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Thursday, August 1, 2013

Commonly mispronounced words 38 - Bal Gangadhar Tilak

He was the Bal of the famous Lal Bal Pal trio. It is his 93rd death anniversary today. The correct pronunciation of his name is bahl gung-ah-dhur till-luck.
 
In Hindi, it would read as बाळ गंगाधर टिळक. It is surprising that even the stamp released in his honour prints his name as तिलक. Probably his nationalist thoughts and teachings seem more consonant with the anointing mark on the forehead. When I went to Mumbai, I saw that the board at a train station called it टिळक नगर. That set me thinking and I discovered that it did refer to the man who had once thundered - "Swaraj is my birthright".

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