50. Fond Memories

Thousand Moon:  Shrimati Sudhatai Shrikhande

Contributed by: Dr. R. Boradkar

Shrimati Sudhatai Shrikhande [sudhamavshi to us] is 87 years and is fit as a fiddle. She lives in Pune and spends her time with her son and daughters .Her amiable personality has made her dear to all who know her.

Though a cent per cent from Pune [Punekar] now ,she vividly remembers Bhandara a small town near Nagpur where her father had a flourishing legal practice .She also has fond memories of the house [ Wada] and the time she spent with her sisters and a brother, but the way she remembers her mother is unique. All mothers are special but if we put it in the Orwellian logic some are more special and it is definitely so with her mother.

The anecdotes she narrates about her mother tell us about her courage and quick-wit but above everything else they show us the Humane side of her personality. To be Humane is to be human... but it is something that is generally forgotten.

Here are some brief anecdotes and each one shows a facet in her personality that is something more than ordinary.

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Once my mother was going to Bhandara. On way she wanted  to spend a couple of days with one of  her relatives in Wardha, So she got down at Wardha station. To her surprise police stopped her from proceeding to the town as there was rioting and it was unsafe.[it was a day or two after mahatma Gandhi’s assassination] She did not know what to do .It just occurred to her then  that the collector of Wardha one Shri Wazalwar was a close friend of Palsules, her family .She approached the police and requested them to convey a message to Shri Wazalwar that his aunt was trapped on the station and so would like to see him.The message was conveyed and the collector personally came to the station and saw to it that she was taken safely to her relative Advocate Bapat.

The second incident occurred when my mother was visiting my sister  in Jamshedpur .Pundit Nehru was then on a visit to Jamshedpur. She wanted to see Pundit Nehru so she went and saw him. He used to travel in an open car and it was easy for her to see. On way back she stopped at a temple where she met a south Indian woman.

The woman who had four kids wanted to see Pt Nehru but couldn't because of the kids. When my mother knew the problem she promised the  south Indian lady that she would look after her kids. She gave her the address and asked her to bring the kids to her daughter’s house. As promised she looked after the kids for an hour or two so the south Indian lady could see Pt, Nehru.

Back to Bhandara now.... We had a neighbor one Mrs Sindhutai Patki  who  was a sort of social out caste because of her marriage to an already married man and that was taboo. But my mother  never considered it so and treated Mrs Patki with compassion .When Mrs Patki was expecting she even performed a Dohale Jevan ceremony for her , knowing that no body else would do it and that too  with an enthusiasm as if Mrs. Patki was her own kith and kin.

Lastly we come to our cook one shrimati Gangubai. Once Gangubai  was not well and there was nobody to look after her.When my mother  knew, she brought her home and looked after her till she got well .It took  nearly eight days for her to get well and then she was sent back to her home .Gangubai grew old in course of time  ,could not work and became penniless. When it was known my mother  started sending two square meals to her hut. Once she got a message from Gangubai that she felt like eating Puranpoli. Diwali was approaching but some how my mother sensed something and without waiting she prepared Puranpoli and sent it to Gangubai’s hut .It was like fulfilling the last wish as Gangubai died in a couple of days afterwards. 

Coming to happy memories of her own, she feels, the happiest day in her life was the day when India achieved freedom from the British., She was in Amravati, studying for Dip.T[Diploma in Teaching] in S.T.C. college. There were about 40-45 girls from all castes and communities. All was well. She remembers that there were five muslim girls who used to wear 9 yard saris for the sake of fun.

On 14th midnight at 12 past 1 India was to be free. The sense of freedom prevailed everywhere. One could feel the joy .that pervaded the atmosphere.. The college had arranged a Flag hoisting ceremony at midnight to celebrate the occasion. The college and the place where the flag of free India was to be hoisted was decorated. A map of free India was drawn on the ground and was decorated with lamps[Panatis].Flowers were placed on the flag and then it was  folded in such a way, that when unfurled ,a shower of flowers [pushpavrushti] would occur  and bathe  the ground. The collector’s wife was to hoist and unfurl the flag. The girls started gathering right from 11-30 pm. The hoisting was to be done at twelve past one. As the mid night hour approached, the anxiety reached its peak. Exactly one minute after twelve midnight the flag was hoisted, unfurled and the moment was carved in history with Golden letters .One could then understand what it is to be overwhelmed [oor bharun yene].

The girls hugged each other, sweets were distributed and they danced the whole night.

It was joy everywhere and it knew no bounds .The fifteenth of August nineteen forty seven  was truly a day of unforgettable joy and happiness.

Time halts for no one; The morning of 30^th January 1948 was like any other morning in the capital city of India, new Delhi. But the evening was pregnant with murder .At ten minutes past five in the evening, the voice that had ruled India and also hailed as the voice of peace in the world was silenced by three bullets. The news was stunning .It left every one shocked all over the world.

After the initial silence there was storm, mainly in Maharashtra there were Riots and arson.

Is it that gloom follows joy and happiness always or is it a human predicament?

Shrimati Sudhatai Shrikhande  Navi Peth Pune