Maharashtra is at a standstill

State is at a standstill

CAMIL PARKHE

Sakal Times

http://www.sakaaltimes.com/20120605/5311163883781370098.htm

Tuesday, June 05, 2012 AT 08:13 PM (IST)

Tags: Bihar,   Nitish Kumar

The recent reports that Bihar has recorded the highest, 13 per cent, growth rate among the states needs to be welcomed not only by the people in Bihar but also other states where local politicians have been crying hoarse over the influx of Biharis in their respective states. Bihar has experienced a new lease of life after Nitish Kumar of the Janata Dal (United) took over as chief minister, ending the over 15-year-old rule of Lalu Prasad Yadav.

Maharashtra, the leading state in the country, has experienced a strong resentment against the presence of Biharis and people from other northern states after Raj Thackeray broke away from the Shiv Sena and used the issue of "outsiders" to create political space for his Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. When Bal Thackeray floated his Shiv Sena in the 1960s, he too had made the south Indians in Mumbai the targets and entrenched himself as the voice of the Marathi people, especially in Mumbai. Today, when Raj Thackeray has been praising the Narendra Modi-led Gujarat model of development and Bihar is progressing fast, Maharashtra is fast losing the race to retain its lea in development.

Almost all parts of the state are facing load shedding for several hours a day. The plight of farmers and entrepreneurs in rural sectors is worse. They face power shutdown when electricity is most needed. The economic growth in these areas has virtually come to a halt and yet there are no sign of measures to mitigate the situation in near future. The power scarcity is expected to create an alarming situation within a few years and the ruling group leaders and those in the opposition are refusing to acknowledge the writing on the wall. Some major cities like Aurangabad receive drinking water after an interval of two days while towns like Shevgaon in Ahmednagar district get water after four days. Shevgaon is not far away from the Jayakawadi reservoir, state’s largest irrigation project. Even then, residents of such towns are considered luckier than people in remote villages, who just do not have any source of clean drinking water. This indeed is a sorry state of affairs for an economically developed state.

What is worse is that none of the political parties and leaders -- ruling or opposition -- has taken up these issues in the interest of the masses or tried to exploit them to their own political advantage. All politicians take up people’s issues and hit the streets only during the state or the civic polls. They return to their cabins in New Delhi or Mumbai as soon as the elections are over, even before counting begins. In the past, leaders like Sharad Pawar, Pramod Mahajan, Gopinath Munde or even Ramdas Athavale had undertaken statewide tours, mobilising public opinion on  people’s issues. This had helped them to be on first-name terms with local leaders and eventually become a leader of the masses. The new breed of politicians has not tried that sort of approach. They have never tried to be with the masses to really get to know their problems. They usually do not know the pulse of the masses.

Senior BJP leader L K Advani recently criticised the UPA government for the various crises faced by the country but lamented that even the BJP work has been disappointing. The same can be said about the Congress-NCP front in Maharashtra. The front has been elected to rule for the third consecutive term only because the opposition parties have miserably failed to expose the ruling group’s failures on economic, industrial and other fronts. The state has not witnessed any major development in power generation, industrial growth or on removal of the regional development imbalance. The ruling politicians have remained steadfastly apathetic to the people’s problems while the opposition leaders have not been much different.

The recent BJP executive meeting saw Gopinath Munde on the dais after long. Although a mass leader in his party, Munde has been keeping a low profile after Nitin Gadkari became the party president three years back. The voices of other opposition leaders, including the Shiv Sena, are heard only when the state legislative session is on, or when elections are round the corner. Their agenda is confined to the protests in the House and statements at media conferences.

Raj Thackeray has rarely moved out of Mumbai to keep himself abreast of the state situation. Nor is he monitoring the affairs of the state legislature and civic bodies, where his party members have been elected. The leaders don't realise that Nitish Kumar and Mamata Banerjee had to toil hard for nearly two decades before they could oust the ruling parties in their states.

The lacklustre performance of all-party politicians is ominous for the future of the state. In the face of intense competition from other states, Maharashtra will have to strive extra hard to attract investment and maintain its lead in development. And everyone must remember that even the basic needs of the entire population are not being met at present.

Formation of Aurangabad Roman Catholic diocese Maharashtra

Formation of Aurangabad diocese  

Fr Gurien Jacquier arrived in the four-year-old Ghogargaon mission centre in November 1896 and breathed his last in the same village five decades later. From October 1915  to January 1922, he had been on deputation to Rahata in neighbouring Ahmednagar district. During his 50 years vocation as a missionary, Jacquirbaba took rest and visited his motherland only once -  from 1926 to 1928 - when he was forced to slow down his work on health grounds.       

Jacquierbaba worked tirelessly for 40 long years in Ghogargaon and Borsar mission centres. It was during this period that Christianity took deep roots in Aurangabad district. It is significant to note that the MSFS priests had been working in Amravati, Chikhaldhara, Akola, Kapustalani and other parts of the Vidarbha region during this period. However, due to various social, religious, political and economic factors, the work of these Catholic missionaries in most of the areas was almost wiped out by the time India gained Independence.

Fr Azarias D’Mello had taken charge of Ghogargaon in 1944. In January 1951, Fr John D’Souza was sent to be his assistant. In May 1951, Bro Ambrose came to help him. In May 1952, Fr Azarias D’Mello was transferred to Achalpur. Fr Olivet Vas took charge of Ghogargaon with Fr Edwin Alvares as assistant.

In 1948, the political situation in Nizam’s Hyderabad princely state became tense. India had gained independence from the British rulers on  August 15,1947. But the Nizam government in Hyderabad in Central India refused to join the Indian Union. Efforts for a peaceful settlement failed. Economic sanctions were imposed by the Indian government. According to the notes written by Fr Monteiro, the blockade paralysed the mission activities. As a result, catechists and masters were discharged and the children’s boardings were closed. At night fall, no one went outdoors. The missionaries also could not go out.

On September 14, 1948 began the Police Action against the Nizam state.  Action was taken against the Razakars, the special army of the Nizam. By September 18, the Hyderabad princely state was taken over by the Indian Government and peace was restored. The Police Action was planned by the then Union Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

 In the meantime, many of the discharged catechists had secured jobs in sugar factories and were not prepared to return to their work and their small pays. The Scheduled Castes Federation was very active and won many adherents form the converts, wrote Fr Joseph  Monteiro.

MSFS historian Fr Moget has dealt in details on the missionary activities and the number of baptisms given to local people in the Vidarbha region. However a glance at the statistics of the Catholic population in the present Nagpur, Amravati and Aurangabad dioceses reveals that some of the people converted to Christianity in the early 20^th century have embraced Buddhism along with other followers of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar in the 1950s and 1960s.

The factors responsible for the spread of Christianity in Aurangabad district. its stunted growth or subsequent disappearance in some parts of the Marathwada  and also in the neighbouring Vidarbha region can be well illustrated with the parable on the seed of the Word of God narrated by Jesus Christ. The parable goes like this:

“A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. Some fell on rock: and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and chocked it. But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold.” ¹

Even today, the number of Catholics in Gangapur and Vaijapur talukas of Aurangabad district – the area where Fr Jacquier sowed the seeds of the Word of God – is far more conspicuous as compared to the rest parts of the Marathwada and for that matter, even the whole Vidarbha region. It would be incorrect to solely credit Jacquierbaba for this. But the fact remains this was the missionary who toiled for 40 years for the most downtrodden, the untouchable folks of these two talukas and preached the gospel to them. He was also the first social reformer in this rural area to spread  literacy among local population of mixed castes and religions. He had opened so many schools in villages under his Ghogargaon mission centre. He also tried to various social evil practices like untouchability, child marriages and bigamy.

