Ranade, although not an orthodox bigot yet was a religious person in respect of certain customs and rituals. He would get up at wee hours to meditate or sing prayers.
Gokhale did have faith in the religion but he was no dogmatic or ritualist. He did nothing to proclaim his faith.
In 1897 Gokhale and Ranade were returning home after attending Amravati Congress Session by train. They were alone in their compartment. Some noise woke up Gokhale at 4 a.m. He opened his eyes to find Ranade singing a prayer to the rhythm of the clapping of hands with child-like enthusiasm and happiness. The devotion of Ranade deeply moved Gokhale.
He stared at Ranade.
It was a moment of revelation for him. Several thoughts crossed his mind. He was surprised to see the flushed face of his guru and wondered at the kind of pure joy Ranade got from his devotion.
On 18th February, 1898 he wrote in his diary ‘With the blessing of Almighty God I will try to accomplish the following acts with true resolve:
Regular yoga exercises.
Will study Ancient History, Ancient and Modern Philosophies, Astronomy, Geophysics, Biology, Psychology and French language.
Will try to become a member of Bombay State Council or Supreme Council or British Parliament.
Will follow sublime religion based on philosophy and preach it.
His wish to discover sublime religion based on philosophy may have been evoked by the happiness he saw Ranade flushed with in that train journey.
But it was surprising why he wanted to study astronomy and geophysics. Gokhale himself never provided any explanation in that respect. As far as learning French was concerned, it made sense because French was a world class language next only to English.
In 1900 his second wife died leaving him alone on the domestic front.
In 1901 Ranade passed away.
It was a great loss to him and he was grief stricken. The world appeared an empty place to him. In the absence of marital bliss Gokhale used to find solace in the company of his guru, Ranade to whom he always remained indebted for providing guidance to him.
At the demise of Ranade he wrote—‘After the death of Ranade I feel darkness all around me. Whatever respect comes to me fails to give me any joy or encouragement. In this hour any greeting makes me feel like a man in the death mourning being feted.’
Gokhale wrote in an article—‘If today we see high spirits and resistance (to colonial rule) in Maharashtra it is the result of the relentless efforts put in by Ranade for the past 25 years. His success was based on patience, craft and commitment.’
Public life
Gopal Krishna Gokhale began his public life as a minister of ‘Public Forum’ set up by Deccan Education Society. Several members of the society had opposed the appointment of Gokhale for that post.
Bal Gangadhar Tilak was one of them.
The opposition was not born out of differences or disapproval of him. Most of them thought that the responsibility of ‘Public Forum’s’ work would interfere with his teaching duties.
But nevertheless Gokhale was elected to the job. After the election he declared that he would serve as the minister in honorary capacity and would not take Rs. 40 per month allowance the responsibility carried.
He looked after forum work under the supervision of Ranade.
Since Tilak had opposed his nomination on the grounds of the principle a crack appeared between their relationship. This chasm was never filled for no fault of either of them.
Before coming into the existence of Congress party this ‘Public Forum’ was the only stage for the people to air their grievances. Hence it was very popular and active. All the major cities had their own respective Public Forums.
Bombay also had one which was founded by Dada Bhai Naoroji in 1853. It was called ‘Bombay Association’. 14 years later ‘Poona Association’ came into existence. Later, the same came to be known as ‘Public Forum’.
The main function of this organisation was to attract the attention of the government to the problems of the people and their aspirations. Later the government banned this organisation but it continued its work secretly.
The Public Forum of Poona was founded by G.B. Joshi who was endearingly called ‘Public Kaka’ by the people. He was a selfless hard worker, loved and admired by the general public.
The forum had no dearth of workers. The princely state employees and even the government servants were connected to it. But the real inputs were made by G.B. Joshi and Ranade. Ranade was not a member of this forum but he loved to work for it as a volunteer.
The forum was carrying on its work by personal contacts and bulletins. It was not involved in the politics of demonstrations or pickets.
Gopal Krishna Gokhale had to put in a lot of work and effort as the minister of the forum which kept him busy all the time. He had to face all the problems and the hardships. The forum used to bring out a trimonthly magazine. Its editing was also done by Gokhale.