First Quote Added
April 10, 2026
Latest Quote Added
"I shall arrange a lady with breasts like mangoes."
"In this Zillah [Gorakhpur] the mango topes are among its principal beauties, as well as advantages. To plant a tope is amongst the natives an act of religion and certainly one of benevolence. So much are these trees esteemed that a Hindoo will not cut down even one that is decayed, and I never observed one that appeared wantonly injured. The shade of the mango is so dense that it defies the sun, and does not favour the growth of weeds or jungle. It is in leaf all the year round, changing its foliage in March, but never becoming bare. The mango grows to a great size, especially in this district, where it rises to eighty or a hundred feet. A few feet above the root the trunk generally parts into two or three diversions, which sub-divide into large branches, running upwards very much as a pear tree grows. But when a tree stands detached, it throws out its arms on every side, and looks not unlike a fine oak. After passing though jungle or even over fields when the sun has set, there is a dry warm feeling immediately on entering the tope. The trees are regularly planted in rows, so that standing in the midst, there is in every direction a lofty green vista, forming a noble avenue up to the camp."
Young though he was, his radiant energy produced such an impression of absolute reliability that Hedgewar made him the first sarkaryavah, or general secretary, of the RSS.
- Gopal Mukund Huddar
Largely because of the influence of communists in London, Huddar's conversion into an enthusiastic supporter of the fight against fascism was quick and smooth. The ease with which he crossed from one worldview to another betrays the fact that he had not properly understood the world he had grown in.
Huddar would have been 101 now had he been alive. But then centenaries are not celebrated only to register how old so and so would have been and when. They are usually celebrated to explore how much poorer our lives are without them. Maharashtrian public life is poorer without him. It is poorer for not having made the effort to recall an extraordinary life.
I regret I was not there to listen to Balaji Huddar's speech [...] No matter how many times you listen to him, his speeches are so delightful that you feel like listening to them again and again.
By the time he came out of Franco's prison, Huddar had relinquished many of his old ideas. He displayed a worldview completely different from that of the RSS, even though he continued to remain deferential to Hedgewar and maintained a personal relationship with him.