sattvika) one. Four outstanding and essential qualities of a worker. - Bhagwad Gita : XVIII-26

Friday 5 November 2021

Swaraj Amrit Mahotsav - Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das

A Timeless Symbol of Radiant Patriotism and Fiery Nationalism
 
 


Among the famous men who shaped the destiny of the Indian struggle for freedom, Chittaranjan Das ranks as one of the most outstanding and prominent patriots who sacrificed his all for the country's cause. His countrymen hailed him as a 'Deshbandhu' (Friend of the Country) because he declared in 1905: "If I die in this work of winning freedom, I believe I shall be born in this country again and again, live for it, hope for it, work for it with all the energy of my life, with all the love of my nature till I see the fulfilment of my hope and the realisation of this idea".


Chittaranjan Das (C R Das) (5 Nov 1870-1925), a landmark figure in the history of India's struggle for freedom, was indeed an 'Apostle of Indian Nationalism'. A political leader, lawyer, poet and journalist, C R Das, was born on November 15, 1870 in Calcutta. He was the eldest son of Bhuban Mohan Das and Nistarini Devi. The Das family was one of the most distinguished and cultured in Bengal and belonged to that sect of reformed Hindus known as the 'Brahmo Samaj'. Bhuban Mohan Das was a solicitor by profession and an amateur journalist and poet. It is not therefore surprising that Chittaranjan Das's journalistic and poetic leanings were inherited from his father.


After completing his school education at the London Missionary Society's school at Calcutta, C R Das joined the Presidency College and took the Bachelors Degree from Calcutta University in 1890. Even as a student, C R Das was greatly influenced by the political ideals of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee. In Presidency College, Calcutta, C R Das was a leading figure of the Students Association and from and from Surendranath Banerjee he took his first lessons in public service and elocution. In 1891, he went to England to take the Indian Civil Service Examination and failed to qualify. He joined the Middle Temple to study Law and was called to the Bar in 1892. During his stay in England he made several political speeches, notably in support of the Parliamentary candidature of Dadabhoy Naoroji, the first Indian to be elected to the House of Commons.


C R Das returned to India in 1893 and commenced his practice as a Barrister in the High Court of Calcutta. But for many years he had little success. From 1893 to 1906, C R Das and his family went through a period of acute financial trouble. Both C R Das and his father Bhuban Mohan Das were financially ruined and had to seek the relief of the Insolvency Court in 1906. What is amazing is that as soon as his circumstances permitted it, C R Das took the unusual procedure of applying for the annulment of the Insolvency Order and paid back the entire amount of his and his father's debts. The debts had become time barred, but C R Das considered himself under a moral obligation to repay them. This act of exemplary honesty, which has very few parallels in any country, is one of the many instances of the magnanimity and large-heartedness that C R Das showed in all matters connected with money throughout his life. It made a tremendous impression on undivided Bengal and was widely appreciated all over the country.

From 1893 to 1906, the chief event of CR Das's life was his marriage in 1897 to Basanti Devi (1878-1974). She was an extraordinary woman and became a matriarch figure in the freedom movement. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose regarded her as 'Ma' or 'mother'.
 
CR Das was a distinguished Bengali poet. He established his reputation as a great poet in 1913 after the publication of the first two volumes of his poems 'Malancha' and the 'Mala'. According to many literary critics, CR Das has an abiding place in Bengali literature.

In 1913, learning that Sri Aurobindo in self imposed exile in Pondicherry was in dire financial need, Deshbandhu Chittranjan Das offered him Rs. 1000 in exchange for a translation of his Book of Poems called Sagar-Sangit (Sea-Songs). Sri Aurobindo agreed to translate the poems of CR Das into English and completed it in 1913 itself. This English translation of the poems of CR Das along with his other writings was, eventually was published, by Ganesh and Co., Madras, in 1923. 

Twenty-five years later Sri Aurobindo wrote of his English rendering of CR Das's Bengali poems: "I was not... self-moved to translate this work, however beautiful I found it: I might even be accused of having written the translation as a pot-boiler, for Das knowing my impecunious and precarious situation at Pondicherry offered me Rs. 1,000 for the work. Nevertheless I tried to give his beautiful Bengali lines as excellent a shape of English poetry as I could manage."


Paying a fitting tribute, Dr J C Ghosh has rightly observed: "C R Das never regarded poetry as his calling, but there can be no doubt that some of his poems will find an abiding place in Bengali literature. Though very few of his poems touch the highest watermark of genius, there are very few poets in Bengal, leaving out Tagore, whose average performance sustains such a high level as Chittaranjan's. His poems possess the additional interest of a highly illuminating spiritual documentary."

As a Lawyer, C R Das first came into prominence in 1908 as Counsel for Defence in the trial of Aurobindo Ghose, the Editor of the 'Bande Mataram'. The partition of Bengal in 1905 had let loose a tremendous wave of nationalist agitation and revolutionary activity and the Government resorted to unusual repressive measures. The Bande Mataram was the foremost nationalist paper of the day, and Aurobindo Ghose was tried on the charge of sedition before the Chief Presidency Magistrate of Calcutta. This was the turning point in his career and this case brought C R Das to the forefront both professionally and politically. Aurobindo Ghose was honourably acquitted.
 
This is how C R Das concluded his defence of Aurobindo in 1909; it was a unique blend of passion and argument and masterly prose: 'Long after this controversy is hushed in silence, long after this turmoil ceases, long after Aurobindo Ghose is dead and gone, he will be looked upon as the poet of patriotism, as the prophet of nationalism and the lover of humanity. Long after the mortal in him has perished, his words will be echoed and re-echoed across distant seas and lands'.
 
