Pandit Shyam Sunder Surolia (25 August 1920 – 20 July 2001) was an Indian freedom fighter since 1934. Then a 14-year-old child, he raised his voice against the feudal powers of the state of

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

.Surolia, Aayush; ''Sahabsar Se Mukundgarh, Ek Yatra'' pp. 132–136, 175, 177, 183–184, 189.''

Dainik Bhaskar ''Dainik Bhaskar '' () is a Hindi-language daily newspaper in India which is owned by the Dainik Bhaskar Group. According to the World Association of Newspapers, it ranked fourth in the world by circulation in 2016 and per the Indian Audit ...

: Emerging Brands Rajasthan'' pp. 10–11, 34–47.Surolia.com
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Early life

In 1939 he was sentenced by the

Kushtia Kushtia () is a city located on the banks of the Gorai River in Bangladesh. It serves as the headquarters of Kushtia District and is considered the cultural capital of Bangladesh. The city is known for its Tiler Khaja (sesame sweets), kulf ...

district court to six months in a juvenile home in

Chuadanga Chuadanga () is a city in western Bangladesh. It is the headquarters of Chuadanga Sadar Upazila and Chuadanga District. Located on the Mathabhanga River, Mathabhanga river, Chuadanga was the first capital of Bangladesh. It was the sub-district of ...

, Bangladesh in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

for the offence of making bombs along with other young revolutionaries, highly moved by the ideals of nationalism and freedom struggle. In 1942, he became an active member of the Praja Mandal (Democratic Council) and the only elected member of the Town committee of

Mukundgarh Mukundgarh is a small city. Mukundgarh is a municipality and Subdistrict in Nawalgarh Tahasil Jhunjhunu district in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is part of the Shekhawati region. It lies a few kilometres from Nawalgarh. Mukundgarh town w ...

. He carried the wave of freedom struggle started by Indian freedom fighters such as

Mohandas K. Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British ru ...

and

Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a pr ...

to the neighbouring areas of Nawalgarh,

Jhunjhunu Jhunjhunu is a city and municipal council in the state of Rajasthan in India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jhunjhunu district. It is also the largest city of the Shekhawati region, which includes Jhunjhunu, Churu and Sikar ...

and Dundlod among many other towns, often single-handedly but also in association with compatriots.

Work for the society

He was an active social servant and worked for the poor. His advent into politics was solely for this purpose. He served as the Chairman of the Mukundgarh Municipality from 1960 to 1963. Later, from 1966 to 1985, he also served as the President of the Mukundgarh Town Congress Committee. He came in close contact with the leading social workers like Basant Lal Murarka and Bhagirath Mal Kanodia which further enlightened his spirit for social services. He started the Harijan Development Programme immediately after taking over as the Chairman of the Mukundgarh Municipality. He ensured the admissions of the

Dalit Dalit ( from meaning "broken/scattered") is a term used for untouchables and outcasts, who represented the lowest stratum of the castes in the Indian subcontinent. They are also called Harijans. Dalits were excluded from the fourfold var ...

students into schools. He also ensured that the benefits of various government schemes like scholarship, hostel facilities etc. for the wards of the down-trodden segment of the society. This was the time when the

untouchability Untouchability is a form of social institution that legitimises and enforces practices that are discriminatory, humiliating, exclusionary and exploitative against people belonging to certain social groups. Although comparable forms of discrimin ...

system was in vogue. At that time, it was considered a

Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...

do nothing for the neglected lower caste people. He was inspired by the ideals of

and dedicated his life for the upliftment of the down-trodden, despite the severe resistance from his own caste and other high caste people.

Work as town committee chairman

During his time as Mayor, Mukundgarh was a very small municipality compared to the District Headquarters of

and Nawalgarh. Due to his relentless efforts, the water works, telephone and the electricity system was first set up there and the bigger towns and municipality could get the same only after it. He implemented several long lasting works in Mukundgarh. He sanctioned the setting up of water supply systems, electrification of households, telephone system for better communication, concrete cement road in the main market, connectivity of the Mukundgarh town with the Mukundgarh ''mandi'' (community shop) and railway station which ushered in the overall growth of the town and opened several new vistas for future development and sustainable source of income for the Mukundgarh Municipality per se.

Educational work and qualifications

He had a vast knowledge of

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

and

astrology Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that propose that information about human affairs and terrestrial events may be discerned by studying the apparent positions ...

. He was exponent of the

Vedas FIle:Atharva-Veda samhita page 471 illustration.png, upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the ''Atharvaveda''. The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of relig ...

, Shrimad Bhagvad Gita and Niti Shastra. His erudition in all these had earned him the epithet of

Shastri Lal Bahadur Shastri (; born Lal Bahadur Srivastava; 2 October 190411 January 1966) was an Indian politician and statesman who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1964 to 1966. He previously served as Minister ...

. He had been the Founder of the All India Astrology Research Centre at Jaipur and remained the President throughout his life. He had also been associated with a large number of educational institutions due to his inclination towards creating a newer educated generation next.

Personal life

He was married to Draupadi Devi Surolia in 1959, and the couple have four children, Sarla Mukesh, Rajesh Pratibha Surolia, Sanjeev Parul Surolia, and Sarita Vinay. He had started a small distribution firm in 1967, which had a good amount of annual turnover. Later the business was transferred to his youngest son after his demise.

Late life and death

He was very popular in Mukundgarh and the nearby areas and people used to come to him for sorting out all kind of disputes amicably. The entire district administration and the politicians used to visit him only due to his charismatic personality and traits. He used to be popularly called as ''Shyamji'' in the area.

Death

He remained an active social worker till his death. He died on 20 July 2001, after a brief illness. As he was a freedom fighter, the state of Rajasthan honoured him with a

state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements o ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Surolia, Shyam Sunder 2001 deaths 1920 births Banaras Hindu University alumni Prisoners and detainees of British India People from Jhunjhunu district Indian socialists Indian independence activists from Rajasthan Indian civil rights activists Indian Hindus Marwari people Gandhians Indian anti-poverty advocates