It is difficult to believe that a great soul existed in this small village which remains obscure to this date. He tried his best to transform the lives of the whole population in this region. The large number of tales associated with this Mahatma, as told by people even today with much reverence to this missionary, are testimony of the great works carried out by Jacquierbaba in this region.      

Jacquirbaba traveled on horseback, in bullock cart or horse cart to various villages which now come under the jurisdiction of the present Ghogargaon, Borsar, Kannad, Vaijapur, Gangapur, Wahegaon parishes.

Fr Stephen Almeida is the present parish priest at the Christ the King in Ghogargaon, a post held for four decades by Jacquierbaba. Ironically Ghogargaon  village to this date remains inaccessible to the world in the absence of asphalted, motorable road. The church parish runs a primary, middle and higher secondary school in the village, attended by hundreds of Christian and non-Christian children from neighbouring villages. The Holy Cross sisters who run a dispensary in the village offer medical facilities to the rural populace here.    

When Fr Jacquier arrived from France to work in India, the then  Nagpur province was entrusted to his MSFS religious congregation. The Catholic Church has in the latter years bifurcated this giant province into the present Nagpur, Amravati, Chanda and Aurangabad (all in Maharashtra) Jabalpur, Khandwa, Raipur (Chhattisgarh) and Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh). Each of this diocese are headed by an archbishop or bishop.

During the past 100 years, the Missionaries of St Francis de Sales (MSFS) of which Jacquirbaba was a member preached Christianity in the then Central Province, Berar, and Marathwada. The MSFS congregation priests purchased land, built on them schools, churches, dispensaries and hostels for the girls and boys. Later the Catholic Church established new dioceses in these areas and the secular or the diocesan priests under the new bishops started working in this villages. In keeping with the Catholic Church tradition, subsequently the MSFS congregation took a back seat and handed over the huge real estates, schools, churches, hostels and other  establishments to the bishops, the heads of the newly created dioceses in the respective areas. 

Similar transfer also took place in the neighbouring  Ahmednagar district after the Nashik diocese was carved out of the Pune diocese in 1987. There, the Jesuits – members of the religious congregation Society of Jesus -  handed over the land and institutions to the new diocese and shifted their attention to work in the area where no one had trodden.  

This novel tradition of handing over ownership of real estate and reputed institutions to others exists only in the Catholic Church and there cannot be any other parallel to this custom.

The diocese of Aurangabad was erected by the Decree 'Qui Arcano' (No. 1139/78) dated December 1997. It comprises of eight revenue districts. Of these, Aurangabad, Jalna, Parbhani and Nanded were taken from the diocese of Amravati while Latur,  Beed and Osmanabad were detached from the archdiocese of Hyderabad. This entire region under the Aurangabad diocese constitutes a political unit named Marathwada in Maharashtra. Fr Dominic Abreo, a diocesan priest from Vasai in Thane district who had presided over the seventh Marathi Christian Sahitya Sammelan (literary meet) held in 1973 was appointed the first bishop of Aurangabad diocese. Bishop Edwin Colaco who was appointed as bishop of Amravati in 1995 has been bishop of Aurangabad diocese since 2007.    

As per the statistics provided by the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI), there are 16,000 Catholics in Aurangabad diocese.  As far as the Christian (Catholic and Protestants) population and the number of Church establishments are concerned, Aurangabad diocese is one of the most important dioceses in Maharashtra, next only to Mumbai, Pune and Nashik dioceses.

Aurangabad Catholic diocese has  22 parishes. There are 15 high schools, one higher secondary schools, 15 upper primary schools, 12 hospitals, nine hostels and five orphanages. ²

References:

1) Gospel according to St Mathew, 4:1-9,

2) Directory of Aurangabad Catholic Diocese, published by Bishop’s House, Aurangabad (2003)  

Cong, NCP go aggressive in ZP, civic polls

Home  >>  Editor's Pick  >>  Detail News Sakal Times http://www.sakaaltimes.com/SakaalTimesBeta/20120131/4962113731651249476.htm
Cong, NCP go aggressive CAMIL PARKHE Tuesday, January 31, 2012 AT 10:58 PM (IST) Tags: Civic polls 2012,   Cong,   NCP The elections to zilla parishad, panchayat samitis and 10 municipal corporations in Maharashtra have will be yet another political battle fought by the five main parties in the state. The polls have come just a couple of months after the municipal councils polls, in which the Congress and the NCP had fared well. The battles-lines are expected to on the same lines as in the municipal polls. That is why the Congress and the NCP are in an aggressive mood while the opposition Shiv Sena and the BJP have been forced on the defensive.   The elections to 27 zilla parishads and 309 panchayat samitis will be held on February 7 and polls to 10 corporations, including Mumbai, Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad and Aurangabad, on February 16. Civic elections are also due in Nagpur, Thane, Nashik, Amravati, Kolhapur and Akola. The main contestants are the two constituents of the Democratic Front, the Congress and the NCP; the saffron alliance of the Shiv Sena and the BJP, which has been reinforced this time by the Republican faction led by Ramdas Athavale; and the comparatively new entrant in the state politics, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena led by Raj Thackeray. All the parties are gearing up for the polls and finding ways to woo the voters.   The crucial polls are being held as the Congress-led ruling front is completing half of its third consecutive term. In such circumstances, the ruling combine often faces the heat of the anti-incumbency wave. But thanks to the acts of commissions and omissions by both the Congress-NCP government and the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance, the municipal council poll verdict indicated that the ruling front faces no such wave. In fact, because of some turbulence in its own camp, it is the saffron alliance which  has been forced to lick its own wounds, leaving it with little strength to attack the ruling front with some effectiveness. The only political party outside the ruling front thoroughly enjoying the present political atmosphere and ready to exploit it for its advantages is the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. The local self-government poll will serve as a rehearsal for the state polls, scheduled two years later.    The panchayati raj and municipal council poll should have served as an ideal opportunity for the opposition to attack the ruling front on corruption scandals like the Adarsh housing complex in Mumbai and the nine-month imprisonment of Pune's suspended Congress MP, Suresh Kalmadi, in Tihar jail in the Commonwealth Games scam. But most opposition parties are busy setting their own house in order.   Senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde is the party's only mass leader in the state but he has been facing major setbacks in the past couple of years. He has little time to consolidate the party's base. He has been fighting a battle for survival in his own party with party president Nitin Gadkari. After threatening to quit the party and knocking at the door of other parties, Munde decided to stay put in the BJP but not without damaging his credentials. Now, the former deputy chief minister is facing a serious challenge on his home turf of Beed district from his nephew and MLC, Dhananjay Munde, who is openly hobnobbing with the  NCP. Gadkari and other Munde detractors are doing everything to marginalise Munde. So the BJP leaders have no time to train their guns on the ruling party or to give a fight in the panchayati and civic body polls. A wounded Munde is no position to play a vital role in galvanising the BJP and reviving its poll prospects. The  Shiv Sena is fighting a battle to retain its two-decade hold on power in Brihamaumbai Municipal Corporation. It faces a major threat from the combined forces of the Congress and the NCP. This is for the first time the two Congresses have come together in Mumbai civic elections. The presence of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena in the previous State Assembly polls had helped the Congress-NCP to defeat the saffron alliance in Mumbai and to return to power for the third consecutive term. The ruling front hopes that the Raj Thackeray-led party will play a vital role in dethroning the Shiv Sena. The revolt of the Shiv Sena's Thane MP Anand Paranjape -- the party's only victorious nominee in the Mumbai-Thane belt in the last Lok Sabha polls -- has dealt a severe jolt to the party. It will have repercussions on the civic poll in Thane.     So it is no wonder that the ruling Congress-NCP front hopes to romp home at the hustings without much difficulty. All the opposition parties will really have to really work overtime during the remaining few days to deny a cake-walk for the ruling front, although the ruling front has performed no great wonders to stake claims to uninterrupted power. The opposition has to expose the misdeeds of the government and prove its own credentials. The verdict of the electorate will show who among the ruling group and the opposition plays its role effectively.

