I am Swati Deshpande, Swati Gopal Hirve of Purvashram. Father Gopalrao and Uncle Keshavrao are both very staunch and loyal Swayamsevaks of the Sangh. We lived in the old Wada (mansion) of the Govardhan office near Moti Bagh. My mother was a member of the Samiti as well as a Jana Sangh (Team Rambhau Mhalgi) karyakarta.
In 1975, Indira Gandhi imposed a state of emergency throughout the country, and the Sangh was banned. Sangh karyakartas were arrested everywhere and imprisoned in Misa Khali Jail. A big movement was organised against this oppression. The protesters were going to jail after carrying out Satyagraha. My grandfather took a leave of absence from his job at a private company and participated in the Satyagraha. He was imprisoned in Visapur Jail. Now, when he was afraid that his job would be lost, he later got a secret promotion for this. As soon as he was released from jail, my mother also took part in the Satyagraha organised by the Samiti Sevikas and was imprisoned in the Yerwada jail. While the police were on guard at Appa Balwant Chowk, suddenly, anti-emergency slogans could be heard from the crowd on all four streets. It is notable that ordinary housewives also took to the streets in this way to protest against the oppression of the powerful.
While in jail, my mother befriended many luminaries, including Jayawanti ben Mehta and Sumati tai Suklikar. This friendship endured for many years, sustained by the regular exchange of letters between them.
When her brother’s marriage was fixed, the eyebrows of the family members were raised when they were told that the future mother-in-law and son-in-law had served time in prison. However, when they found out the reason, they were relieved to know that their daughter was going to the right house.
Our Wada had become the centre of a national movement. When one person was released from jail, another would follow them by engaging in Satyagraha. Some Swayamsevaks would get police custody and would be beaten inhumanly. Our elder sister, Smt. Jyoti used to do the very risky job of delivering home-cooked tiffin boxes to them. They would spread plastic in the open square in the Wada, prepare pickles and murabbas (jams or marmalades) on it, and the filled jars would be sent to Yerwada jail. When the police guard’s warnings were challenged around Sankranti, and the truck filled with gulpolis (jaggery roti) was collected and sent to the jail, even the police system was speechless. Such Sangh Shakti and the participation of common people was indeed very heartwarming.
