A self-proclaimed Gandhian, his day starts early when he goes for his three-kilometer walk. After doing yoga at home, a light breakfast and he is waiting for his executive assistant to come. At 90, Ramdas Bhatkal has a busier life than most of his age. Two strokes and one surgery have not slowed him down.
“I think I am 25, calendar and people say I am 90!” says Bhatkal with his signature smile. “On a serious note… I really don’t count my age. Others do. They say I don’t act my age. I feel like a 25/30-year-old and therefore I act like one!”
At 90, when most have made their Will and are not planning anything new, Ramdas Bhatkal is in midst of research for the three books that he plans to write. And he confesses that he made his Will just two months ago when some of his friends forced him to. “I just didn’t realise that I might die now!” he shares. “So never made the will.”
Which are the books that he is planning? “Three definitely… but actually I have a few others in my mind as well… but since everyone keeps reminding me that I might not have many days in hand, I say three…” Bhatkal clarifies.
“First book that I am writing is a sequel to my earlier book – Mohan Maya – on Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. It is called Mohan Shodh. In Mohan Maya I’ve really written about Gandhi and his friends. In the new one I’ve tried to examine the impact of others on Gandhi. I have already written a few articles – Sarojini Naidu, Charles Andrews, Swami Shraddhanand etc. These are the people whom Gandhi met immediately on his return to India direct. And they have had an influence on him to a certain extent. He learned different things, selflessness, and the fearlessness and various qualities though not directly. I want to, of course, write a long piece on Gandhi and Tagore in the book,” Bhatkal elucidated.
Bhatkal’s second book is a compilation of articles that he has written so far about Gandhi. “It needs editing. Some of them must be updated. I realized that though I have written on many subjects including Marathi literature, quite a few are about Gandhi. The book is called Gandhi Shatavadhani.”
The third book is the most interesting one. “The third book is rather funny. And never thought I’ll write on Savarkar because I am not a great admirer of him,” Bhatkal admits. “Yet I am greatly interested in human relationships. And I found that Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and his two brothers Ganesh and Narayan. They were all revolutionaries, and yet there are some subtle differences between the three of them and so I’m trying to examine this relationship so the title of that book is Savarkar – Teen Bhavanchi Goshta.”
Bhatkal did his doctorate on Gandhi and his adversaries when he was well above 70. “That thesis is something I want to publish as a book,” he shares. “This is a project that has been on mind since long. However, it needs to be edited to make it readable for everyone, not just scholars. Also, my thesis has only Ambedkar and Savarkar as his adversaries. But in the book, I also want to add Jinnah.”
Bhatkal is a trained Indian classical singer, and he went back to learning music in his mid or late 40s. “I learnt singing when I was around 11 from SCR Bhat in a girls’ class because of my voice quality. I quit after a couple of years. Before that I learnt table for a couple of years. Music was in my genes. However, it took 30 years and my son Satyajit’s prodding for me to go back to singing seriously,” Bhatkal tells. “When Satyajit was learning sitar, I used to discuss the nuances with him. He said to me ‘Baba you are wasting your talent. You must take up music seriously. And I did. I went back to SCR Bhat who taught me raagdari. And I have been singing since then.”
You also had a stint with flying? “Oh yes!” he adds enthusiastically. “My friend was a member of flying club and he took me for a joy ride once. I loved it so much that I asked him if I too can learn. On his positive response, I immediately enrolled for classes and learnt how to fly. But that remained a hobby that I never further pursued.”
You wanted to be a professor, did your father persuade you to join the family business at Popular? “Not really,” he says. “One of my professors told me that whatever I wanted to achieve by being a professor will be better achieved if I become a publisher.” And what was it that you wanted to achieve? “I wanted to be a medium to educate and innovate in that field. And he was right. As a publisher and editor, I could do much more and more freely too.”
Bhatkal joined the family business very early. “I was in my teens when I started going to the shop and office regularly. We had a book shop first and the publishing business later, which now is 100 years old,” Bhatkal shares. What are the changes that you can distinctly point out? “Digitalisation! That’s the biggest change that has happened. Ebooks, audio books… But I think the content has still remained the hero and will continue to do so.” Hasn’t the content evolved or changed? “Thankfully, yes… and it has to, otherwise it will be boring. One has to create content that’s relevant. And that applies to everything. We cannot have five act plays in today’s age like the Shakespearean era did. Now they have abridged even Shakespearean plays to two acts, which is good.”
Despite your affinity for theater and music, you have not really written or published books about music except the Bhatkhande one. “I want to. That’s my next project after my three books I mentioned earlier. It is about the relationship between swar and vyanjan – music and words. And the most important thing in music that’s not discussed as often as it should be – Pause. I believe that the correct use of pause can take the rendition to a different level.”
While everyone knows Bhatkal is a Gandhi loyalist, not many are aware of Bhatkal’s active involvement in politics during Emergency. “That was a time when we had even thought of leaving the country because of the dictatorship. But we decided to oppose it and work towards a better future with like-minded people. Group 77 was one of the initiatives. We supported the formation of Janata Party. Hosted the underground leaders…”
Bhatkal strongly feels that today, again, there’s dictatorship but today’s generation is not really bothered because it doesn’t impact them directly. “Indulgence or what we call changalwad in Marathi is rampant. So, as long as they are getting their salaries and can have a comfortable life, the middle-class or upper middle-class is not bothered about the political scenario. People living below the poverty line can be lured with schemes. It is very disappointing.”
You are an ardent follower and lover of Gandhi a musician, a singer, a voracious reader, a writer, an editor, a publisher, who is the true Ramdas Bhatkal? “I am an amalgam of all this. And I am passionate about everything even today. Though I am not actively involved in the publishing or editing process at Popular Prakashan now, I am aware of what’s happening.”
Today, Bhatkal’s elder son Harsh manages the publishing house. The third generation to do so. “That was his own decision. I never forced or coaxed.” Have you ever given advice to your sons or your grandchildren? “I don’t think anybody even asked!” he quips. “I don’t think really the father can give advice to the son. He can, in some ways, give directions. For example, my father told me once before independence. There were elections, I was a member of Rashtra Seva Dal. And they wanted me to go and shout at the booths – it was allowed that time – on the Election Day. I must have been 10 or 11. As I was about to go my father asked me do you understand what you are doing and I said no, he said don’t do anything you don’t understand. So that little advice is something I have always remembered and cherished. And I’m sure my sons had such advice throughout, but not in a specific way.”
Ramdas Bhatkal’s enthusiasm is something that can put a 20 year old to shame. FPJ wishes him a healthy life ahead.
