Sane Guruji

Early life

Sane Guruji's father, Sadashivrao lived in the village of Palgad, located in the Konkan region of Maharashtra. He worked as the revenue collector of the village. The household of a revenue collector is considered to be rich and prosperous and the same was true regarding Sadashivrao's father. However, once Sadashivrao took over the work from his father, his financial condition started to deteriorate. This even led to their house being confiscated by the government authorities. Sane Guruji was was born in this household besieged with financial crisis on 24 December 1899. Guruji's mother's name was Yashoda. Since childhood, Guruji had immense love for his mother. In his book 'Shyamchi Aai' (Shyam's Mother) Guruji fondly recalls his memories of his mother. The sanskars imbibed in Guruji's mind by his mother helped shape his personality. Guruji's mother used to teach him that one should always have love for one and all. Sane Guruji's mind was very emotional and sensitive. That is why it was easy for his mother to imbibe the quality of benevolence in his young mind.

Sane Guruji's literary works

Sane Guruji has plenty of literature to his credit. This includes novels, essays, poems, biographies, plays, etc. Guruji's writings display enormous passion, love and affection. His simple language with a peculiar flow and perception endears his writing to everyone. All of Guruji's works were aimed at betterment of the society. Through his writings he has expressed his thoughts on political, social and educational issues. Art of the sake of art or art to eke out a living was not the objective of his writings. In fact, through his writings he expressed all of his life experiences and his thoughts about society. He has described many common household incidences in very natural manner. Guruji's writings are cherished by all, adults as well as children alike. He wrote many books and biographies guiding and inspiring the youth to achieve their goal. He also wrote many articles and essays useful to adults. He also wrote articles on the life of women. Amongst this abundant collection of writings, the most well-known books are 'Shyamchi Aai' and 'Shyam'.

Antarbharati

One of Guruji's biggest initiatives was the starting of the Antarbharati (which literally means, 'Inter-Indian') movement. Guruji realised that the envy between people of different regions and states of Bharat (India) was not yet abolished. He realised that the British rule is obstructing the unity of the nation. So, in order to eliminate envy and develop brotherhood between people belonging to different regions of the country, he started the Antarbharati movement. His aim was that people from different regions should learn the language and customs of other regions and states. For this he started to collect money. While speaking during the 'Maharashtra Sahitya Sammelan' he expressed his idea of starting a centre like Shantiniketan of Rabindranath Tagore, wherein people could learn various Bharatiya languages. However, this dream of Guruji remained unrealised, as he passed away on 11 June 1950.