Page 41 - NIS English 01-15 November 2022

Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav Nation
MAHATMA GANDHI CONSIDERED
JAMNALAL BAJAJ TO BE
HIS FIFTH SON
Born: November 4, 1889; died: February 11, 1942
t the age of five, Jamnalal Bajaj, who
Awas born on November 4, 1889, to a
poor farmer named Kaniram in Kashi Ka
Vaas, a small village in Jaipur district, was
adopted by Seth Bachhraj, a wealthy Wardha
man. Seth Bachhraj was a resident of
Sikar. His forefathers had settled in Nagpur
125 years ago. The atmosphere of luxury
and opulence could not affect this child
because he was spiritually inclined since
childhood. He eventually joined the freedom
movement. He was initially influenced by the
freedom movement after meeting Madan
Mohan Malviya. When Bal
Gangadhar Tilak advertised HE EVEN GAVE GANDHIJI
for a Hindi version of his HIS GARDEN TO
Marathi magazine Kesari in ESTABLISH THE ALL INDIA
1906, the young Jamnalal VILLAGE INDUSTRIES
went to Tilak and gave ASSOCIATION.
him the hundred rupees he
had saved from his pocket
money. Jamnalal was an industrialist, but
he led a simple life. He was said to be such
a simple person that when he was asked to
wear a diamond and emerald necklace, he
chose to leave the house rather than wear
it. Jamnanal Bajaj was a close associate of
Mahatma Gandhi and was highly influenced
by him. After his return from South Africa in
1915, Jamnalal assisted Mahatma Gandhi
in establishing an ashram in Sabarmati.
He also advised Mahatma Gandhi to make
Wardha the focal point of the freedom
struggle. He also accompanied Mahatma
Gandhi to the ashram. In 1920, Nagpur
hosted a Congress session. Jamnalal made
an unusual proposal at that convention.
He stated in this proposal that he wishes
to become Bapu's 5th son and adopt
Gandhiji as his father. At first, Mahatma
Gandhi was taken aback by the proposal,
but he eventually accepted Jamnalal as his
fifth son. They were reconciled now that
Jamnalal had become Gandhi's fifth son,
and they occasionally discussed themselves
in letters. Jamnalal was often referred to as
Mahatma Gandhi's fifth son.
Jamnalal, who founded the Bajaj Group
of Companies in the 1920s,
believed in Mahatma Gandhi's
vision of eradicating poverty in
India through the production
of goods in cottage industries.
In 1921, he renounced the
British government's title of
Rai Bahadur and joined the
Non-Cooperation Movement. Later, in 1923,
he participated in the Flag Satyagraha,
which defied a ban on hoisting the national
flag. He was arrested by the British army
as a result of this. In his home town of
Wardha, he fought to lift the ban on so-
called backward castes entering Hindu
temples. When orthodox Hindu priests and
Brahmins opposed him, he opened the
Lakshmi Narayan Mandir, his family temple
for backward castes, in Wardha in 1928. The
Jamnalal Bajaj Award was instituted by the
Bajaj Foundation in recognition of his social
work.
New India Samachar November 1-15, 2022 39