Maii (Kamal Vasant Medhekar)
Interviewee: Kamal Vasant Medhekar, Interviewer: Alka Medhekar at her residence, Date: June, 2011
Alka, Maii’s daughter-in-law jotted down the facts as Maii spoke.
Age: 82 yrs
Birth Place: Bilimora, Gujrath, India
My name is Kamal Vasant Medhekar knee Kamal Dattatray Deshpande. My father passed away when I was very young so I grew up in my maternal uncle’s house. Since it was a joint family I got used to being around a lot of people. It was a good thing as my in-laws family was also very big. I was also in the habit of doing a lot of physical work. This also helped me in my life later on.
I got married in 1942. Initially it was very busy. We had a lot of responsibilities. But as time passes and the responsibilities were fulfilled life took on a steady pace…One day I had an idea that I wanted to honor 33 married couples what are called the ‘Mehuns’ in our tradition.
I mentioned my thought to my husband and he also liked the idea. We mobilized our resources and got to work towards the implementation of the idea. It happened in 2007. We invited 33 married couples for lunch and honored them by washing their feet and giving them gifts. I believe I had the good fortune of worshiping lord Vishnu and goddess Lakshmi 33 times. It was a grand family function and a touching ceremony. It was deeply carved in my memory and I can never forget it…
I am content and happy to spend my remaining days with the help of such cherished memories.
[Note about 'Mehun': The Hindu calendar is a lunar calendar. Each lunar month has 28 days and is shorter than the Solar month. To adjust the lunar calendar with the solar calendar every three years, there is an additional month in the lunar calendar. This month is called ‘adhik maas’ literally means ‘an additional month’. This adjustment has a story associated with it. The additional month ‘adhik maas’ was very unhappy as it had no legitimate name. It took its complaint to God Vishnu. God Vishnu thought about the problem and gave his own name “Purushottam” meaning ‘best among men’ to the additional month and also directed the people on Earth to honor their daughters and sons-in-law as Vishnu and Lakshmi’s incarnations on the Earth during this month. As a result a lot of people invite and honor their daughters and their husbands or married couples in general during this month. Each such couple is called ’Mehun ‘]
I am content and happy to spend my remaining days with the help of such cherished memories.
[Note about 'Mehun': The Hindu calendar is a lunar calendar. Each lunar month has 28 days and is shorter than the Solar month. To adjust the lunar calendar with the solar calendar every three years, there is an additional month in the lunar calendar. This month is called ‘adhik maas’ literally means ‘an additional month’. This adjustment has a story associated with it. The additional month ‘adhik maas’ was very unhappy as it had no legitimate name. It took its complaint to God Vishnu. God Vishnu thought about the problem and gave his own name “Purushottam” meaning ‘best among men’ to the additional month and also directed the people on Earth to honor their daughters and sons-in-law as Vishnu and Lakshmi’s incarnations on the Earth during this month. As a result a lot of people invite and honor their daughters and their husbands or married couples in general during this month. Each such couple is called ’Mehun ‘]
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