Page 81 - Swatantrata to Atmanirbharta : Lokmanya Tilak’s legacy

ancestors. Tilak thought of disseminating such information
through the medium of Kirtans. This idea was opposed by
many of the eminent old school Kirtan performers of the time.
However those who felt the idea worth trying started performing
National Kirtans. Narration of the Bhagwat puraan was
replaced by Mahabharat and historical stories of valour which
was followed by stories about Shivaji Maharaj, Rana Pratap,
Rani of Jhansi and many more. Tilak’s views about freedom,
swadeshi, boycott and national education were disseminated
through Kirtans. He transformed Kirtans into a tool for reaching
out to the common man and gained support from them for the
freedom movement.
Cinema and Stage Plays

Tilak sensed the potential of cinema and stage plays as an
effective medium. The dialogs in plays like Sangeet Swayamwar
were written in such a way that would depict the pros and cons
of war situations, victory determined by the strength of the
warriors, freedom of thought and many more thought provoking
phrases. The plays would camouflage the real agenda.
The focus on freedom struggle and nationalism through
every possible medium, made the people aware of their misery
and got them involved in a single goal. Whether it was Ganesh
Festival, Shiva Jayanti, paintings, or sculptors the message was
clear!

The social media today is a powerful and influencing
medium. The number of digital options to seek attention are
umpteen. We brainstorm keywords to improve the reach to the
viewers, and in spite of the likes, shares and subscriptions we
fail to make an impact. What we probably need is to look for
pain points of the masses to make an impact. The medium is
popular for advertising and marketing, we need to think of its
judicious use for a national objective.
The digital media today and available channels of today
need to learn from the legendary journalists like the Lokmanya
Tilak. The focus was on bringing about a change in the masses
through education, awareness, all focussed towards a national
agenda.

79 Swatantrata to Atmanirbharata