Dattatreya Balkrishna Kalelkar (1 December 1885 – 21 August 1981), popularly known as Kaka Kalelkar, was an Indian independence activist, social reformer, journalist and an eminent follower of the philosophy and methods of Mahatma Gandhi.

Biography

Kalelkar was born in Satara on 1 December 1885. His family's ancestral village of Kaleli, near

Sawantwadi Sawantwadi an aesthetic land of artists, is an integral part of the Konkan region which is in the mid-western coast of India. The western coast of India since 1510 A.D. has assumed great importance in Indian history and history of internationa ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

, gave him his surname Kalelkar. He matriculated in 1903 and completed B.A. in Philosophy from Fergusson College, Pune in 1907. He appeared in the first year examination of LL.B. and joined Ganesh Vidyalaya in Belgaum in 1908. He worked for a while on the editorial staff of a nationalistic Marathi daily named ''Rashtramat'', and then as a teacher at a school named Ganganath Vidyalaya in

Baroda Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district and is situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River, from the state capital ...

in 1910. In 1912, the British government forcibly closed down the school because of its nationalistic spirit. He traveled to the Himalayas by foot and later joined

Acharya Kripalani Jivatram Bhagwandas Kripalani (11 November 1888 – 19 March 1982), popularly known as Acharya Kripalani, was an Indian politician, noted particularly for holding the presidency of the Indian National Congress during the transfer of power in 1 ...

on a visit to

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

(

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

) in 1913. He first met

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

in 1915. Influenced by Gandhi, he became member of

Sabarmati Ashram Sabarmati Ashram (also known as Gandhi Ashram) is located in the Sabarmati suburb of Ahmedabad, Gujarat, adjoining the Ashram Road, on the banks of the River Sabarmati, from the town hall. This was one of the many residences of Mahatma Gandh ...

. He taught at Rashtriya Shala of Sabarmati Ashram. For some time, he served as the editor of ''Sarwodaya'' periodical which was run from the premises of the Ashram. He was imprisoned several times due to his participation in

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...

. With Gandhi's encouragement, he played an active role in establishing

Gujarat Vidyapith Gujarat Vidyapith is a deemed university in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. It was founded in 1920 by Mahatma Gandhi, the leader of the Indian independence movement, and deemed a university in 1963. Etymology "Vidyapith," in many languages of ...

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (per t ...

, and served as its vice-chancellor from 1928 to 1935. He retired from Gujarat Vidyapith in 1939. Mahatma Gandhi called him ''Savai Gujarati'', a quarter more than a Gujarati. In 1935, Kalelkar became member of ''Rashtabhasha Samiti'', a committee whose objective was to popularize

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

- Hindustani language as the national language of India. He was active with Gandhi Smarak Nidhi from 1948 to his death. He was appointed a member of

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...

from 1952 to 1964 and later appointed a president of Backward Classes Commission in 1953. He presided over

Gujarati Sahitya Parishad Gujarati Sahitya Parishad () is a literary organisation for the promotion of Gujarati literature located in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. It was founded by Ranjitram Mehta with the aim of creating literature appealing to all classes of society an ...

in 1959. He established Gandhi Vidyapith, Vedchhi in 1967 and served as its vice chancellor. He died on 21 August 1981.

Selected works

Kalelkar wrote several books, including voluminous travelogues, in

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub ...

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

, and

. The following is a partial list of Kalelkar's books: * Quintessence of Gandhian Thought (English) * Profiles in Inspiration (English) * Stray Glimpses of Bapu (English) * Mahatma Gandhi's Gospel of Swadeshi (English) * Mahatma Gandhi Ka Swadeshi Dharma (Hindi) * Rashtriya Shiksha Ka Adarsha (Hindi) * Smaran Yatra (Marathi) * Uttarekadil Bhinti (Marathi) (also translated into English as ''Even behind the Bars'') * Hindalgyacha Prasad (Marathi) * Lok-Mata (Marathi) * Latanche Tandav (Marathi) * Himalayatil Pravas (Marathi) * Himalayano Pravas (Gujarati) * Jeevan-Vyavastha (Gujarati) * Purva Africaman (Gujarati) * Jivavano Anand (Gujarati) * Jivata Tehvaro (Gujarati) * Mara Sansmarano (Gujarati) * Ugamano Desh (Gujarati) * Otterati Divaro (Gujarati) (also translated into English as ''Even behind the Bars'') * Brahmadeshano Pravas (Gujarati) * Rakhadvano Anand (Gujarati) * Multi-Part Kaka Kalelkar Granthawali ** Part 5: Atmacharitra ** Part 6: Charitra Kirtan ** Part 7: Geeta darshan ** Part 8: Dharma ** Part 9: Sahitya ** Part 10: Diary ** Part 11: Patra **Sahijan ka ped

Recognition

Kalelkar received a

Sahitya Akademi Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

in 1965 for his ''Jeevan-Vyavastha'', a collection of essays in Gujarati. He was honored with

Sahitya Akademi Fellowship The Sahitya Akademi Fellowship is a literary honour in India bestowed by the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters.Quote: "In his acceptance speech when India's National Academy of Letters (Sahitya Akademi) in 1997 conferred its h ...

in 1971 for his literary achievements. The Government of India conferred on him

Padma Vibhushan The Padma Vibhushan ("Lotus Decoration") is the second-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "exceptional and distinguished service" ...

(India's second-highest civilian award after the

Bharat Ratna The Bharat Ratna (; ''Jewel of India'') is the highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conferred in recognition of "exceptional service/performance of the highest orde ...

) in 1964. It also issued a commemorative stamp in his honor in 1985.

Biography

Selected works

Recognition

References

Further reading