Oh, so unique, what all to say on this occasion of the birth anniversary of Shivaji Maharaj? Oh, yes, I do remember a scholars' meet in the Ciefl where during a discussion, two senior professors attacked me for defending his position.
The lady, who used to teach a foreign language, held forth the typical pro-Aurangjeb argument, while the gentleman, almost about to retire, was of the opinion that there is no definitive history, and instead only oral, and hence unreliable, narratives exist.
Of course, I did vigorously counter both the arguments. Yet just as you cannot wake up a person pretending to be asleep, you cannot make people with rigid doctrines see any sense. Their minds are so tightly closed that no other lock would be necessary to guard the ignorance within!
Oh, so unique I find Maharaj's guerrilla warfare techniques using which he could counter the better equipped huge armies of the Mughals. In my opinion, a study of these can help us in any field, in our daily lived lives, too.
Yet another unique quality is his ability to make great heroes out of everybody around him. He could so fire up the spirit of independence backed by a deep respect for the religion that not only were there great knights like Baji Prabhu Deshpande and Tanaji Malusare but every ordinary foot soldier, too, became a "mawla". Remember the "खबरदार जर जाल पुढे ..."poem we all loved during the school days?
I admire the forts he created. There is literally a huge chain of well-known and the rather lesser known forts which were scaled recently by members of a mountaineering group to mark the great occasion, the three hundred fiftieth year of his ascension to the throne.
Indeed a simply great king who changed the very course of history! Huge respect on the occasion of his birth anniversary!
Pratima@Shivaji Maharaj fired every ordinary soul with higher order thinking skills such as patriotism and a deep reverence for religion. This plinth work led later to the glory of the Maratha warriors who were the byword for honour and glory till 1857, and beyond.
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