St Peter's Square, Vatican, Rome

सेंट मेरीज चर्चची वास्तू सर्वांत जुनी

सेंट मेरीज चर्चची वास्तू सर्वांत जुनी

कामिल पारखे - सकाळ वृत्तसेवा

Friday, December 23, 2011 AT 04:15 AM (IST)

Tags: Saint Mary's Church,   old,   pune

सेंट मेरीज चर्चची वास्तू 

पुणे - पुण्यात पहिले चर्च बांधण्यास माधवराव पेशव्यांनी परवानगी दिली. त्यानुसार 1792 मध्ये क्वार्टर गेटजवळ पहिले चर्च बांधण्यात आले. मातीच्या बांधकामाचे हे चर्च 1852 मध्ये पाडून नव्याने बांधण्यात आले. त्यामुळे 1825 मध्ये बांधून पूर्ण झालेले लष्कर परिसरातील सोलापूर रस्त्यावरील सेंट मेरीज चर्चची वास्तू पुण्यातील चर्चची सर्वांत जुनी वास्तू ठरली आहे.

पुणे व पिंपरी-चिंचवडमध्ये सध्या कॅथॉलिक आणि प्रोटेस्टंट पंथीयांची ऐंशीहून अधिक चर्च आहेत. ख्रिस्ती समाज बहुभाषिक असल्याने अनेक चर्चेसमध्ये इंग्रजी, मराठी, तमीळ, कोकणी, मल्याळम वगैरे भाषांत उपासनाविधी होतात. काही चर्च मात्र केवळ मराठी भाषक ख्रिस्ती समाजासाठी आहेत आणि तेथील सर्व प्रार्थना, गायन आणि उपासनाविधी केवळ मराठी भाषेतच होतात. ही सर्व चर्च सध्या नाताळनिमित्ताने रोषणाईच्या झगमगाटात सजली आहेत.

नाताळनिमित्त शहरातील चर्चचा इतिहासाचा आढावा घेतल्यास अनेक महत्त्वाच्या गोष्टी पुढे येतात. पुण्यात पेशव्यांच्या सैन्यात गोव्यातील, तसेच मूळचे पोर्तुगीज असलेले ख्रिस्ती अधिकारी आणि सैनिक होते. त्यांच्यासाठी पुण्यात चर्च बांधण्यासाठी सवाई माधवराव पेशव्यांनी जागा दिली आणि त्याजागेवर 1792 मध्ये सिटी चर्च बांधण्यात आले. क्वार्टर गेटपाशी असलेले हे चर्च पुण्यातील सर्वात जुने कॅथोलिक चर्च. मातीच्या बांधकामाचे हे चर्च पाडून त्यानंतर तेथे 1852 मध्ये नवे चर्च बांधण्यात आले. पुणे कॅम्पातील सोलापूर रोडवरील सेंट मेरीज चर्चचे 1825 मध्ये उद्‌घाटन झाले, त्यामुळे शहरातील ही सर्वांत जुनी चर्चची वास्तू ठरते. एकोणिसाव्या शतकात शहराच्या विविध भागांत चर्च उभारली गेली. डॉ बाबासाहेब आंबेडकर रोडवरील सेंट मॅथ्यूज मराठी चर्चचा पायाभरणी समारंभ 1893 मध्ये झाला होता. दगडी बांधकाम असलेली ही सव्वाशे वर्षांची वास्तू अजूनही सुस्थितीत आहे. पंचहौद चर्चला गेल्या वर्षी 125 वर्षे पूर्ण झाली, त्यानिमित्त मोठा समारंभ आयोजित केला होता.

प्रामुख्याने मराठी भाषकांसाठी असलेल्या शहरातील प्रोटेस्टंट पंथीय चर्चेसमध्ये क्वार्टर गेट नजीकचे क्राईस्ट चर्च, सेंट मॅथ्यूज मराठी चर्च, खडकी येथील सेंट मेरीज चर्च, गुरुवार पेठेतील होली नेम किंवा पंचहौद चर्च, घोरपडी येथील सेंट जॉन्स चर्च, कसबा पेठेतील ब्रदर देशपांडे चर्च यांचा समावेश होतो. कॅथॉलिक पंथाच्या चर्चमध्ये मात्र बहुतेक सर्व चर्चेसमध्ये इंग्रजी भाषेत त्याचप्रमाणे मराठी भाषेतही वेगळी उपासनाविधी केली जाते. दर आठवड्याला मराठी मिस्सा साजरा करणाऱ्या कॅथोलिक चर्चमध्ये ताडीवाला रोडवरील अवर लेडी ऑफ पर्पेच्युअल हेल्प चर्च, पिंपरी येथील अवर लेडी कन्सोलर ऑफ द ऍफ्लिक्‍टेड चर्च आणि चिंचवड येथील सेंट फ्रान्सिस झेव्हिअर चर्च वगैरेंचा समावेश होतो. या मराठीभाषक ख्रिस्ती समाजातर्फे नाताळानिमित्त यंदा विविध कार्यक्रम आयोजित करण्यात आले आहेत. नाताळाआधी एक आठवडा प्रत्येक ख्रिस्ती कुटुंबाच्या घरी जाऊन नाताळची गाणी म्हणण्याची जुनी परंपरा आहे. सांताक्‍लॉजला बरोबर घेऊन ख्रिस्तजन्माची गीते गाणारा युवक-युवतींचा ग्रुप लहान मुलांबरोबरच प्रौढांचेही आकर्षण असतो. नाताळाची ही गाणी गाण्यासाठी हे तरुण संध्याकाळी बाहेर पडतात आणि रात्री उशिरापर्यंत हा कार्यक्रम चालू असतो.

