Sharma : Could you give us a picture of the political atmosphere in your district towards the close of 1920?
Chavan : Before 1930, the influence of the non-Brahmin movement was predominant. I remember, in 1920 elections took place for the councils and the congress never contested those elections. In my district they were predominantly dominated by the non-Brahmin community, If I may give you my impressions.
But the things started changing from 1930. In 1930, Gandhiji's Dandi March brought about a psychological transformation in the rural side. People become interested in the congress movement; and even as a shcoolboy, I started participating in the movement. Local Leaders assigned us duty to go to the villages and talk to the people. I started giving public addresses, organising small meetings in the villages. and, I remember, a number of people used to flock to those meetings—say 100 or 200 people in a village. Everywhere, boys of sixteen or seventeen went to address those meetings, and transformation started coming in after 1930.
Sharma : By the way, what did you talk to them ?
Chavan : We talked to them what Gandhiji was talking about the British regime, cause of our poverty, completely ruining our self-respect as a nation, about lokamanya Tilak and Mahatma Gandhi. These leaders had taken over from what Shivaji had done for our country ( i.e. bringing Swaraj ) and how they went to jail. So we talked about these patriotic things and sold khadi to them.
Sharma : Was the Congress Committee quite strong in your area?
Chavan : I won't say. It was an organisation as such. It was by and large a new sentiment, a new movement that attracted the people. organisation was in the towns. cities, not in the villages. It came after the mid-1930s.
Sharma : From the time of Lokamanya Tilak, there was feeling in Maharashtra that Gandhi and Lokamanya were a sort of opponents their ways were different. what do you say?
Chavan : I tell you, those things were confined Tilak versus Gandhi. Positive aspects of Gandhi and Tilak were to reach the people.