Pictorial Biography of the Founder of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan
Publisher : Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan
Pages : 64
Price : Rs. 100
Kanaiyalal Maneklal Munshi was a multifaceted personality. Founder of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, he was also a lawyer, a freedom fighter, writer, administrator, maker of the constitution, educationist, champion of Indian culture and much more.
In the 125th year of his birth and in the 75th year of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, this pictorial biography has been produced which is a source of inspiration to many. The book will inspire the readers as it shows him as a normal flesh and blood man with worries, tensions and shortcomings which he overcame to realise his ideals.
Born on December 30, 1887, in Broach, Gujarat, Munshi was a voracious reader of books from which he drew his ideals. An incident in his early life made him think deeply. His father, a Deputy Collector, was not allowed to drive to the British collector’s house but asked to walk to it. This racial discrimination wounded him deeply, probably spurred him into being deeply involved in the freedom movement in later life. The book gives details of how his life was moulded by several such incidents which made him a strong personality.
In his very first public talk on Shivaji, he realised that his voice was not good and that he was nervous. He practiced and improved his diction and his confidence which helped him greatly in the years to come. The death of his father affected him greatly and he became his family’s sole supporter. He worked in the mornings and attended law classes in the afternoon. Though he did not pass the law examination at the first attempt, he did not give up but persevered till he succeeded.
Meanwhile he wrote books, dramas and articles. His ‘Prithvivallabh’ ‘Verni Vasulat’ ‘Pattani Prabhuta’ took him to great literary heights.
The book under review, ‘Kulapati Munshi’ focuses on his political career and traces the freedom struggle days and puts life into great people like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Bhulabhai Desai, Jinha and others who are history to the present generation. Satyagraha, nonviolence, salt revolution, imprisonment, were part of the struggle for freedom from British rule in which Munshi participated. Side by side he continued with his writing, and forays into the cultural scene.
Kulapati Munshi founded Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in 1938 with the blessings of Mahatma Gandhi. It is here that the reader wishes that the book could have focused a bit more on this great institution which has won the International Gandhi Peace Prize, Communal Harmony Award, Rajiv Gandhi Award for National Integration, Educational Institution of National Eminence that has grown into a comprehensive, co-operative, apolitical, national movement with an international outlook.
After India won Independence Munshi was appointed to the Expert Committee of the Constituent Assembly which framed the Constitution of India and was appointed the Agent General of India in Hyderabad and went on to become the Union Minister for Food and Agriculture and held several other posts. It must have been very difficult for the writer of ‘Kulapati Munshi’ to compress the achievements and greatness of a versatile giant like Munshi into just 64 pages. The crispness of the script makes it a pleasure to read the book which is a source of inspiration to all who read it. A product of the Amrita Bharati team of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, the production of the book is beautiful. A must-read for people of all generations.
The book was released in January by Shri H.N.Dastur, Executive Secretary and Director General of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in Vashi, Navi Mumbai.