फराळाची लगबग सध्या मराठी ख्रिस्ती कुटुंबात नाताळनिमित्त फराळ करण्याची लगबग चालू आहे. कुठल्याही मराठी कुटुंबात सणानिमित्त होणाऱ्या मिष्ठान्नांचा या फराळात समावेश होतो. करंज्या, लाडू, शेव, चकल्या, शंकरपाळे आणि त्याचप्रमाणे अनारसे वगैरे पदार्थ या कुटुंबांत केले जातात. दिवाळीनिमित्त या ख्रिस्ती कुटुंबात शेजाऱ्यांकडून फराळाची अनेक ताटे आलेली असतात. नाताळाच्या सणाच्या वेळी फराळाची ताटे पाठवून ही परतफेड केली जाते. गेली अनेक वर्षे ही परंपरा चालू राहिली आहे

Bishop Thomas Dabre's interview

‘A true religion can’t be sectarian or divisive’

Sakal Times

http://www.sakaaltimes.com/SakaalTimesBeta/20111225/4666381285749178313.htm

Sunday, December 25, 2011 AT 06:22 PM (IST)

Tags: Q&A,   Bishop,   Thomas Dabre,   church,   Christians,   Pune

Bishop Thomas Dabre, who took over the reigns of  the 125-year-old Pune Diocese two-and-a-half years ago, is an exponent of inter-religious dialogue. He completed his doctorate on ‘The God experience of Tukaram' and taught at the city-based Jnana Deep Vidyapeeth for many years, till he was appointed as an auxiliary Bishop of Mumbai in 1990. As the head of the Pune Diocese, he symbolically leads various social service centres run by the Catholic Church in Pune, Satara, Solapur and Sangli districts, and Kolhapur city.  He spoke to Camil Parkhe about the need for communal harmony in the backdrop of Christmas.

 

What have been your priorities after taking over as Pune Bishop?

We feel that faith must flow into service and therefore, we have tried to increase our network of schools and colleges. Our diocese will soon open a new English school in Miraj and some new school buildings have also been planned. There are a sizeable number of educational institutions run by the Church in the city and district. The Church's schools educate children belonging to all faiths; in fact, a majority of the students in our schools are non-Christians. We try to provide quality education and also imbibe moral and spiritual values among children. These schools also ensure that there is no discrimination among students. Society has indeed appreciated the role of the Church's educational institutions.

 

How were you drawn to the issue of inter-faith dialogue and harmony?

My mother-tongue is Marathi and I was brought up in Vasai, in a locality that had a majority of non-Christian families. I was influenced by their lifestyle, social and religious traditions. I feel we should work towards communal harmony and peace, and it should be our top priority. Recently, the Diocese had invited a high-powered Vatican delegate to the city for a three-day inter-faith meet, attended by well-known representatives of Hinduism and other religions. Harmony among the people of various religions is required to ensure prevalence of equality, justice and peace in society. We believe that the unity and integrity of our nation depends on inter-religious and communal harmony. All our achievements and fruits of prosperity will be  reduced to ashes if there is no communal peace.

 

As a priest, I feel that Jesus Christ is not for Christians alone; he wants to work for the benefit of all religious communities. That is why all our educational, social, medical and charitable activities are open to members of all religions. A true religion cannot be sectarian and divisive; it is universal and that is why we have to be very serious about inter-religious harmony.

 

What is the role of the Indian Catholic Church in the world church?

The Indian Catholic Church is playing a significant role in the universal Catholic Church. Many Indian clergymen and nuns occupy vital positions in the church hierarchy and some of them even hold the highest posts, like the superior general or mother general of their respective religious congregations. For example, Fr Sebastian Vazhakala, the father general and co-founder along with Mother Teresa, of the Missionaries of Charity Contemplative Brothers, is based at the organisation’s headquarters in Rome. There are many Indian priests and nuns working in the USA, Europe and other parts of the world. In the past, India used to receive a large number of missionaries from European countries and now there is a reverse trend as Indian priests and nuns belonging to various congregations are called to serve in different parts of the world.

 

Tell us something about your recent meeting with Pope Benedict XVI?

It is mandatory  for all Catholic Bishops to meet the Pope individually and in groups once in five years. It is called an ad limina visit. There are 175 Bishops in India and the group-wise visits to the Vatican were arranged this year. I was among a group of 35 Bishops who met Pope Benedict XVI in September. The pontiff addressed us in a group and later also met us individually. During the individual  meeting, we present a report on various activities of our respective Diocese to the Pope, who is the the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church. Thus, the ad limina visit helps the Pope to meet each and every head of the Diocese in any corner of the world and know their issues and problems. Our meeting with the Pope - group and individual sessions - lasted nearly two hours. The Pope has appreciated the Indian Church's work, especially in the field of education. This was my first interaction with Pope Benedict since he took over the reigns in April 2005, although I had two ad limina sessions with Pope John II .

 

What are your impressions of the two pontiffs?

I found Pope John Paul II a very contemplative person. In his later years, he liked to listen to the views of those he was meeting and spoke little. Pope Benedict is scholarly and very articulate in expressing his views. With a long administrative experience as a Vatican official, he knows the issues of the churches all over the world.

 

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Pune, a city of churches

Pune, a city of churches

CAMIL PARKHE

http://www.sakaaltimes.com/SakaalTimesBeta/20111224/4887065021209739371.htmhttp://www.sakaaltimes.com/SakaalTimesBeta/20111224/4887065021209739371.htm

Sakal Times 

Saturday, December 24, 2011 AT 06:44 PM (IST)

Tags: Church,   christian,   Christmas,   Pune,   Pimpri-Chinchwad,   city speak,   Camil Parkhe

One of the significant aspects of Pune’s multi-culturalism is the presence of more than 80 cathedrals, churches and chapels in the city itself, and perhaps another fifty more in the district. The oldest ones go back more than 220 years in the history of the city. On Christmas day, tomorrow, these churches will be lit up, giving the city a resplendent glow. Sakàl Times tells the story of these magnificent structures

The presence of Christian soldiers in the Maratha and British armies in Pune necessitated the construction of churches catering to their religious needs, which led to the establishment of some of the oldest churches in the city, in the early and mid-19th century.

 

St Mary’s Church on Solapur Road in Pune Camp, which was built in 1823 for soldiers and officers in the British army, is the oldest church structure in the city. In keeping with the tradition that time, a capsule containing the names of British India’s governor general Warren Hastings, Mumbai governor Mountstuart Elphinstone and other East India Company officials was buried at the church site during the stone-laying ceremony in June, 1821.

The Church of Immaculate Conception or City Church is the oldest Catholic church in the city. The land was gifted by Peshwa Madhavrao II and the first Mass (religious gathering) was held on Christmas day in 1792, and a structure made of mud and mortar was built in 1794. The present structure was constructed only in 1852.

 

St Patrick’s Cathedral has been built on the land gifted by the British government in 1850. While St Paul’s Church, located behind the police commissionerate, was erected in 1867 on the lines of the St Chapelle Church in Paris. The cost of construction came up to Rs 90,000 at that time. The structure, however, suffered heavy damages in a fire on July 5, 1900.

 

The foundation stone of the St Mathew’s Marathi Church on Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Road was laid in 1893. This church catered to the city’s Marathi-speaking population.

 

St Andrew’s Church near the Race Course, which bore the brunt of a major fire in October this year, was built by the Church of Scotland in 1861. The church had a seating capacity of 500 people at the time.

