President- United Nations Citizen Forum
Chairman- All India Anti Corruption Federation
President- Peace Conference, London, 1930
His statue still remains in the main hall of the office of Arya Samaj in
Singapore. The seedling planted by him in the name of Adarsh meaning ideal is a
full grown tree now contributing in the education sector of the country. Today
it has many separate branches which caters to the educational needs of the
people in the vicinity. This great soul breathed its last on 16th December 1968
leaving a void in the lives of millions apart from all those at Adarsh. His
worthy life really proved that ‘Service ‘Service to mankind is service to God’.
The following is a short biography of a man who had a vision in mind, a vision
to secure the future of the children of this noble country by doing his bit. His
contribution to the society cannot be measured but can be only felt by the
thousands who had the privilege to be in touch with him and or the millions who
have benefitted from his works to this very day. One of his many endeavours was
the establishment of the Adarsh banner in the education sector of the country.
Dr Bhagat Ram Sahgal was born on 1st January 1900, in a family of humble origin,
which ran a local cloth shop in Lahore, now in Pakistan, and sold clothes,
imported from England. His father Lala Bal Mukand could not persuade Bhagat
after he had completed his matriculation, to stay in the family business as he
had interest in pursuing further education and become a doctor by profession.
His passion to address public gatherings and a desire to do his bit for the
nation, at a time when the whole country was fighting to break the shackles of
the British Raj was much appreciated by the then, leaders of the freedom
struggle. He was sent to countries like South Africa, and even England to spread
the message of universal brotherhood and peace to the Indians living abroad.
It was at this juncture that the role of Raja Ram Mohan Roy emerged in the
history of India, along with the evolution of the Arya Samaj. Dr Bhagat Ram
Sahgal with the support of the local Indians founded the Arya Samaj in East
London, U.K., Durban in South Africa and Singapore. So much so, that his statue
still remains in the main hall of the office of the Arya Samaj in Singapore and
their timely periodicals have his name on the front pages.
He tied the knot in 1923 with Smt Gyan Devi Sahgal with whom he travelled around
the world by ship preaching the spirit of nationality and the award for a free
nation. It was then that in 1936, Lahore, the foundation of the first Adarsh
School was laid, meaning ‘ideal’ and went up to the college level as an Adarsh
Mahila Mahavidyalaya. The family moved to Amritsar in Punjab in 1947 after
independence. Later in 1950, they moved to New Delhi, the capital of independent
India. Continuing the burning desire to propagate education, he started with a
small institution called Adarsh Montessori School in Raja Garden in west of
Delhi. His enduring efforts were rewarded with growth and recognition, as the
school grew from a mere strength of 5 to thousands of students today in its 3
separate branches. On 16th December 1968, the great leader left us for the
heavenly abode to leave a void in the hearts of thousands of his loved ones.
With his inspiration behind, his sons carried the good work from then on led by
the present Chairman of the school, Mr. P.K.Sahgal.
The Adarsh banner has since then come a long way with a noticeable presence
among the schools in New Delhi today. The students have been actively
participating in inter and intra school activities and bringing laurels to the
school, truly justifying the motto of the school ‘
Living
and High Thinking’. His reminiscence though still enthrals the school
every single day, and we at A.P.S. only hope to follow his guidelines in an
attempt to become noble citizens of this nation one day