Eknathji....

Eknathji As I Knew Him

Original Writer: Shri Ajitkumar Vishwas

Ref:Swastika: Bengali Weekly

Eknathji had a novel idea in this regard. He got ordered coupons to be printed worth a rupee each. Each coupon had the image of Swami Vivekananda, Vivekananda Rock Memorial with Swamiji's message on it. An inauguration- ceremony was also organized to release the coupons. The Deputy-Prime-Minister of that time Shri Morarji Desai, Swami Ranganathanandaji  and Dr Sujit Dhar were present at that ceremony. The most interesting part of it was that at the end of the speeches by all the dignitaries, Eknathji spoke in Bengali. Those coupons were got printed at the Institution of Ramakrishna Mission. The appeal was sent to people all over India. Schools, colleges, the poor and the rich, the laborers, farmers, all had lent a helping hand in making the sale of the coupons, and thus the capital was formed. In addition, the erstwhile Chief Minister of Bengal Sri Ajay Mukhopadhyay, Shri Jyoti Basu and his wife Smt. Kamla Basu also made special efforts to raise money and the amount collected was handed over to Eknathji.

In the same way, there was contribution from the general public and various Governments to the tune of Rupees one crore and twelve lacs. The construction work was completed in1970. Sri S K Achary, the Sthapati  was from Tamil Nadu. He did not know any other language than Tamil. Eknathji didn't know Tamil. Still it is the language of heart that spoke. Eknathji asked Sthapti to go all around country to see various monuments.

Eknathji had set up a studio in a house at Kolkata in Rasbihari Chowk where he organized an exhibition on the life of Swamiji as a part of the celebration of the birth-centenary. Two well-known photographers and    volunteers, Shri Raghunath Goswami and Shri Madhusudan Chakravarti had prepared a collection of 160 magnificent photographs of Swami Vivekananda in that studio to be presented at an exhibition. The exhibition was open to the public in the Institute of the Kolkata University for three days. Millions of people came to see this remarkable exhibition.  Eknathji made arrangements to exhibit this collection of photographs in the major cities of the country. I had been to Bilaspur in the then Madhya Pradesh with my Sangha-swayamsevak Sri Devavrat Dutta to show the exhibition which was open to the public for four days.

The Vivekananda Memorial was inaugurated by Respected President of India of that time, Shri V V Giri. Eknathji was still in the process of meeting several distinguished personalities to explore the possibilities of raising still more funds which were necessary for carrying the mission to a greater height.   Eknathji did not stop construction of the Memorial for Swamiji. He established the spiritually oriented service mission with the name Vivekananda Kendra. Having worked tirelessly for 20 long years continuously, Eknathji was ill during the last two years of his life. He departed from this world in August 1982 at the age of 68.  But today the Memorial he built for Swami Vivekananda has made him immortal.                                                                           

Eknathji....

Eknathji As I Knew Him

Original Writer: Shri Ajitkumar Vishwas

Ref:Swastika: Bengali Weekly

Shri Dattaji Didodlkar was a Sangha-Pracharak in Kerala for many years. he first mooted the idea of building a temple-memorial of Vivekananda on that Rock. Then the committee put a tablet stating about the meditation of Swamiji on the Rock. This action led to a lot of discussions in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. A section of Christian community raised an objection.  They said that the rock had nothing to do with your religion and that the rock was connected to the name of St. Xavier. When they were asked by the committee members to state the basis on which they made this claim, they could not produce any evidence in support. One day they damaged the tablet of the Rock and put on a cross on the rock. A complaint was lodged with the government of Tamil Nadu but there was no reply from that government. All political parties maintained silence on these developments. After a few days some volunteers reached that rock in the sea and removed the cross and threw it into the sea. The dispute with the Christians and Hindus was growing day by day. The problems were increasing.

As Eknathji was living in Kolkata, he paid visits to the National Library of Kolkata very often. He borrowed 'The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda' and with the help of the references borrowed from that book he prepared a manuscript called 'Swami Vivekananda's Rousing Call to Hindu Nation'. We got to see how Eknathji worked with full concentration as he prepared this manuscript. Days were passing by. Eknathji lived in the office. I used to bring him breakfast and used to make tea for him in the morning. A typist from Kerala was also staying there with him. Prof. Devendra Swarup had come from Uttar Pradesh to translate the English works of Vivekananda into Hindi. One of Swamiji's books was translated from English into Bengali by Prof.Seetanath Goswami. The book; 'The Rousing call to the Hindu Nation' was translated  in several Indian languages.

