Azads of Vadodara chose ‘Freedom’ as their identity

VADODARA: While modern thinkers would dismiss the bard’s ‘What’s in a name?’ dialogue as cliched, a name, more particularly a surname in India, is the ‘be all’ of individual identity.
Dignity, literally resides in the clan badge that is worn across sleeves with a vehemence. And if it reads anything like ‘Azad’, it’s definitely a stamp of being ‘part of freedom fighters’ lineage’.
Welcome to Vadodara, where over seven decades ago, a couple of freedom fighters from the Banyan City had given up their filial surnames to adopt ‘Azad’ or ‘the unfettered’ as part of their identity, while choosing to devote their lives to the cause of freeing the country from British bondage.
Baroda was a princely state, but inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s clarion call people like Rasik Shah, Chandrakantbhai and Padmaben gave up their names and plunged into the struggle for freedom.
While not much is known about Chandrakantbhai Azad and Padmaben Azad now, Rasikbhai Azad is still a known name in Vadodara city as he had roped in many youths from the city to join the Gandhian path and even established an ashram in Savli taluka.
In fact, much later Vadodara Municipal Corporation honoured the freedom fighter by naming the crossroads near Karelibaug water tank as Rasiklal Azad Chowk. “Although history remembers Chandrashekhar Azad, my uncle, who too was inspired by Gandhiji for the movement decided to drop his original surname and attach the word ‘Azad’ to his name. He had even taken a vow not to marry until the country becomes free,” Rashikbhai’s nephew Manhar Shah told TOI.
Rasikbhai, who was working at Nyay Mandir, gave up his job to join the freedom movement and was even arrested from different districts of central Gujarat and jailed six times, where he continued his ‘satyagraha’ for better living conditions of prisoners,” said Shah, who runs Janjagruti Abhiyaan Vadodara for raising awareness on freedom movement.
In 1987, Rasikbhai passed away. “A fund of Rs 30,000 was collected then to start a trust to continue his work, which I could only after Kargil War. It is still active,” Shah added.