 

Christ Church near Quarter Gate, which was built in 1896, is also one of the oldest churches in the city. A majority of the old Catholic and Protestant churches are in Pune Camp, Wanowrie and Khadki where the British military establishments were located.

 

The Panch Haud Church, Brother Deshpande Memorial Church (Kasba Peth) and St Crispin’s Church near Nal Stop on Karve Road are the only churches in the heart of the city. The Catholic Church’s major religious institutes – the Papal Seminary and the De Nobili College – were started at Ramwadi on Nagar Road six decades ago. A large number of Catholic religious congregations also established their centres near these two institutes. This led to the concentration of the migratory Christian population in Yerawada and Vadgaonsheri on Nagar Road. So, many churches came up in these areas over the last few decades.

 

St Francis Xavier’s Church, which was built in 1973, was the first Catholic church in Pimpri Chinchwad and it catered to the Goan and Tamil populations who had migrated from the neighbouring Ahmednagar and Aurangabad districts to the industrial hub. Subsequently, four more churches were opened in Pimpri-Chinchwad to meet the needs of the growing Christian population.

 

Since the Christian community in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad is multi-lingual, most Catholic churches celebrate the Mass in English, Marathi, Konkani, Tamil as well as Malayalam. A few churches also cater exclusively to the Marathi, Tamil and Malayalam speaking communities in the city.

WHERE DOES THE MONEY COME FROM?

The construction of any church is financed by its members who contribute their own share, while also raising a building fund. The Pune Catholic Diocese offers a share of the construction cost. If the local community undertakes the building of a new church, the Pune diocese offers 50 per cent of the construction cost. The new churches that came up on Nagar Road and in Pimpri-Chinchwad during the last decade were built on this principle.

 

Fr Simon Almeida, who has presently undertaken the construction of a new building for St Francis Xavier’s Church in Chinchwad, says, “It is the responsibility of the local people to build a church for themselves. The priest’s job is to build the community. Therefore, the lay leaders undertake various activities to raise the construction funds.” Sometimes, when local parishioners are unable to raise 50 per cent of the construction cost, the diocese has to bear more than its share of the amount. The diocese receives its funds from monthly collections given by various churches under its jurisdiction.

 

Fr Almedia says that every Catholic church is required to give its donation collections of two Sundays of every month to the Pune diocese. The diocese utilises these funds for various activities. “Besides this, parishioners of other churches are also expected to contribute for the construction of churches in other localities,” he adds.

–Inputs by Camil Parkhe

ROYAL GESTURE

It was Peshwa Madhavrao II who gifted a piece of land for the construction of a church for the Catholic soldiers in the Maratha army. The Catholic soldiers included Goans, British and Portuguese nationals. The Peshwa also contributed a sum for building of the church, which eventually came to be called City Church. Later, when the British came to rule over Pune, they gifted one bigha (three acres and 14 gunthas) land to build the present structure of the church that we see today. The Portuguese government in Goa had offered a substantial subsidy in its construction. The British government had also gifted land and a grant of Rs 2,000 for the construction of the St Patrick’s Chapel, the present cathedral and seat of the Pune diocese. Records show that many Catholic soldiers in the British army donated a full month’s salary too.

 

CHURCHES IN PUNE AND PIMPRI-CHINCHWAD

CATHOLIC CHURCHES

- Church of Immaculate Conception (City Church)            (1792)

- St Ignatius Church, Khadki ( 1833)

- St Patrick’s Cathedral, near Empress Garden (1850)

- The Church of Holy Name, Guruwar Peth   (1885)

- St Xavier’s Church, Pune Camp   (1862)

- St Crispin’s Church, Nal Stop, Karve Road    (1901-02)

- St Joseph’s Church, Ghorpuri           (1959)

- St Teresa’s Church, Guruwar Peth   (1963)

- Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Tadiwala Road (1965)

- St Anthony’s Church, Model Colony (1969)

- St Francis Xavier’s Church, Chinchwad       (1972)

- Our Lady of the Afflicted Church, Pimpri (1978)

- St Anne’s Church, Solapur Bazaar (1983)

- Sacred Heart Church, Yerawada        (1984)

- St Alphonsa Church, Kalewadi, Pimpri (1986)

- Resurrection Sub-Centre, Kalas Gaon      (1987)

- St Francis De Sales, Ahmednagar Road    (1988)

- Mother Teresa Centre, Hadapsar         (1996)

- Holy Cross Church, Dapodi (1998)

- Infant Jesus Church, Nigdi   (1998)

- Holy Trinity Church, New Sangvi  (2000)

- Divine Mercy Church, Vadgaonsheri   (2004)

- Good Shepherd Church (2011)

- Christ The King Church, Vadgaonsheri   (2011)

- St Sebastian’s Chapel, NDA *

- Holy Family Chapel, Lohegaon *

- Wakad Mass Centre, Wakad *

- Holy Redeemer Malankara Catholic Church, Kalewadi *

- St Anthony’s Malankara Catholic Church, Vishrantwadi *

- St Mary’s Malankara Church, Khadki *

- St Mary’s Malankara Catholic Church, Warje, Malewadi *

- St John’s Marthoma Parish, Pune-Mumbai highway, Khadki *

 

PROTESTANT CHURCHES

- St Mary’s Church, Solapur Road, Pune Camp      (1823)

- The Church of Holy Name, Guruwar Peth   (1885)

- Christ Church, Quarter Gate    (1896)

- St Paul’s Church, behind Pune police commissionerate, Pune Camp   (1867)

- St Mathew’s Marathi Church, Dr Ambedkar Road, Pune Camp   (1893)

- Poona Diocesan Council Church of North India, Staveley Road, Pune Camp *

- All Saints Marathi Church, Khadki *

- Bethel Church, Vadgaonsheri *

- Brother Deshpande Memorial Church, Kasba Peth *

- Church of Holy Angel, Rasta Peth *

- CNI Church, Dhanori *

- St Anne Church, Solapur Bazaar *

- St Luke Church, Phule Nagar *

- St Mary Church, Khadki *

- St Paul’s Malayalam Church, Khadki *

- Sutarwadi CNI Church, Pashan *

- United Church of Christ, Pimpri *

- Hindustani Methodist Worship Centre, Khadakwasla *

- Methodist Kannada Church, Khadki *

- Methodist Marathi Church, Yerawada *

- Methodist Marathi Church, Bhosari *

- Methodist Tamil Church, Nigdi *

- Methodist Tamil Church, Khadki *

- Oldham Memorial Methodist Church, East Street *

- Methodist English Church, Khadki *

- St Andrew’s Hindustani Church, near Race Course *

- Vineyard Workers Church, Dapodi *

* Exact year of establishment not available

Tarumitra - NGO for young eco-activists

Sakal Times

Tarumitra - NGO for young eco-activists

Sunday, October 23, 2011 AT 08:48 PM (IST)

Tags: TARUMITRA, ROBERT ATHICKAL

Tarumitra (friends of trees), a nationwide students’ movement, has been campaigning for sensitising various sections of society on ecological issues. During the past two decades, Tarumitra has motivated lakhs of school students to speak out on the need to save the Earth, not only in different parts of the country but also at world forums. Patna-based Tarumitra coordinator Robert Athickal, who has been associated with the organisation since its inception, was in Pune on Saturday to address school principals, students and teachers of 50 schools in the district. CAMIL PARKHE spoke to him.
How did Tarumita come into existence ?
The seeds for the foundation of Tarumitra, a students’ environmental movement, were laid in 1988 with my talk at a school in Patna on the issue of pollution. The talk clicked, and one of the students was so inspired and motivated that he suggested that the school students take out a rally in Patna to create awareness on the need to save the Earth. The rally did take place with students enthusiastically campaigning for the need to care of Mother Nature. The students felt that there should be an organisation exclusively devoted to create awakening among the student community. They named the organisation ‘Tarumitra’. Most of the student activists in the organisation are from eighth to the tenth standards.

