Thousand Full Moon: Dr. Nalini Varadpande(81+)
Contributed By: Dr. Raghunath Boradkar
Shrimati Dr. Nalini Varadpande
retired as a Professor and Head, Department of Home Science from Morris College
Nagpur now known as Nagpur Nagar Mahavidyalaya. She did her M.Sc. [Child
Development] from MSU Baroda and her Ph.D. from Nagpur University. She lives in
Nagpur enjoys playing Rummy and is very Prolife with an exceedingly positive attitude
that baffles a pessimist like me! Here she narrates an account of her memorable
experience which as she calls it is ‘Simply Unforgettable’. Here it is and
mostly in her words.
I completed 81 and entered 82
qualifying myself for a ‘Sahasra Chandra Darshan Sohala’ Thousand full moon
celebration as per our ‘Shastras’ scriptures. Though not literally I
had seen 1001 full moon days. My life’s script rolled before my eyes as I
thought of it. Memories of all sorts good and bad, pleasant and unpleasant, significant
and insignificant, success and failure crowded my mind and selecting a single
eventful episode appeared to be a
‘Herculean job’. At the same time lots of Joyful moments and experiences surfaced
from the unconscious to the conscious and made their presence felt. There were moments of pride witnessing the
success of my Son, Daughters and grandsons. And yet my mind searched for a
moment that was my own and a very personal one. And then suddenly this
Unforgettable Episode appeared before my eyes from my earlier days.
My husband Baba was a commissioned
officer in the Indian Army and was then posted at Sugar sector near Simla. The
place was about 1100 feet higher than Simla there were about 18/20 tents all
surrounded by snow and he was to stay there for a minimum period of six
months. To me it seemed like a stretched
time interval and unbearable. There was no contact with him excepting through
the mail. And the letters had to be addressed to 56 A.P.O. They could be opened
and read for security reasons and hence used to be totally insipid and
uninteresting.
Every week he had to come to Simla
either for weekly ration or some other work. He used to call me from
there. But it was not always that we could
talk .Frequent interruptions were common and irritating and I used to feel
terrible. But I knew there was no go.
And then one day he called me from
Simla and my happiness knew no bounds. A call for two minutes went on lingering
in my mind for two days. He had just said ‘I am coming next week’. We were all
happy that the six months isolation was to end soon. I started counting days
but hardly ever anything happens smoothly and without any tensions and so I had
my moments of tension. Just two days before he was to arrive we received a news
that out of the six jeeps that had started for Simla two were swept away by an
avalanche. The news was tragic but no more information was available from the
command office. I was gripped with
anxiety and hardly knew what to do. My prime concern was his safety but
everything seemed uncertain and we could do nothing .I am not a believer but I
immersed a Ganapati idol in water and started praying for his safe arrival. And
lo a day before he was to arrive the phone rang and I heard the familiar voice
saying ‘Nale I am coming by Rajdhani Express and will reach tomorrow’. My
prayers were answered and the first thing I did was to place some sweets before
the Idol of Ganapati albeit after taking him out of water!
The day he was to arrive we all
decided to stay at home. The house was
ready to welcome him. My daughters Anjali and Manju decorated the house and had
drawn a beautiful Rangoli and my son Mohan had brought roses. We went to the
station to receive him and when I saw him getting down from the compartment I
literarily ran and hugged him without bothering about the crowd on the
platform. My eyes were full of tears but they were tears of joy.
I went to the college the next day
for some time but was unable to concentrate. I had already decided to take
leave on Monday and Tuesday. I tried to concentrate on work for a while but
could hardly do so. So I told my colleagues to look after work telling them
that they should call me in case something important crept up and left for home
in a jiffy. I must have hardly spent two hours in the college. All the while I
was thinking of preparing something that he liked to eat. When I reached home I
found an official envelope on the table. Curious I opened it and read the
letter and lost my temper. His leave had been cancelled and he was asked to
report immediately. I was so furious that I could hardly speak. A question that
I felt like asking was ‘Why did they sanction the leave when they were to
cancel it and Do they not have families to think of’? To give vent to my
feelings I started crying. I calmed down after a while. In the meanwhile Baba
had seized the situation and to ease the tension said ‘Nale lets have some tea
and onion pakoras as I haven’t eaten them for some time and that too prepared
by you. I will get things ready for you. Rather than easing the prevailing
tense atmosphere I got angrier than before and wondered how he could think of
Pakoras when his leave was cancelled and he had to report immediately. I even
asked myself if he was really ignoring us and had stopped loving us. I openly
gave vent to my feelings. Realizing that things were getting out of control he
then said to his cousin who was there ‘Manohar Tell her everything or else we
will get no tea and pakoras and she will spoil everything’. Then Manohar told
me that he had taken out the original letter and replaced it with a fake one
cancelling the leave. He had cleverly forged the signature and all this was
done as a joke to harass me. With this the tense environment turned in to a
joyous relaxed one and I could only say ‘What a cruel joke’. I just slapped him
on his back and went to the kitchen and fetched the tea and the piping hot
pakoras for the party. What had happened then has now turned in to a Simply
Unforgettable Moment.
About a month back my children with their
children celebrated my 81st Birthday with ample gusto. We went to a
beautiful holiday resort and enjoyed fully. We did some boating played games
danced and shared happiness and I felt these were the most exquisite moments in
my life. All my near and dear ones were there and I said to myself ‘This is
life and I enjoy it’ I am happy and content. Dhanyoham. Fulfilled!
Dr Nalini Varadpande M.Sc. P.Hd.
