THE BEAUTIFUL TREE (Vol 4)

Dharampal, born on February 19, 1922, in Kandhla, Uttar Pradesh, was a renowned Gandhian thinker and intellectual force in post-Independence India. Influenced deeply by Mahatma Gandhi from an early age, he responded to Gandhiji's call for individual Satyagraha in 1940, abandoning his Physics studies to join the freedom movement, actively participating in the Quit India movement (1942-43).
Dharampal's commitment to regenerating India's rural population led him to work with Mirabehn, Gandhiji's disciple, and later, in the 1950s, he founded a cooperative village near Rishikesh. During the Partition in 1947-48, he played a crucial role in the rehabilitation of refugees and became a founding member of the Indian Cooperative Union in 1948.
In the years 1958-1964, Dharampal served as the General Secretary of the Association of Voluntary Agencies for Rural Development (AVARD) and later as the Director of Study and Research of the All India Panchayat Parishad until 1965. His association with Sri Jayaprakash Narayan during this time was particularly noteworthy.
From 1966 onwards, Dharampal dedicated nearly two decades to exploring Indian archives in the British Isles, publishing seminal works such as "Indian Science and Technology in the Eighteenth Century" (1971), "Civil Disobedience and Indian Tradition" (1971), and "The Beautiful Tree: Indigenous Indian Education in the Eighteenth Century" (1983). These works challenged conventional views of Indian history, revolutionizing our understanding of Indian cultural, scientific, and technological achievements on the eve of British conquest.
In the 1980s, Dharampal's guidance inspired the People's Patriot Science and Technology (PPST) group. He served on the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) intermittently between 1987 and 2001 and was appointed Chairman of the National Commission on Cattle in 2001.
Dharampal maintained a close association with Mahatma Gandhi's Sevagram Ashram from the mid-1980s until his passing on October 24, 2006. Throughout his life, he remained committed to the intellectual, cultural, social, economic, and political welfare of Indian society. His legacy, marked by groundbreaking historical investigations, challenges the colonial indoctrination-induced assumptions of India's underdevelopment before British rule. Dharampal's call for an 'intellectual-psychological unburdening' and the regeneration of Indian societal institutions from within remains relevant, urging current generations to draw inspiration from his pioneering example to create a dynamic India that leads the world.