How do you function ?
In 1994, the St Xavier’s School in Patna offered Tarumitra a 10-acre plot for a plantation. We have transformed it into a thick forest with over 450 varieties of trees including some very rare medicinal and other plants. It is indeed a paradise for botany students and other researchers. Tarumitra’s office is located here and the premises is also used for conducting residential camps for sensitising students coming from different parts of the country. At a time, 50 students reside there for three to four-day camps. Before returning to their respective cities, most of the students take with them saplings of some rare medicinal plants (sold at a very nominal prices of Rs 5 each).

What activities are taken up by Tarumitra members ?
Tarumitra students have taken out massive rallies, organised demonstrations, resisted felling of trees and forests, built roadside gardens, raised rare trees in genetic nurseries on campuses of schools and other institutions. They also undertake long nature-treks, clean up garbage dumps, work for protecting migratory birds, campaign for proper repair of roads for reducing vehicular pollution and launch crusades to protect bio-diversity.
The Brahmakumaris at their headquarters in Mount Abu in Rajasthan have shown what care needs to be taken to be ecologically sensitive. The Brahmakumaris have used various environmental-friendly means to cater to the lakhs of visitors to their headquarters. The large solar panels there cook meals for nearly 24,000 visitors everyday.
Tarumitra, working with a Swiss physicist Wolfgang Scheffler, has also set up a plant to fabricate parabolic solar cookers along with the traditional solar panels to harness solar energy. The students have set up parabolic solar cookers in a park in Patna to demonstrate non-conventional, clean forms of energy. Tarumitras activists also cook hot snacks on the solar cookers for interested passers-by.
Tarumitra student activists have turned over a dozen garbage dumps into beautiful roadside gardens and named them as ‘oxygen belts’. There are a total of 38 roadside green belts in Patna. Each garden is ‘adopted’ by a school or a plant nursery. The students clean the sites, work the soil, plant seeds, flowers and trees. The students also campaign against use of plastics and polybags. They distribute specially made cotton bags as a substitute for the polybags. The Buddhist monks of Bodhgaya have also supported the campaign.

Which are the major ecological issues you take up ?
Conservation of bio-diversity, organic farming and conservation of energy are the three major issues Tarumitra has been concentrating on in the recent past. The importance of plantation has been well understood in society with many organisations taking up the cause. But the issue of conservation of electricity has been much ignored. Our natural resources are bound to dry up in future and everyone needs to save power as much as possible. So much coal is utilised to generate one megawatt unit of electricity and if people realise this, they may think twice while illuminating their rooms, houses or other structures.
Shveta Mirandi, a Tarumitra volunteer studying in eighth standard, has been very active in popularising use of CFL bulbs to conserve electricity. She also met Patna archbishop Wilson D’Souza to urge him to avoid illumination of churches during Christmas. The archbishop was so moved by the girl’s appeal that he issued letters to all churches in the archdiocese, asking them to avoid illumination, and instead conserve electricity ! During Diwali, Tarumitra volunteers urge people to light up their houses with earthen oil lamps rather than electricity bulbs.
Tarumitra volunteers work actively for better roads in order to decrease the level of vehicular pollution. They formed a seven-kms long human chain to draw people’s attention to the poor condition of the city’s roads. Once, a badminton match was held in the middle of a main road in Patna, attracting thousands of students and onlookers to highlight the sorry condition of the road.
Since 2005, the Bihar government has granted a license to Tarumitra to check vehicles and issue Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificates. A van equipped with the machines (co-sponsored by Caritas) moves around the city in Patna and checks polluting vehicles with active support from the ministry of transport. Students from the schools learn to operate the machines.

What have been major achievements of Tarumitra ?
Tarumitra has succeeded in inspiring lakhs of students all over the country to voice their concern on ecological matters. Yugratna Srivastav, a ninth standard student from Lucknow who has been an active member of Tarumitra since 2006, was selected to speak at the United Nations Environment Programme in New York in 2009. This was for the first time an Indian girl student got an opportunity to speak at the world forum, where and even US President Barak Obama took note of her speech. She also interacted with the United Nations Secretary General Ban-Ki-moon. We want more and more youths to be ecologically sensitive.

