Vinayak D. Savarkar (1883-1966)
Scholar, Leader, Mahä-Patriot
Veer Savarkar, as he is known among his followers,
urged to build a militarily strong India.

Born Leader

Savarkar could be called a born rebel. He organized a gang of kids ,Vanarsena (Monkey Brigade) when he was just eleven. A fearless individual, he wanted everybody around him to become physically strong and able to face any disasters-- natural or man-made. He conducted long tours, hiking, swimming and mountaineering around Nasik, his birthplace in Maharashtra.

During his high school days, he used to organize Shivaji Utsav and Ganesh Utsav, started by Tilak (whom Savarkar considered as his Guru) and used these occasions to put up plays on nationalistic themes. He started writing poems, essays, plays, etc. to inspire people, which he had developed as a passion.

Later he went to Pune for college education and founded the "Abhinav Bharat Society". As a serious student of nationalism he found bigger venue now; with growing youngsters, he bloomed as a leader as well. All political activities were banned by the ruling British then and he had to undertake all transactions, communications in secret and was expelled from hostel and at one point from the college as well. But since he managed to get the prestigious Shivaji scholarship (named after Shivaji) to study law at London, the college authorities had to make way for his scholastic journey!