Saturday, December 7, 2019

144. My Friend-- My Harmonium




Click on the text above to play the video.



My Friend-- My Harmonium 
Thousand full moon: Shrimati Neela Shyamasundar Thosar
Age: 81+

Born in Pune as one of the four siblings, 2 sisters, one brother. Growing up, she was close to her younger brother, who is a year and a half younger than she is. The older sisters were six years ahead of her and she remembers them to be a bit bossy.

She attended Nutan Marathi Vidyalay in Pune till 4th grade and Hujurpaga Girls’ school 5th grade onward.

Her math teacher, Mrs. Bhagwat, and her Sanskrit teacher, Mrs. Paranjape, seemed to have left a lasting positive impression on her. She mentioned them quite affectionately as she traveled down memory lane with me. She also mentioned Shaymala Agashe, her best friend from school days whom she remembered with pride and affection as being intelligent and humble.  

She said she has been fortunate to have great family including—children, parents, grandparents, and in-laws.

She attended S.P. College. where she regrets giving up math because she was repeatedly ridiculed for lack of math skills and blames it on her naiveté at the time. She pursued a B.A. degree with Sanskrit as the main subject. Her grandfather (paternal) would take interest in her Sanskrit studies. There were about 20-25 students in her classes. She got married before she finished her B.A. Her husband's uncle (who had assumed the role of her father-in-law) staunchly supported her and encouraged her to complete her B.A. 

After her youngest son was born she was contemplating getting a B.Ed. degree to become a teacher. That was when she came in contact with one Mrs. Joglekar from Bhusaval who agreed to host her and her baby for a year while she completed her B.Ed. course in a college in Jalgaon. She would go home to Varangaon on weekends and take care of her household duties, take stock of school work given to the two older children and return to Bhusawal for her classes the following week. She became a teacher in Varangaon when one of her teachers from the B.Ed. program recommended her for a teacher position in a girls’ school. She quit that job when her husband was transferred. She remembers her students coming to her house to request her not to leave the school. Even the school principal contacted her and asked her to rethink her decision.

About her special friend—Her harmonium: Both her mother and her mavshi, mother’s sister, used to sing very well. Once on the auspicious occasion of bhaubeej, during Diwali, her uncle, mother’s brother, gave her mother a harmonium. She fondly remembered her mother playing her harmonium upstairs in their two-storied house. She expressed the loss of her mother by saying, “I did not have a mother for very long. I lost her when I was ten”. She remembers that she, along with her brother and sisters, would go upstairs and would their mother’s harmonium whenever they would miss her. The random notes slowly evolved into melodies as all the siblings got the hang of the instrument. Although she could not devote much time to playing the harmonium due to her busy schedule while raising her family and working full time, it was always at the back of her mind. She recalled that she would stop by at Mehendale’s local music store in Appa Balawant Chauk and chitchat with the owner about harmoniums. After marriage when her family moved from Pune to Arvankadu she expressed her wish of buying a harmonium to Mr. Mehendale, the owner of the store who sold it to her for the low price of Rs. 123. That was 56 years ago… The harmonium she bought then has been her friend ever since. Even today when she feels lonely or when her heart get heavy, she plays the harmonium and it always helps uplift her mood. Although she has played the harmonium to accompany singers, she feels the harmonium has faithfully accompanied her throughout her life as a dear friend. 

Today too, at the golden age of 81, Neela plays her harmonium and inspires all generations to find joy in doing what they love to do. 

We wish her and her harmonium a melodious journey ahead!

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