Dalit factor in Maharashtra civic polls

Sakal Times
October 18, 2011
Dalit factor in Maharashtra civic polls

Athavale has emerged the strongest Dalit leader in state
The process for preparing the voters lists for the forthcoming elections to the eight major municipal corporations in Maharashtra including Mumbai, Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad has began and all major political parties have also began the preliminary preparations to face the electorates. These elections to be held early 2012 would indeed be a rehearsal for the state assembly polls scheduled to be held in 2014. The civic polls are being held in the backdrop of the nationwide spontaneous protest on the issues of corruption and a stronger version of the Lokpal Bill. The protests which saw younger generation and even apolitical persons arriving on the streets to express their dissent over the issue of corruption is bound to be reflected in the outcome of the civic polls. Another new factor which is likely to swing the poll fortune is Dalit and Republican Party of India leader Ramdas Athavale crossing over the NCP-Congress boat to join the saffron alliance camp of the Shiv Sena and BJP. The ruling Congress-led Progressive Democratic Front in Maharashtra has strong reasons to be jittery over these two issues.
The current tempo on the Jan Lokpal Bill may not prevail when the electorate cast their votes for the civic polls six months later. Much to the delight of the Congress and its ruling partners, the Team Anna camp has already shown many signs of breaking up. By the time polls for Uttar Pradesh and other state assemblies are conducted, the heat generated over the Lokpal bill issue may be blown over but this will not be the case with the Dalit votes in Maharashtra. Athavale distanced himself away from his two-decades-old ally - the NCP - after his humiliating defeat in Shirdi reserved Lok Sabha seat and the NCP's refusal to rehabilitate him with a seat in Rajya Sabha and a berth in Union ministry. Athavale was peeved when his repeated efforts to win an entry into the UPA-I Government failed despite he going all out to appease Congress president Sonia Gandhi. His decision to breakaway from the secular front and ally with the right wing Shiv Sena although most shocking was therefore quite understandable.
Dalits are a formidable force in electoral battles in Maharashtra and their votes can swing the hustings outcome some or the other way. Fortunately for the non-Dalit political parties, Dalit votes have been split into several factions. The Republican Party of India came into existence after the demise of Dr Ambedkar and it has come to be recognised in Maharashtra as the political legacy of Dr Ambedkar. But the none of the Dalit leaders have been successful in politically uniting their community under this umbrella. Knowing the power of the Dalit votes, all political parties have tried woo to their camps leaders of various Dalit factions. The personality and thoughts of Dr Amebdkar has been a unifying factor for the Dalit community but their leaders' personal ambitions and designs of other political forces have kept the Dalit community divided and away from political power in Maharashtra for many years. It was Dr Dadasaheb Gaikwad, a close confidant of Dr Ambedkar, who first fell prey to the machination of non-Dalit politicians and left the Dalit plank in 1960s to become a Congress MP. Dadasaheb Rupawate was another Dalit leader to abandon the RPI banner to be a state minister in the Congress government. R S Gawai, present Kerala governor, who has always occupied some or the other elected or constitutional posts - be it chairman of the Maharashtra state legislative council or Rajya Sabha member – thanks to his proximity to the ruling Congress party notwithstanding the independent banner of his RPI faction.
The present generation of Dalit leaders, Athavale, Dr Ambedkar's grandson Prakash Ambedkar, Jogendra Kawade or Namdeo Dhasal have independently failed consolidate the Dalit votes. It has been proved time and again that the victory of the Dalit candidates is certain if all these leaders come under one banner. History was made Sharad Pawar of the Congress succeeded in forming an alliance with all these Dalit leaders in 1998 Lok Sabha polls and for the first time, Athavale, Kawade, Gavai and Ambedkar were elected to the Lok Sabha from reserved as well as general seats. Unity of the Dalit factions is a major threat both to the Congress-led and Shiv Sena-led fronts but this realisation has not forced the Dalit leaders to suppress their personal ambitions for the cause of the Dalit community.
Prakash Ambedkar has been consistent in shunning both the Congress and the saffron fronts but he has not been able to increase his influence beyond Akola district. He has not played any active role in increasing the influence of Bharatiya Republican Party- Bahujan Mahasangh all over the state. He has
the charisma associated with his surname but he has failed to exploit for his political good. Among all Dalit leaders in Maharashtra, it is only Athavale who had been in the corridors of power for nearly two decades, thanks to his association with Sharad Pawar. This has enabled him to emerge as the strongest Dalit leader in the state. His party has presence in various municipal corporations and councils in the state. The question is: How many Dalit voters will side with Athavale and vote for the saffron alliance. The Dalit community is certainly dismayed over the factionalisation of their votes and their marginalisation in political power. Both the Congress and the NCP have vied with each other in consolidating their Maratha votes while the BJP and Shiv Sena has in the recent past wooed the Other Backward Classes (OBCs). The Dalit votes, on the other hand, are divided among various parties, leading the community leaders nowhere. It is possible this realisation may lead to disillusioned Dalit voters to rally around Athavale – the only RPI faction leader who can pull maximum votes- no matter with which political party he decides to go along. Unlike the earlier Dalit leaders, Athavale has not sank the boat of his faction of the Republican Party of India and that stands his greatest advantage to attract those Dalits voters very conscious of their independent identity. This factor is likely to consolidate the Dalit votes in favour of Athavale's faction and prove beneficial for the saffron alliance. But if Athavale fails to win over the majority Dalit votes, that would put a question mark over the very existence of the united Dalits vote bank in the state.

Poet, missionary Rev. Narayan Vaman Tilak

Poet, missionary Rev. Narayan Vaman Tilak

A chapter from a book

'Contribution of Christian Missionaries in India'

