Thread by @dhavalkulkarni

#MahatmaGandhi had a complex relationship with Maharashtra, where his mentor Gopal Krishna Gokhale hailed from.

This thread is about #Gandhi and his relationship with #Marathi (and #Maharashtra)

#thread

#Maharashtra produced some of his staunchest supporters like Acharya Vinoba Bhave and Sitaram ‘Appasaheb’ Patwardhan, who was referred to as the ‘Konkan Gandhi,’ and his most bitter critics, like Dr #BabasahebAmbedkar and V.D. #Savarkar.

Eventually, a man from #Maharashtra--#NathuramGodse, killed #Gandhi.

In South Africa, #Gandhi acquired functional knowledge of #Tamil as he had to work among the Tamil indentured labourers. He also learnt #Urdu.

After returning to India, he decided to learn #Marathi in 1915. In December that year, he replied to a letter by an office bearer of the Servants of India Society, #Pune, in Marathi, that too in his own hand.

The letter from the Society was in English. Bapu would read his reply aloud in Gujarati and Kakasaheb Kalelkar would translate it into Marathi.

Kalelkar says that he asked Gandhi to sign off with the standard line: Lobh asawa hi vinanti (May your love or warmth continue). Gandhi interpreted the word 'Lobh' as greed and replied: 'Actually, it should be Lobh nasava' Kalelkar explained that Lobh means love or warmth.

Later, #Gandhiji realised that there were #Maharashtrian families in his ashram and started reading 'Manache Shlok' by Samartha Ramdas Swami in his daily prayer meeting.

However, he could not attain fluency when it came to spoken #Marathi.

During his interment at the #Yerwada jail in #Pune, #Gandhi translated seven abhangs of Saint Tukaram. They were translated from Marathi to English. He was deeply influenced by this poet-saint.

In the Yerwada jail, Gandhi asked Kalelkar to teach him #Marathi. Kalelkar taught him using textbooks. Gandhi made substantial progress. When it came to handwriting, he was influenced by the references in 'Dasbodh' written by Samartha Ramdas to how it should be.

Kalelkar's wife Kaki would always speak to #Gandhi in #Marathi. This would be translated into Gujarati by Mahadevbhai Desai, his personal assistant.

Though it is (wrongly) believed that #LokmanyaTilak and #MahatmaGandhi were poles apart, #Tilak too had referred to #Gandhi as a #Mahatma in his introduction to #Gandhiji's biography written by Avantikabai Gokhale in 1918. This is the first biography of Gandhi in #Marathi.