Dattatreya Balkrishna Kalelkar popu­ larly known as Kaka Saheb Kalelkar was born  at  Satara  in  Maharashtra on 1st Dec. 1885. His father was a highly respected Treasury Officer in the British Government.

At the age  of  17, Kaka Saheb passed his matriculation and joined Fergusson College at Poona from  where  he   took B.A. Hons. Degree in Philosophy. About this time, he came in touch with secret political societies and began his clandestine revolutionary work in 1906. His greatest influence during those days were the writings of Swami Vivekanand and Lokmanya Tilak. Kaka Saheb earned a name by his  articles in 'Chikitsak' and Lokmanya Tilak invited him to join his Marathi Daily 'Rashtra-Mat', published from Bombay. This Daily was  however soon ordered to be closed by the British rulers  and  Kaka  Saheb  went  to  Baroda in 1911 to become Principal of "Gangnath Vidyalaya". However, this school was also ordered to be closed down by  the British.

Harassed   and  pestered  by  the  rulers, Kaka Saheb disappeared from active life calling himself "Sadhu Dattatreya" and went into the  Himalayas  and  wandered on foot for over 2,500 miles, covering Gangotri, Yamunotri, Badrinath, Kedarnath, Amarnath and Nepal. His restless spirit took him to Belurmath and then to Shantiniketan where he joined the teaching staff and was affectionately called "Dattubabu" by Gurudev Rabindra Nath Tagore. Gandhiji came on a visit to Shantiniketan and took Kaka Saheb with him to join his Satyagrah Ashram in a village called Kocharab near Ahmedabad. From Kocharab Gandhiji shifted his Ashram to Sabarmati where Kaka Saheb blossomed forth as a  writer of chaste Gujarati, a  language  which was not even his mother-tongue. Indeed, Gandhiji called him "Sawai Gujarati". His philosophical writings  showing  his  vast erudition, his commentary on the Geeta, his essays on culture his travelogues  and  especially his light and playful essays on nature  and its grandeur are extremely popular. The Bombay Govt. awarded  him  a prize  of Rs. 1,000/- for his "Letters to Chandan" (Chandan was his student who later married  his son).   Although  Kakasaheb  has not written in Bengali, his knowledge of the  language  was  so  intimate  that  his work,  "Ravindra  Pratibha"  which  translates and interprets Tagore's poems, has become popular in many languages. His great elucidation of Tagore's Gitaanjali in many languages is now as popular as the original, winning him many awards for them. On his 80th birthday a special function  was held to honour  Kakasaheb in the Rashtrapati Bhawan,  to present  a volume of his literary work and also a biography in English, which were presented by President Radhakrishnan. The same year (1966) the Govt. of U.P. presented their highest annual award for Kakasaheb's celebrated work - "Param Sakha Mritya" (Great Friend Death) which incidentally, has been translated into practically. every language of India.

This indefatigable traveler walked on foot 2,500 miles in the Himalayas continuously for three years and kept ideal health all through. He breathed his last very peacefully  at  the  age  of  96  on 21st Aug. 1981.

The Department of Posts is privileged to issue a commemorative stamp on this freedom fighter of India.

Source : Information Folder issued by Indian Posts & Telegraph Department, Government of India