Malavika Nagarkar
(Talk given at Brahmopasana meeting on Sunday, 8 May 2022)
In those days there were scholarships offered by the British Unitarian Association for Brahmo missionaries. D.G Vaidya and some others asked Chitnis to apply for this. His immediate reply was that he had no money for it but Vaidya told him not to worry about that. Vaidya took an application from him, gave his own recommendation, and sent it to Dr. Herambachandra Moitra in Kolkata. Dr Moitra asked for Chitnis’ articles and then sent the application with all the attachments to England for approval. Chitnis was selected. But how would the travel expenses and other costs be covered? Vaidya came forth with 600/-. The Bombay Prarthana Samaj gave 250/- Another member, Vamanrao Sohoni contributed 150/-. Suits, blankets, an overcoat etc. were provided by friends and well-wishers and Gajanan Chitnis was on his way to the UK.
Manchester College, Oxford is where Chitnis studied for two years – from1924 to 1926. Not only did he excel in studies, he was regularly invited to give talks and sermons at different places. Such was this man’s merit that when Prof. Radhakrishnan was going to England as a Hibert Professor, he had been told by one Mr. Natarajan to meet Chitnis in Oxford. Radhakrishnan told Chitnis that he was unsure about his command over English, and also wondering if his topic would interest the audience. Radhakrishnan gave one talk that proved to be too heavy for his audience. Then Chitnis suggested another topic for the next talk. Not only did the talk hold the audience spellbound for an hour and a half, they were all praise for Radhakrishnan. And Chitnis tells us that Radhakrishnan’s English was flawless.
When studying at Oxford Chitnis decided to go to Konigsberg, the city where Emanuel Kant had lived his life. There Chitnis went to the University and handed over his thesis on Kant. The Professor passed it on to his senior and that Professor was considering awarding Chitnis a Ph.D. for this work. However, there was a hurdle. The thesis was not in German. (I have no idea if he got his Ph.D. for this work or some other thesis.)
Chitnis had plans of going to America after he completed his two years at Oxford. However, he decided to return to India.
Back in India Dr. Chitnis continued his missionary work for the Prarthana Samaj. He further travelled to different parts of the world. Later the national movement influenced his thinking as did the work of Manavendranath Roy. These factors created a distance between him and the Samaj and his life took yet another turn.
Whatever may have happened later, the contribution of this intellectual, Dr. G.Y. Chitnis cannot be ignored or undervalued. During the time that he was in tune with the Samaj and its principles he was completely dedicated to the cause and held to his beliefs in the face of all opposition. This was Gajanan Yeshwant Chitnis – stood like a rock by what he believed, and worked for that cause with complete dedication, but once a new path caught his attention and he accepted that thought, he did not look back. Neither did he think of what others would say. He took that path and immersed himself into it heart and soul.