Aurobindo Ghose, the Mother, the Aurobindo Ashram and Pondicherry have all become household words and names in all the continents today as rightly prophesied by the supremely clairvoyant Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das in 1908.
 
The next landmark case which C R Das handled was the Manicktolla Bomb Case, one of the most sensational political trials in modern Indian history. Following a bomb outrage in Muzaffarpur, the police unearthed a bomb factory in Manicktolla, a suburb of Calcutta. 36 Bengali youths, including Aurobindo Ghose and his brother were tried in this case. C R Das endeared himself to the heart of nationalist Bengal.
 
CR Das came to nationalist politics early in the twentieth century. He was associated with the revolutionary organisations like the Anushilan Samiti.
 
As a co-worker of Surendranath Banerjea (1848-1925), Bipin Chandra Pal (1858-1932) and Aurobindo Ghosh (1872-1950), he utilised the issue of the Partition of Bengal (1905) for expanding the revolutionary activities in Bengal to drive the English out of India. C R Das closely associated himself with the rising tide of new nationalism that was set in motion by the partition of Bengal and with its two new media organs, The New India and Bande Mataram.
 
CR Das also joined the Indian National Congress as a delegate in 1906. He took no active part in politics till 1917, when he was invited to preside over the Bengal Provincial Conference of the Congress Party at Bhawanipur in 1917 in Calcutta. His connection with politics which began in this way continued uninterrupted until his death in 1925. His presidential address before the Bengal Provincial Conference was more in the nature of a sentimental rhapsody than a considered political speech. He painted a highly romantic picture of Bengal's golden past and attributed the present suffering of the people to their fall from the spiritual ideals of ancient India and to their blind adoption of the materialist values of the West. He suggested as remedies, village reconstruction, return to the soil and the renouncing of industrialism.
 
In 1920, at a special session of the Congress held at Calcutta under the Presidency of Lala Lajpat Rai, Mahatma Gandhi announced his famous programme of Non-Cooperation. C R Das proposed some changes in it but in vain. He however had the support of Bipin Chandra Pal, Pundit Madan Mohan Malaviya, Jinnah and Mrs Annie Besant. Three months later, the Congress Party met at Nagpur where C R Das accepted Mahatma Gandhi's leadership and came back to Calcutta to renounce his large practice at the Bar. The whole nation was deeply impressed to see this supreme act of self-sacrifice by C R Das.
 
When the Prince of Wales came to India in 1921, C R Das took an active part in organising agitation and boycott by the Congress volunteers in Calcutta. C R Das was arrested and sentenced to six months imprisonment. After his release in 1922, he was elected President of the Indian National Congress Session at Gaya. Deshbandhu Chitta Ranjan Das was introduced to the delegates at Gaya by Mahatma Gandhi. In his Presidential Address, C R Das declared: "What is freedom? It is impossible to define the term; but one may describe it as that state, that condition, which makes it possible for a nation to realise its own individuality and to evolve its own destiny. The history of mankind is full of stirring stories as to how nations have fought for freedom in order to keep their nationalism and their individuality inviolate and untarnished". C R Das wanted 'Swaraj' for the masses, not the classes.
 
CR Das, however, strongly criticised the announcement of the suspension of the Non-cooperation Movement by Gandhi in 1922 and condemned it as a serious mistake. In his opinion, this action of Gandhi demoralised the political workers to a great extent.
 
At this critical hour, CR Das came forward with his formula of the Council Entry Programme, or Non-Cooperation from within the Legislative Councils. He was vehemently opposed to the Congress principle of boycotting the Legislatures. He held that entry must be gained into the Legislatures with a view to offering uniform, continuous and consistent obstruction to the government. His proposal of Council-Entry was, however, rejected by the annual session of the Indian National Congress, held at Gaya in December 1922. Thereafter he resigned the Presidentship of the Congress and laid the foundation of the Swarajya Party within the Congress in collaboration with Pandit Motilal Nehru, Hakim Azmal Khan, the Ali brothers and others. In the election to the Bengal Legislative Council, held in 1923, the Swarajya Party of C.R. Das achieved a remarkable victory.


CR Das was elected the first Mayor of the Calcutta Corporation following the victory of the Swarajists in the election of that organisation in 1924 and was reelected for the next term also. He presided over the All India Trade Union Congress held at Lahore and Calcutta in 1923 and 1924 respectively. He presided over the Bengal Provincial Conference held at Faridpur in 1925. He founded the weekly Forward, the organ of the Swarajya Party in 1923. He also founded the Municipal Gazette, the official organ of the Calcutta Corporation in 1924.
 
C R Das believed in non-violent and constitutional methods for the realisation of our national independence. In the economic field, he stressed the need of constructive work in villages. He was a champion of national education in vernacular medium and felt that all the masses should be properly educated to participate in the nationalist movement.

Rabindranath Tagore paid this tribute to Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das :"Man truly reveals himself through his gift and the best gift that Chittaranjan Das has left for his countrymen is not any particular political or social programme, but the creative force of a great aspiration that has taken a deathless form in the sacrifice which his life represented". 

To conclude in the words of Mahatma Gandhi, "Chittaranjan Das was one of the greatest men... one of the jewels among the servants of India. His service and his sacrifice were matchless. May their memory ever remain with us and may his example inspire us to noble efforts.  
   

courtesy - https://www.boloji.com/articles/11119/deshbandhu-chittaranjan-das  by V. Sundaram



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