Childhood of Revolutionary Hegdewar

Hedgewar’s journey of patriotism began from the akhada (traditional wrestling ground of Shivram Guru in Nagpur which was very popular among the nationalist youth who used it as a centre for national activities and discussions. Keshav visited regularly this akhada with his companions, prominent among whom were Morn Abhyankar, Ganesh Joshi and Hanumant Naidu. In 1904 Dr Balkrishna Shivram Moonje (a man of nationalist and revolutionary temperament and among the foremost followers of Lokmanya Tilak) first  saw Keshav and he liked his temperament and resolve. Keshav also was influenced by Dr Moonje’s warm-heartedness and selfless patriotism. This, in effect, can be said to be the beginning of Keshav’s political journney (Sinha, 2018).  Keshav also had the opportunity to meet B.G. Tilak when visited Nagpur in 1902. Having been a reader of the Kesari from a very early age, Keshav had come to develop an unshaken reverence and respect for Tilak and his ideology. After the end of Tilak era, Nagpur political environs were soaked in loyalty to the British Crown and nationalism was relegated to a back-seat (Mishra, (nd): 198). 

From his boyhood his actions were unmatched with his peer group. There are interesting anecdotes of his childhood. On June 22, 1897, celebrations to mark the Diamond Jubilee of the coronation of Queen Victoria of Britain were being held throughout India. Loyalists and local administration left no stone unturned to make the day as a day of festival. As part of celebrations, sweets were distributed at Keshav’s school too. He refused to accept sweets and threw them away, angrily protesting “She is not our Queen!” This was the first spontaneous spark of rebellion, witnessed in an eight year-old Keshav, which grew into a blaze in later years.  Another incident happened in 1901. British loyalists had organized a dazzling display of fireworks at Nagpur to celebrate the ascension of Edward VII (1841-1910). Young Keshav forbade his friends from visiting the fireworks site saying, “It is a matter of shame to be celebrating the ascension of an alien monarch”. 

The saga of valour of Chhatrapati Shivaji was part of folklore in every home in Maharashtra. At Keshav’s school too, his teachers would narrate many glorious incidents of Shivaji’s life. The Hindu warrior-monarch’s valour, determination, and nationalist spirit left its deep mark on Keshav’s mind too. The sight of the British Union Jack, fluttering over Sitabardi Fort in Nagpur (the last stronghold of the Bhonsla rulers), was a hurtful sight for the rebellious Keshav. One day, along with his friends he resolved to test Shivaji’s famed guerrilla tactics, dug a two kilometre-long tunnel from the house of one Wajhe Guruji, to the Sitabardi Fort, an impossibly herculean task for twelve-year old children. They were of course, severely admonished when this endeavour of theirs came to light. It was in appreciation of such leadership abilities that his uncle Moreshwar Hedgewar (Abaji) wrote: “At an age when most boys enjoy the freedom of childhood and… this young ‘commander’, fired by the zeal to oust the British was confined along with his guerrilla warriors by his own family for digging a tunnel.” 

While on the one hand, Keshav’s childhood was one of difficulties and deprivation, his own attitude and outlook was one of courage and confidence. His family was far from political activities or activism, and neither was Nagpur’s political environment known for any anti-British sentiment. How then did patriotism spring in the young Keshav? Definitely it leads us to psychological domain to get the answer. Autobiographies and biographies of great men unravel their extraordinary sense of understanding and daring activities right in their childhood. Young Keshav demonstrated undiminished zeal for nationalist activities, something uncommon for the children of his age.