57. I don't want any thing more from life, I am content

Thousand Moon: Govind Parshuram Modak (84+)

Contributed by: Rohini

I visited Govind Parshuram Modak in the month of July around 5:00 PM in the evening. He lives in Mumbai with his wife, son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter. I had spoken to him on the phone before visiting and had explained the Thousand Moon project  to him. He was ready to share a point of contentment with me.

Govind lived in Chiplun in his ancestral home when he was young. He lost his father at a young age of 18.  After he moving to Mumbai and becaming well established in his business he wanted to get his ancestral home in Chiplun renovated. For some reason his elder brother whom he help in high regard was not in favor of the idea. So as per the wishes of his older brother the Chiplun house was rented out. Govind kept visiting Chiplun every year with his family and would end up living in some temporary accommodation since the ancestral home was rented out. One day some elders from the neighborhood talked to Govind and asked him why he lives in a rented place when visiting his home town. They even suggested what he had been thinking all along, that it would be better for the three brothers to get their own house renovated. Govind decided to talk to his elder brother one more time and this time his brother agreed to get the house fixed up. Govind went all out and got the place renovated with all the modern facilities similar to his flat in Mumbai. This renovation gave Govind a lot of satisfaction and contentment.

After we were done talking about his past we got chatting and I learnt that Indian Classical music is a major part of Govind’s life. He has taught and guided many Ph. D. (Music) students successfully. He also showed me many of his handwritten note books filled with notations of rare classical music compositions. He mentioned that many of his students have volunteered to get this work published but he says he is satisfied with life and does not want to do any publishing…He still writes all these rare compositions down every day for two hours, from 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM sharp.

I walked away admiring the quiet contentment which filled that flat in Mumbai.