![]() Mahadev Govind Ranade hailing from Mumbai, was one of the most ardent supporters of women's rights and liberation. Justice Mahadev Govind Ranade graduated from Elphinstone College in Mumbai and became a teacher and journalist. Like so many other young men of his generation, he questioned the customs and beliefs of his society. In 1869 Ranade joined the Widow Marriage Association, and in 1870 the Prarthana Samaj. At first, he and his colleagues were engaged in "intellectual protest against superficial dogmas untenable for a rational mind," but later they became more interested in social action. Ranade was a significant reformer who, in his own way, did much for the advancement of women from their repressive situation in nineteenth century India. Tarabai Shinde was actually an associate of the social activists named Jyotirao Phule and Savitribai Phule and was a member of their Satyashodak Samaj ("Truth Finding Community") organisation. The Phules had actually started the first school for the lower class girls in the year 1848 as well as a shelter for upper class widows in 1854 (who were forced not to remarry), and also shared with the Shinde an awareness of the separate axes of oppression that also constitute gender and caste, as well as the mixed nature of the two. Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar instilled patriotism in the hearts of millions of youths of the country. He explained to them the Hindu way of life and philosophy in simple words. Like a true friend, he shared in the joys and sorrows of his countrymen. He transformed them into effective instruments for the worship of Bharat Mata as her worthy children. He demonstrated that strength derives from organization. He travelled untiringly through the length and breadth of the country almost a hundred times during the 33 years of his glorious tenure as Sarsanghchalak, kindling in the society the immortal flame of enduring love for the Motherland. |