My Great Grand Father
My Great Grand Father
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Girirao Anna Ghate Jagirdar (1870-1939) was born in Yavali. Yavali is a small village in Barshi taluka of Solapur district. Girirao Anna was the only son of Madhavrao; hailing from Jahgirdar family of the village. Girirao was very intelligent since childhood. Madhavrao wanted his son to study a lot. Though Madhavrao was well-off enough to take care of studies of Girirao, there was no facility of education in Yavali or nearby. So Madhavrao decided to send Girirao to study with his relatives in Gulbarga.
Girirao's primary education was completed in Marathi. In school, Girirao was considered very intelligent. He was very good at reciting Sanskrit shlokas and prayers. As Gulbarga was under Nizam rule at that time, secondary and higher education was in Urdu. That’s how Girirao had mastery over Marathi as well as Sanskrit and Urdu. Girirao passed the bar examination and obtained a bar certificate. He started practicing law in the Gulbarga Sessions Court. Girirao was married to Subhadrabai. The couple was blessed with a son in 1902. He was fondly named Balwant. Girirao practiced law in the Gulbarga Sessions Court for twenty-five years from 1990 to 1916. At that time there were very few Hindu lawyers. Girirao was leading one amongst them.
Son Balwant was studying in Nutan Vidyalay at Gulbarga till 5th standard. Balwant passed 5th standard in 1916 with special rank. But Girirao was not satisfied with Balwant's education in Gulbarga. He thought of providing higher education to Balawant in Pune. At that time there was a different atmosphere of education in Pune. Pune had many famous schools like New English School, Nutan Marathi Vidyalaya, Hujurpaga etc. While there were many renowned colleges like Deccan college, Fergusson College, Law College etc. Girirao decided to migrate to Pune for Balwant's education. He had to leave his twenty-five-year-old practice in Gulbarga and go for a small job in Pune. But Girirao felt that sacrifice was worth for his son's future.
Girirao accepted a job in Pune with a salary of meger Rs 40 per month and enrolled Balwant in the Nutan Marathi Vidyalaya in Pune. Later, Balwant completed his matriculation from Nutan Marathi Vidyalaya and BA from Fergusson College and graduated from Pune's Law College with top honors and proved Girirao’s sacrifice a worth. After completing his studies, Balwantrao went back to Gulbarga to practice law.
After retirement, however, Girirao preferred to go to his native village Yavali and be a farmer like his father. During the later years, he fell from stairs and became permanently disabled with one leg. Girirao Anna died around 1939 at the age of seventy at his residence in Yavali.
Varkari Literature & Spirituality
The originator of the Ghate family, Adinarayan Maharaj was a Pandurang devotee and a saint. Girirao Anna had the rich legacy of this varkari literature and was proud of it. He had an in-depth study of varkari literature, ancient Marathi literature and especially the writings of Sant Tukaram. Girirao had very good oratory skills. This helped him in delivering fluent lectures on Tukaram Maharaj and varkari literature.
At that time the famous social reformer Justice Mahadev Govind Ranade started a series of lectures named “Vasant Vyakhyan Mala”. Eminent speakers from many disciplines used to deliver their lectures in this annual festival.
In those days, the speeches of famous intellectuals like Namdar Gokhale, Lokmanya Tilak, Gopal Agarkar, Vishnushastri Chiplunkar, Mahadev Namjoshi were held in Vasant Vyakhyan Mala. In this series of lectures, there is usually a keynote speaker who used to speak and then several sub-speakers used to speak on the same topic. Girirao had delivered lectures as sub-speaker in this lecture series many times. Not only this, but the lecture given by him as the keynote speaker on Sant Tukaram became very famous. At that time, most intellectuals were from Pune and Mumbai. But Girirao's speech made Girirao and Gulbarga famous not only in Pune but also in other Marathi speaking areas.
Girirao Anna used to visit Pandharpur for Kartikwari without fail. He was able to listen to many spiritual leaders during his visit and meet them personally. Girirao Anna himself also used to speak on Tukaram Maharaj. On one of the occasions of this Mahotsav, Girirao Anna met Pandit Dhundamaharaj Deglurkar. Pandit Dhunda Maharaj was much younger to Girirao. However he was highly impressed with his spirituality. Girirao introduced him to his son Balwantrao. The Ghate family continued their spiritual attachment with Dhunda Maharaj for two generations.
Education and Literacy
While practicing in Gulbarga, he became friends with his fellow lawyers, Keshavrao Koratkar and Vitthalrao Deulgaonkar. All three of them were committed to social reforms. The dream of the three was to build an able generation in Marathwada by spreading education. In 1908 Vitthalrao Deulgaonkar established Nutan Vidyalaya in Gulbarga and Keshavrao Koratkar established Vivek Vardhini School in Hyderabad. Girirao contributed a lot in the construction of both the schools. He was one of the founding members of Nutan Vidyalaya and also worked as trasurer of the organization for a few years.
ideological influence
Girirao had close relations with Shrikrishna Neelkanth Chaphekar. When Girirao used to visit Pune, he used to often stay with Shri S.N. Chafekar. Shri S.N. Chafekar was a famous poet and critic of Marathi drama and literature of that time. He worked for many years as a professor at Deccan College and Fergusson College, Pune. He is the younger brother of famous Marathi drama actor Shankar Neelkanth Chaphekar.
Gurudev Ranade was a famous professor of philosophy and a spiritual guide. Gurudev Ranade served as the Principal of Fergusson College and later served as Head of Philosophy at Allahabad University for many years. Girirao Anna had a good relationship with Gurudev Ranade. Although Gurudev Ranade was much younger than Girirao Anna, Girirao had great respect for Gurudev Ranade.
Girirao was a believer of moderates. He was of the opinion that before getting freedom from Nizam or British, it is necessary to get rid of illiteracy and wrong customs in the society. But he had affection for his fellows who fought for freedom. The Nizam government banned the National Congress in Hyderabad. As an alternative to that, an organization was started in Hyderabad by the name of 'Maharashtra Parishad'. As the real purpose of this organization was well known, it was difficult to get a space for their office on rent in Hyderabad. Girirao Anna had a space in the residency area in Hyderabad. He offered it to the Maharashtra Parishad. Although it seems to be simple matter today, very few people had the courage to do it at that time.
Girirao recognized the intelligence of his son Balwantrao. Girirao had given up his practice as lawyer for Balwantrao's education. Balwantrao was fully aware of this. Balawantrao had a great influence of his father. Balwantrao went on the path of spirituality and social service laid down by Girirao. Later he founded Eknath Sanshodhan Mandir for the study of varkari literature. He was instrumental in starting schools at Aurangabad and Yavali. He finally completed the unfinished work of Girirao.
Girish Ghate
On the first death anniversary of Anna Saheb, a book was published by the name "Justice Balawant Girirao Ghate - Smritigandh" which was co-edited by Shri Prabhakar Rao Ghate and published by Eknath Sanshodhan Mandir. References in this article have been drawn from this book.
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