119. I could feed the beloved God with my own hands

Thousand Moon:  Shrimati Sunanda Janardan Vidwans

Contributed By: Dr. Raghunath Boradkar

Shrimati Sunanda Janardan Vidwans is 81 plus. She stays in Rambag Colony  Kothrud Pune. Here she tells us about a memory she has cherished and nourished in her mind for 42 years. Her words:

 I am a member of Satsang Swadhya Mandal and we had met at Mrs. Uma Joshi’s place to chant Ramraksha on Ramnavami day. There I was told that those who are 81 plus should write about one or two happy memories in their life. That made me think in retrospect about my life and the happiest moments that I had experienced. And at that moment before my eyes appeared the image of the ‘Dark Vithu Mauli’ of Pandharpur.

I had cherished and nourished this memory for the last 42 years and felt like sharing it with everyone. This happened in 1972.

Late Shrimati  Indirabai Natu had a small factory called ‘Khilouna’ where she used to manufacture Dolls mainly of Indian men and women from different provinces. There I used to stitch the clothes of these Dolls.

In 1972 April , the thread ceremony of Shrimati Indirabai’s grandson Girish was performed. Girish now is a chartered Accountant and an accomplished Badminton player. He also works as a referee for badminton in the Olympics.

After the thread ceremony Shrimati Indirabai took us on a trip to Tuljapur and Pandharpur  the renowned pilgrimage  centers  of Maharashtra. We visited Tuljapur and had ’Darshan’ of Tuljabhavani. The next stop was Pandharpur and we stayed there. The next morning we had a bath in the river Chandrabhaga and then went to the temple. There when we all saw the beautiful Idol of Vithuraya we all lost our sense of time and were left spellbound! Girish performed the Shodashopchar Panchamruti Puja. Then the Idol was bathed in Milk, curds and then Sugar called ’Sharkara Snan’.Shrimati Indirabai old us that each one of us should take some sugar and apply it to Idol and also put a little amount of sugar in the Idol’s mouth. Doing that was the supreme joy of my life.

Thousands and thousands of Varkaris walk for miles and miles and stand in queues for hours and hours  just to have a glimpse of their beloved ‘ Vithumauli’ but I was so fortunate that I could feed the beloved God with my own hands. It surely was my life’s fulfillment.

Shrimati Sunanda Janardan Vidwans