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Sadhu T. L. Vaswani was born on November 25, 1879, in the province of Hyderabad,
in Sindh, now in modern day Pakistan. A brilliant student, after his post graduation,
he took up a post as a professor in the Metropolitan College in Calcutta. Inspired
by a patriotic fervour he took an active part in the agitation that ensued during
the partition of Bengal.
Freedom Fighter
Joining in the fray for the struggle for freedom, he was one of Mahatma Gandhi's
earliest supporters. He published several articles and wrote books exhorting the
youth of India to awaken and help set her free from the foreign yoke. Education
was his primary concern and he turned his thoughts towards educating the youth to
carry India into the future. With this end in view he established the 'Shakti Ashram'
in Rajpur where young men received the training necessary to shoulder the burdens
of a young and free country. Such was Sadhu Vaswani's stature that several prominent
persons visited his ashram, including Mahatma Gandhi who planted a 'Youth Tree'
to commemorate his visit.
But post independence, Sadhu Vaswani withdrew from an active role in national life
and began concentrating more on the establishment of an educated and enlightened
society.
Renouncement
When he was forty years old his mother passed away. He renounced his position and
henceforth dedicated himself to the service of humanity. Sadhu Vaswani stressed
the need for a new education system saying, "Our schools and colleges are our prison-cells.
They keep out the sunshine of Indian ideals and Indian culture. This isolation of
modern India's brain from the mighty Soul that made 'Aryavrata' a model nation,
in the ancient times, -- this is the tragedy of our life today."
In keeping with these views, in 1933, he established the 'Mira Movement In Education'
to usher in a new era in teaching. The aim was to open the eyes of the children
to their rich cultural heritage and spirituality. Sadhu Vaswani started the first
school in his native Hyderabad with a meagre capital of a 2-pice copper coin. This
movement soon took roots in Sukkur, Rohri and Larkana in the province of Sindh.
So much had this movement grown that there were even plans of establishing a Mira
University. Unfortunately, these plans were thwarted due to the riots that followed
the partition of the Indian sub-continent at the time of independence. This was
a time when many thousands lost their lives in the Hindu-Muslim clashes and many
were left homeless. In fact, almost the entire Hindu population of Sindh, Punjab
and other parts of Pakistan moved towards what was now India, while a huge Muslim
population moved towards a Muslim Pakistan.
The Mira movement too moved base. It is now headquartered in Pune, a city where
Sadhu Vaswani moved, after the partition of the sub-continent. The emphasis in the
teaching passed on in the Mira Educational Institutions is that education is a thing
of the Spirit and that the end of all knowledge is service -- service of the poor
and lowly, the sick and afflicted one.
His Books
Sadhu Vaswani has numerous books to his credit. These include India Arisen, Awake!
Young India, India's Adventure, India in Chains, The Secret of Asia, My Motherland,
Builders of Tomorrow and Apostles of Freedom. He has also written books in the Sindhi
language. Some of his works have also been translated into German and some other
Indian languages.
Service to Humanity
A man of great compassion and spirit he was moved by the plight of the needy and
the afflicted and opened several ashrams, spiritual centres and hospitals to dispense
both physical and spiritual comfort to the disinherited of the earth. Above all
he pleaded the cause of the Indian peasant. "The masses form the nation," he said
"The worst slavery is the slavery of the poor. How to abolish it? Land, I regard,
as the one thing needful. Give land to the poor and teach them scientific methods
of intensive agriculture and co-operative organisations."
He asked all to turn away from creeds and dogmas to "the Religion of Life, the Religion
of Self-realisation, the Religion of God-consciousness, the Religion of the One
Spirit who is in all races and religions, prophets and saints."
Small wonder that he was revered as a saint through the length and breadth of the
country. To all those who came to him for blessings the only thing he asked for
was that they should go and break bread with the needy in love; for to live is to
give. Even when weakened by age and unable to move he carried on with his work of
serving the poor showing the triumph of spirit over the body.
Meatless day
Sadhu Vaswani's love was not limited to humans alone, he cared equally for all forms
of life be it flora or fauna. In fact, at one time he felt it a crime to even pluck
flowers as he felt that flowers too had a family, from which they must not be separated.
There are numerous incidents of his saving goats, sheep and other animals from being
slaughtered. "No price is too great to save a single life," is what he used to believe
in. This is one reason the Sadhu Vaswani Mission has launched a world-wide campaign
to observe November 25 (Sadhu Vaswani's Birthday) as an International Meatless Day
and Animal Rights Day, symbolically seeking World Peace through a shared expression
of 'Reverence for All Life'.
Attaining Samadhi
When he was 80, Sadhu Vaswani injured himself in a fall. This made him immobile
in his last days. In these years, he used to be carried on a chair by his followers,
which used to be placed below a tree where he would breathe in fresh air and sit
with his followers.
He lived on for another six years before attaining Samadhi in Pune on January 16,
1966.
Following in his master's footsteps
Nephew of Sadhu Vaswani, Jashan Vaswani (affectionately Dada Jashan Vaswani) now
heads the Sadhu Vaswani Mission in Pune. Born in 1918, he adopted Sadhu Vaswani
as his guide and mentor at a very young age. Sadhu Vaswani was the younger brother
of Dada Jashan's father and hence a role model for young Jashan.
Following in the family tradition Dada Jashan too, like his father and uncle, had
taken lectureship at a college before he renounced everything to follow in Sadhu
Vaswani's footsteps.
Literary Efforts
Dada Jashan is a man of words and has many brilliant works to his credit. In fact,
before partition he had brought out a Journal 'The Excelsior', which even outdid
the leading daily in terms of circulation figures. And the most surprising part
of this journal was that it was a total one-man show, with Dada Jashan looking after
the collection of data, editing, proofing, getting advertisements and printing it.
His other publishing efforts includes the periodical 'India Digest', which he started
after partition in Ahmedabad in Gujarat. In fact, this periodical had on its Advisory
Board Dr S Radhakrishnan, a well-known educationist, philosopher and Vice Chancellor
of the Benaras Hindu University, who went on to become the President of Independent
India. Dada Jashan also founded the 'East and West Series' to spread the message
of Sadhu Vaswani.
- Sujata S
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