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
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