108. Encounter with train robbers.

Thousand Full Moon: Laxman Patwardhan (81+)
Contributed by: Rohini

Shri. Laxman Ptwardhan writes about an unforgettable incidence:

He was a Sr. Instructor in the railway training center in Bhusaval then. He was returning from a business trip from Mumbai. The Pathankot Express left V.T. Station at 10:30PM.

In his first class compartment he got ready for bed by wearing his lungi and kept his travel clothes in a small bag that also served as his pillow. He woke up at round 3:30 in the middle of the night and realized that his bag had disappeared! To try and locate the bag he came out of his compartment and went towards the rest room. To his surprise he found his bag on the floor of the rest room with all the belongings scattered around. He gathered his belongings and was returning to his compartment when he ran in to a man who looked as though he did not belong there. “Who are you and what are you doing here? This is first class, show me your ticket” Shri. Patwardhan questioned the man who instantly said, “Hajoor, I am not a thief, I did not steal your bag. Shri. Patwardhan was taken aback and physically wrestled with him and restrained him. Hearing the commotion his co-travelers gathered around and fortunately at the next station, Chalis-gaon a police officer came on board. On hearing the story he delivered a stinging slap on the thief’s face and asked his hawaldar to take this person to the lock-up.  

Mr. Patwardhan and the co-passengers all gathered in his compartment and the Police officer told them that there is a gang of seasoned thieves on the Pathankot Express rout. They identify prospective ‘targets’ that are robbed on the V.T.-Kalyan, Kalyan-Chalis-gaon, Chalis-gaon-Bhusaval stretches. At that point the passenger sitting on the top berth spoke-up. He said that he probably was the target that night as he was going to Jalgaon with a cash of Rs. 8000 to distribute the salaries to the S.T. workers. His bag was identical to to Mr. Patwardhan's bag! That is why it had been stolen and not finding any money was discarded in the bath room.

Mr. Patwardhan says, "Today even after so many years when I think of that night I get restless. What if the thief had a weapon on him? What would have happened to me then? It was only by God’s grace that no harm came to me!"

107. Planned his own Europe Trip and Wrote a book on the subject

Thousand Full Moon: Shri Waman Balkrishna Karve
Cotributed By: Dr. Raghunath Boradkar

Shri Waman Balkrishna Karve is 81 plus.He retired as a Superintending Engineer. He holds a Diploma in Mechanical Engineering and also a masters degree in English. He lives in Kothrud Pune.

Shri Karve spent a major part of his life working as an engineer on various Irrigation Projects. He played a major role in installing the Radial Gates  on Jayakwadi Dam an important irrigation project in Maharashtra. The then Prime Minister Shrimati Indira Gandhi had come for the inauguration and Shri Karve was especially introduced to her. The prime minister praised his work and the government gave him advanced increments as a token of appreciation for his work.

To complete this project on time Shri Karve resorted to two techniques used by NASA. One was PERT[Programme evaluation and ReviewTechnique] and second was CPM [Critical Path Method]. Both these techniques were used by NASA in their Man on the Moon Mission. He was then called upon to deliver lectures and train the engineers by META [Engineering Staff College at Nashik] in the use of these two techniques. To this was then added lectures on Management Six Sigma Kaizen and Welding Technology. Later he was appointed as Under Secretary[Mechanical] in Mantralaya.

The Madhya Pradesh Government had invite him to deliver lectures on these subjects. He also participated in a seminar on Project planning organized by the Planning commission of India. He woked as Manager Technical in a private organization after retirement.

He is fond of travelling writing Reading and performing Arts. He enjoys classical music and is a collector of coins. He has them by hundreds.

His published books are a ‘Guide to Europe Travel’[Erope sahalicha sobti]  ‘Call from North east India’[saad Ishanya Bharatachi] ‘Lets go to Europe’[Chala Europela] and ‘Reincarnation a mirage’[Punarjanma ek mrugjal] He has written two more books and they are due out soon.

He does not believe in travelling with Tourist companies as you have to follow their routine. So he organized his own travel plan for seeing Europe and then wrote a book. Large number of people have taken advantage of the book and travelled to Europe.

Many call him and thank him and he enjoys that He has no complaints about life and is happy 

Looks like fulfillment enshrined.

106. Visiting Niagara Falls!

Thousand Full Moon: Shrimati Amladi
Contributed By: Dr. Raghunath Boradkar

105. I won the Langadi match for my school.

Thousand Full Moon: Shrimati Shakuntala Purandare

Contributed By Dr. Raghunath Boradkar

Shrimati Shakuntala Purandare  who is 81 plus. Here she shares Two of   her memorable experiences with the Thousand full Moons Blog.The first experience is from her school days and second one is from her early married life.

A memorable competition of  LANGDI

I must have been 11 or 12 years old then. I was studying in Government Girls High School Nasik. There used to be inter school matches

of  KHO KHO KABADDI and LANGDI Sports native to India).  I was selected for the Langdi (a game where one team is chased by a member of other team. The chaser has to hop on one foot. If his/her lifted foot touches the ground he is out)team of our school.

Once we had a match with the District Marathi School. They had an extremely good team. My sister had come to watch the game.

The game started. The verandas of the school and the terraces were packed to full capacity. It was our turn to run. The girls came chasing us and they were very fast though on one leg. It was of no use running round. So I started running zigzag first to left and then right. Because of this the girls coming very fast lost their balance and fell and soon all were out except the last one. By now the time was more or less over and the team was out.  We had won. My teacher came and lifted me up. I was taken to a school room and I was allowed to rest. My teacher pressed my legs and I was given a cup of coffee. Later I was sent back home with my sister in a Horse carriage!

The next day every body came to see me, I was the girl who had won the match for them.

Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated on 30th January and there were riots all over Maharashtra. My husband had joined as a school teacher in Otur. A crowd of about 50 people gathered and attacked the school and caught my husband. The crowd had DHOLS and Tashas (drums)  which they were beating .They took him in a procession and smeared him with Gulal. It was as if they were carrying a goat for Sacrificing. My husband had Gulal on his face Eyes and nose. He looked red. There was Noose tied to a tree on the outskirts of the town.

One of my husband’s friend cycled to the principal’s place and told him about this happening. The Principal dialed the police and informed them and told them that if they (the police) do not act promptly and reach the spot an innocent man might get killed by the mob. Luckily the police van reached on time and he was rescued but he was arrested as he was a RSS worker. Later he was kept for some time in Yerwada Jail. This had scared me to death and I still recollect the moment vividly. My mother in law performed a Satyanarayan Puja after all of this was over.

Shrimati Shakuntala Purandare