Author : Camil Parkhe

Published by Gujarat Sahitya Prakash, Anand, Gujarat





The students of Marathi medium schools get a glimpse of personality of Rev Narayan Vaman Tilak through some lessons excerpted from the well-acclaimed autobiography of his wife, Laxmibai Tilak, entitled 'Smrutichitre' (memoirs). The students also get to know his sensitive nature when they study some of his poems on flowers, nature and birds. The title 'Phula-Mulanche Kavi' (poet of flowers and children) given to him is so meaningful. Those who study Laxmibai's 'Smrutichitre' at college level, get further opportunity to understand Rev. Tilak's multifaceted personality from close quarters. There are many dimensions to Tilak's versatile personality: the truly nationalist Tilak who immensely loved his motherland and culture, the visionary missionary who after embracing Christianity, tried to live as a complete Indian Christian, a kirtankar who composed devotional songs like bhajans, abhangas, and gave discourses through Kirtan. He evolved a new spiritual-cultural movement for the newly converted Marathi-speaking Christians in Maharashtra and thus saved them from being culturally aliens in their own country. Included among the first five modern Marathi poets, the panch-kavi, Rev Tilak occupies a most venerable position in Marathi literature and especially in Marathi Christian community. The trio of Baba Padmanji, Pandita Ramabai and Rev. Tilak has been included in the Christian personalities who greatly contributed in creating the modern Maharashtra by their services in the fields like literature, social work and spirituality.
Narayan Tilak was born at his maternal grandparents' village Karanjgaon in the Konkan region on 6 December, 1861. Like Pandita Ramabai, Rev. Tilak also belonged to Chitpavan Brahmin community. He studied Sanskrit at Nashik. He married Manubai (Mankarnika) Gokhale around 1880. This Manubai was named Laxmibai after the marriage and now she is acclaimed as one of the best autobiographers in Marathi literature.
For eleven years after their marriage, Rev. Tilak did varied jobs like Kirtankar, teacher at places like Nagpur, Vani, Mumbai, and Murbad. In 1883, he used to edit a magazine 'Rishi' devoted to the religion. Once a Christian person gave him the holy Bible to read. Thereafter, he developed an interest in studying Christianity. Gradually, he started liking the religion and embraced it in 1895. He devoted rest of his life in the service of Jesus Christ.
With his own example, Rev. Tilak proved that it was possible for Marathi Christian community to be Christians without giving up their local cultural traditions. He fulfilled spiritual needs of the local Christian community by composing Jesus-centred bhajans and kirtan and epics. This has helped to a great extent to prevent adoption of western forms of worshipping in churches in Ahmednagar, Pune, Nashik, and Aurangabad districts - the areas where thousands of people embraced Christianity in the 19th and 20th centuries. Even eight decades after his death, several Marathi hymns composed by Rev. Tilak are still sung in various Catholic and Protestant churches.
Laxmibai Tilak's Smruti-Chitre explains the sensation and shock that resulted, when Sanskrit scholar Narayan Tilak embraced Christianity. Due to conversion, he was ostracised by his close relatives and society and had to stay away from his wife Laxmibai and young son Devdatta for nearly four years. In 1890, Laxmibai defied her family members and along with their son joined her husband. However she continued with her conservative rituals and customs for quite some time even after joining her now Christian husband and refused to have contact with the people belonging to the untouchable and other lower castes.
Once, there was acute shortage of water and Laxmibai was forced to drink water offered by a Muslim woman. Immediately after having a sip, she threw up. This incident marked conversion and transformation of conservative Laxmibai to a liberal and rebel personality. The revulsion caused in her after drinking water offered by a Muslim made her change her attitude towards her fellow-beings. Gradually, she started accepting food offered by people belonging to the untouchable communities. A year after joining her husband, Laxmibai also embraced Christianity. Laxmibai has penned all these events in her and husband's lives in her autobiography. Smruti-chitre serves as a mirror reflecting the lives of this great missionary couple and the social situation prevailing in Maharashtra in the early 19th century.
Rev. Bhaskar Ujagare edited a collection of 84 poems of Rev. Tilak titled Tilakanchi Kavita (part -1) in 1914. Narasinha Chintamani Kelkar, a close associate of Lokmanya Tilak, wrote a foreword to this poetry collection.
Rev. Tilak's Khristayan was an epic based on Bible. Composed entirely as per Indian tradition, it had similarity with the Tamil epic 'Tembavani' written by Joseph Beschi alias Virmamunivar, and also with the 17th century Marathi epic Kristapuran written by Fr Thomas Stephens. Both Fr Beschi and Fr Stephens were foreigners who composed epics based on Christian themes in regional languages. Rev. Tilak was the first Indian Christian missionary who composed an epic in similar style.
Rev. Tilak wanted Indian Christian forms of worships to be deeply rooted in the local culture and traditions - a principle emphasised by the Second Vatican Council five decades later. The epic Khristayan was a part of that effort. He started writing Khristayan in 1910. Many a time, he would leave his home and stay at places like Panchgani and Bhuinj to devote himself totally to his mission of writing the epic. Towards the end of his life, he had settled at Satara with his family for the same purpose. But his wish to complete the epic did not come true. He could complete only 10 full chapters and some part of the 11th chapter of this epic before he passed away. Twelve years after his death - in 1931 - Laxmibai, decided to finish her husband's incomplete work. In the next five years, she added 64 chapters to the Khristayan. After her demise, her son Devdatta penned the concluding 76th chapter. In 1938, the epic Khristayan was published. It was edited by veteran poet S K Kanetkar alias 'Girish', (father of veteran Marathi playwright Vasant Kanetkar).
Rev. Tilak was of the view that Indian forms of worshipping like singing bhajans and conducting kirtans should also be included in Indian churches. He succeeded in introducing this tradition in churches. He wrote in his preface to his book on compilation of Abhangas - "Singing bhajans and narrating stories from mythology are the traditional ways of propagating religion which are acclaimed and upheld by the masses."
The efforts of Tilak to introduce indigenous style of worshipping in Indian churches have yielded rich dividends in Maharashtra. The faithful in Catholic and Protestant churches sing Marathi hymns to the accompaniment of harmonium, tabla and cymbals.
Tilak maintained that conversion to Christianity does not mean emigration to another country and therefore, even after conversion, people should retain their distinct cultural identity. He was truly a nationalist missionary who took pride in Indian culture. Towards the later years of his life, Rev Tilak had started using saffron clothes, which symbolised renunciation.
Prior to his conversion, once a friend asked Tilak," Will your intense patriotism remain the same once you become a Christian?" In reply to this question, Tilak composed a poem. It throws light on Tilak's patriotism. Tilak had written at the end of the poem which when broadly translated from Marathi would be as follows:- ' Oh dear friend! I might cry, might languish, work hard while living on the earth, but would die for my own country even if I become a Christian. By doing this, I would enhance the grace of Christ. Otherwise, I would be a Christian only for the namesake."
Tilak has said, ' A Christian must be like Christ. And an Indian Christian must be like an oriental Christ.'
Towards the end of the 19th century and in 20th century, hundreds of families from western Maharashtra, Marathwada and Northern Maharashtra embraced Christianity. These families did not belong to the high caste like Rev. Tilak, Fr. Nilkanthashastri (Nehemya) Gore or Pandita Ramabai. These people had belonged to different low untouchable castes and tribes. As untouchables and primitive tribes persons, they were not allowed to enter any Hindu temple those days. Denied education for centuries, they had no access to any religious books. Even after their conversion to Christianity, the high caste people continued to treat them as untouchables. The abhangas or the Marathi hymns composed by Tilak fulfilled the spiritual need of the neo-Christians who were trying to understand their new religion. The spiritual composition by a Sanskrit scholar like Rev. Tilak was also of a great literary value. Although Rev. Tilak was a Protestant, his hymns have been sung for the past several decades in Catholic churches as well.
Tilak served as an editor of a Marathi periodical 'Dnyanodaya' from 1912 till his death in 1919. The periodical, established by the American Marathi Mission in 1842, is being published to this date.
Tilak was once invited by Pandita Ramabai to stay at her village Kedgaon near Pune and help her in her ongoing work of translation of Bible into Marathi. Around 1905, Tilak along with Laxmibai and son Devdatta stayed in Kedgaon for nearly six months for this purpose. While Tilak was in Kedgaon, Ramabai published a collection of his 108 bhajans with the title of 'Bhajan Sangraha' at her printing press. She also printed its second edition later.
Tilak insisted that the girl inmates from Ramabai's 'Mukti Sadan' should be taught Christian hymns sung in Indian classical music style. He had produced the collection of hymns 'Bhajan Sangraha' for the same purpose. Before Tilak's visit to Kedgaon, Ramabai used to teach the girls to sing hymns with western music style.
Pandita Ramabai had thorough knowledge of Sanskrit. Tilak had learnt Sanskrit but he was influenced more by the literature of Marathi sants (saints) belonging to the bhakti cult. That is why he used to say that, he had reached at the Christ' feet by walking on the bridge built by Sant Tukaram. It was difficult for Tilak and Pandita Ramabai with different inclinations and bent of minds to agree upon translations of Bible. Therefore within six months, Rev. Tilak along with his family left Kedgaon.
Although Tilak left Kedgaon, his friendship with Ramabai continued. During his last days when Tilak was critically ill, Ramabai had sent Rs 100 to him through her daughter, Manorama.
Rev. Tilak's will is a testimony of his immense patriotism and his love for Indian culture. In his will, he had stated that, that his mortal remains should not be buried as per western tradition but be consigned to flames according to the Indian tradition. He also said that black colour should be banned during his funeral procession. He said that, "If my near and dear ones wanted to raise a memorial or a tomb at a place where my ashes would be kept, the following lines should be inscribed on it: - 'Pushkal ajuni una, Prabhu Mi Pushkal ajuni una re!' (Oh God! I am still incomplete. God! I am still incomplete!) There should be no prefix like 'Reverend' or 'Mr.' to my name. The name should not be written as N. V. Tilak in English but as Narayan Vaman Tilak. I have not loved my parents, wife, children, friends or even myself as much I loved my country."
Rev. Tilak passed away in J. J. Hospital in Mumbai on 9 May 1919. His last rites were performed at Worli cremation and his ashes were buried in a tomb in Ahmednagar.. Rev. Tilak's favourite Marathi poem ' Pushkal Ajuni Una' and a poetic tribute by poet Madhav Julian have been inscribed on a marble plaque at his memorial.


References:-

1.'Smrutichitre' (Marathi) by Laxmibai Tilak, Devdatta Tilak, Editor- Ashok Devdatta Tilak, Abhinav edition, 1973, Publisher- Ashok Devdatta Tilak, Nagrik Press, Ramkrishna Paramhans Path, Nashik, Maharashtra, 422 002.

2.'Dnyanodayachya Panatun Maharashtrachya Prabodhanacha Magova' (Marathi) (A review of the awakening in Maharashtra through the pages of Dnyadodaya) (1842-1992) Edited by - Prof. Sudhir Sharma and Vijaya Punekar. Publishers- Dnyanodaya Trust, Joohi, Pathardi Road, Bhingar, Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, 414 002, (1997)

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