Bal Dattatrey Kalelkar

Bal Dattatrey Kalelkar SM ’41, grew up in Gandhi’s ashram in Gujarat and corresponded frequently with him.

Bal Dattarey Kalelkar Picture Cropped

Bal Dattatrey Kalelkar, SM ’41 Courtesy of Chirag Kalelkar

Kalelkar wore khadi – clothes made of homespun cotton – as a young boy and sat next to Gandhi during prayers at the ashram. Gandhi edited, by hand, a letter Kalelkar wrote to GD Birla, an Indian industrialist requesting financial assistance to attend MIT.

Gandhi Edits

Caption: Gandhi’s edits on a letter in support of Kalelkar request for financial assistance to attend MIT Courtesy of Chirag Kalelkar

Gandhi’s Note to Kalelkar

NV Gadgil's Note Addressed to Kalelkar Courtesy of Chirag Kalelkar

Cropped

A young Kalelkar in Gandhian clothing in Pune Courtesy of Chirag Kalelkar

Kalelkar and friends

Kalelkar and friends c. 1940-41 Courtesy of Chirag Kalelkar

Even while Kalelkar was at MIT, he and Gandhi would often write letters to one another. In these exchanges, Gandhi offered advice  and gentle admonishments as insisted to Kalelkar: “All I wish is that you should have all that is to be gained there and come here when your time is up, and be worthy of your country.” Kalelkar told Gandhi of his new-found love of Western music, and the Mahatma was delighted to learn of his "sensitive ear" that could appreciate it. (Gandhi to Kalelkar, 3 November 1944, The Collected Works of Gandhi, p. 128).
On Kalelkar's return to India in 1945 after receiving a PhD "the highest degree in engineering", Gandhi was relieved to see that his protege had "not given up everything that he had learnt in the Ashram", that he had not aquired an American accent, and that he continued to participate "fully" in the morning prayers. (Gandhi to Kantilal Gandhi, 16 November 1945, The Collected Works of Gandhi, p.340).

Kalelkar’s MIT Roommates

Kalelkar’s MIT Roommates Courtesy of Chirag Kalelkar

Kalelkar and friends playing in the snow

Kalelkar and friends playing in the snow c.1940-41 Courtesy of Chirag Kalelkar

In a letter by Gandhi’s written to an acquaintance, he praises Kalelkar, writing “Bal has obtained the highest degree in engineering and has become a Ph. D. … He does not seem to have given up everything that he had learnt in the Ashram…”