Shri Padmanabhan with other people went to meet Shri Guruji at Nagpur. He reported the events to him in details. He realized that this great mission was not the responsibility of any one individual. It was a great crusade. Consultations and negotiations were going on. Finally the responsibility for handling the entire mission was entrusted to Eknathji. Eknathji Ranade was found to be the only person who could handle this job, and Eknathji accepted the responsibility.  Eknathji was getting ready to face a new battle. Eknathji went to meet the President of Shri Ramakrishna Mission for the first time and gave him full information of the plan for the proposed memorial. The most stiff opposition was from Govt of Tamil Nadu and then from the government at the centre. The minister for the cultural affairs at the centre was Shri Humayun Kabir. Eknathji discussed in detail the complete proposal for the memorial with Humayun Kabir. On coming back to Kolkata, Eknathji gave us the essence of his discussion with Shri Kabir. We were all amazed. Then he typed out the essence of the discussion which had taken place between him and Shri Humayun Kabir and sent a copy of it to Shri Kabir. Humayun Kabir praised Eknathji's memory when he read the report. Humayun Kabir told him that it was not within the jurisdiction of the Centre to give permission to the memorial. It was the prerogative of the government of Madras. Sri Bhaktavatsalam was the Chief Minister of the government of Madras at that time. He told that the memorial would not be built there. Eknathji did not give up.

Eknathji travelled all over the country in connection with the memorial. He met many people and tried to probe their minds with regard to the proposal of building the memorial. A representation was made to be presented to the governments at the centre and the state, stating the desire that the memorial be built. In December 1963, Eknathji obtained the signatures of all the 323 members of Parliament to that representation. The members of all the parties, including Congress, DMK, Socialist, Muslim and Communist, signed the representation. The representation signed by all came before the Central Cabinet of Ministers. When it was pointed out that the privilege to give permission was that of the State, the Cabinet in its meeting decided to refer the matter to the State. After this, the question remained as to how the project was going to be funded if (at all) the permission was granted by the State. From what source was the money going to come? Eknathji was asked this question by the government. Eknathji answered that the government need not worry as to how the money was to come. He said that there would be a downpour of money.

                                                                

Eknathji...

Eknathji As I Knew Him

Original Writer: Shri Ajitkumar Vishwas

Ref:Swastika: Bengali Weekly

Eknathji had to face financial hardships while he was in Kolkata in 1950. He was on very good friendly terms with the swayamsevaks of the Sangha while he was working as Sangha-Pracharak. So boarding was not a problem. The swayamsevaks used to take care of him as a guest. During these difficult days, a Pracharak arrived there from Nagpur. He came to stay in the office of the Sangha at 26, Bidhan Sarani and he knew Prabhat Dada. When Prabhat Dada came to the office, Eknathji welcomed him and after they had talked for some time Eknathji asked Prabhakar how much money he had in his pocket. This new Pracharak who had come from Nagpur was called Prabhakar. When Prabhat Dada understood the situation he took out Rs. 16 from his own pocket and gave it to Eknathji. Eknathji sent one of the swayamsevaks to the market to buy some rice. The rice was cooked and they had lunch. They could not afford to cook everyday in the office in 1950s. Amaldada's maternal aunt stayed there behind the office of the Sangha. He used to go to her house everyday for lunch. Another Pracharak, Anantlal Soni had a relative staying nearby. They used to send lunch for him every day. 

I came to Kolkata from Kalyangarh in 1958 and stayed at 26, Bidhan Sarani. There, Amaldada gave me some personal work to handle. There is a locality called Nimtala in the Howrah region. I was asked to do some small mechanical job of a domestic kind there. Eknathji used to come to the office occasionally in those days.  So I could enjoy his company whenever he came. It was a great pleasure to have him around. The printing press of Swastika was at 27, Bidhan Sarani. I used to work as mechanical engineer in that printing house. Eknathji and Amaldada would visit regularly to supervise the work and to look after the problems if any. Eknathji reached Nagpur on the day of Vijaya Dashmi (Dasera) in 1959. Because I also accompanied him there, I had a chance to see the Head office of the Sangha at Nagpur. I was also able to enjoy the festival of Dasera in the company of all. There I saw Shri Guruji in the complete attire of the Sangha uniform for the first time. I got to know a lot of people in Nagpur.  I met Pracharak Babasaheb Apte, Moropant Pingle, Bhaiyaji Dani, Dattopant Thengdi and many others for the first time in a small house there and that memory proved to be long lasting.

The first Shakha in Nagpur started in a ground in front of the Sangha office. Eknathji used to attend the Shakha regularly since he was 12. Vivekananda Birth centenary was in the year 1963. We got to know a very rare aspect of Eknathji's personality during those days. Since 1962 Eknathji's mind was occupied by various ideas. In November 1962, a committee was formed, presided over by a well-known leader of Kerala, Sri Manmath Padmanabhan ji. 

It was as if Swami Vivekananda had given the mandate to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangha to organise the work which Swamiji had left as his legacy. Shri Guruji Golwalkar was a disciple of the third president of Ramakrishna Mission Swami Akhandananda ji. Following the mandate of Swami Akhandananda, Shri Guruji had come out of the Belur Math and took up Sangh work at Nagpur. Preparations had started all over the country to celebrate the birth centenary of Swami Vivekananda. The work in Kolkata started under the leadership of Eknathji at Subodh Mallik Square. There is a big rock in the mid-sea off Kanyakumari shore. Swamiji had meditated on that rock. For three days Swamiji sat there and meditated on how Dharma of our country and our nation could be revived. He was passionate about his dream. There he found the mission of His life of rejuvenating Bharat and decided to go to the Parliament of Religions at Chicago.