25. A doctor was needed in the family...

Ganesh Joshi

Interviewee: Ganesh Joshi, Interviewer: Rohini, in person, Date: June 11^th, 2011

It was late afternoon in Mumbai around 4:00PM. It had been raining heavily for the past couple of days. I had explained my thousand full moon project to the Joshi couple and they were expecting me. I entered a simple living room with two chairs and two spreads by two different walls to sit on the ground.

Age: 82 yrs

Birth Place: Palgadh, Ratnagiri, India

Background information:  Ganesh Joshi lived in Palgadh till the age of 12 and then moved to Khed for further schooling. After 10^th grade went to Dapoli and then to Mumbai’s Ruyya college up to intermediate.  Since his elder brother had lost some of his new born children to Infantile Liver Cirrhosis, his father wanted him to pursue medical profession. So Gajanan chose to study Ayurved the ancient Indian Medicine in Pune India. His older brother gave him Rs. 5000 for his studies that were to last for four and a half years. He managed to save Rs. 1000 as he was frugal and lived in a shared room and cut expenses where ever possible. When he finished his school his brother had already made arrangements for him to start his own dispensary in Dapoli. Although he was a doctor, life was hard yet happy. Since his practice was in the rural area he had to walk for miles to go see a patient. At times he had to take a ferry, a bus and walk long distances. His fee per house call was Rs.15. He remembers have spent entire day just to go visit one patient and come back.

He practiced till the age of sixty and now lives a retired life with his wife of over fifty years.

After I collected all the background information was still looking for one particular memory where he would light up, become passionate and lose himself in the old times while narrating it. I got it when we were talking about the time when his children (two sons and a daughter) were very young. Ganesh Joshi was narrating…

I remember when my daughter, my youngest was three months old. She had gotten very sick with lose motions and vomiting. We had tried everything but nothing seemed to work. She became skin and bones as she could not retain any food in her stomach. The ladies in the house were very sad. I remember that night when I said to my wife “I don’t think she will see tomorrow” My wife started to cry…and I don’t know what came over me but I suddenly said we have to keep her on butter milk….and we did. That was the turning point! She started to tolerate little butter milk at a time and slowly returned back to health.

Ganesh was lost in bitter sweet memories and so was his wife. There was a peaceful silence in the room. It was still raining outside and the door opened. In came his daughter now in her forties….”We were just talking about you” His wife said to her daughter and everyone in the room visibly relaxed!