Thousand Full Moon: Mr. Sunder Hattangadi (80+)
Contributed by: Sunder Hattangadi
Born May 1935, in Bhatkal,
Karnataka, in a Chitrapur Sarasvat Brahmin family, the youngest of 3 siblings
(2 elder sisters). Mother tongue Konkani, influenced somewhat by Kannada and
Marathi.
Father was a physician in government service. Paternal
grandparents lived with us. Mother had matriculated from Huzurpaga Girls’
School in Pune.
1936-1940 –Family moved to Mumbai when father was
transferred. Grandmother passed away in 1938. We lived in the hospital
quarters.
1941-1948 – Family moved to Revdanda, about 60 miles south
of Mumbai, upon another transfer.
I could not have imagined a more idyllic and ideal
environment to grow up. The house we lived in was next the out-patient clinic
(‘dispensary’). There was a small garden in front and back. Spacious grounds
accommodated 3 other families: the pharmacy technician (‘compounder’) who
dispensed the medicines my father prescribed; a man-Friday who functioned as an
office manager and also assisted with minor surgeries, dressing wounds, etc,;
and the sweeper, who kept the grounds and outdoor latrines clean. The sweeper
was the only one with an only son my age. There was a well on the grounds from
which water was drawn for household use. (The sweeper had a separate well next
to his quarters.) There was no electricity, all the roads were dirt roads. The
beach and the Arabian sea were just a mile to the west, farms covered the
northern 2 miles, and coconut palm groves surrounded us on the east and south
sides.
We walked to school about 2 miles south, in the center of
the village. Boys and girls attended school in different buildings. If you have seen or heard Pu. La. Deshpande’s skit (kathA
kathan)“bigari te matric” you will get the exact flavor of my schooling! Summer and Christmas vacations were always fun, as uncles,
aunts, cousins would always give us company and escape from city life.
Two big festivals were Ganesha Chaturthi (till Ananta
Chaturdashi) and Datta Jayanti (5 days). For the former we friends would visit
all the homes where puja was done and prasad distributed after chanting the
‘Arati’ hymns.
My parents were very fond of Hindustani classical music and
we had quite a collection of albums (78, 45, 33 rpm!) to play on the old HMV
gramophone.
Datta temple was on a hill 5 miles away and 700 steps up or
on a hiking trail.
In 1947, Konkan Education Society opened a new building for
middle and high school, almost next to our house. The inauguration was done by
Emperor Haile Selasie from Ethiopia who was then visiting India. The whole
history seemed to have come to life! Revdanda Chaul used to be a naval base for Shivaji, besides
being a trading post. Nearby communities of Janjira/Murud (with Siddi as ruler),
and Portuguese settlements in Korlai and Borlai (‘Firangi’) were also
reminders.
We as a family escaped the blight of un-touchability as my
father’s profession had to allow him access to any home to treat patients. I
used to accompany him whenever I could, riding in a horse-drawn carriage
(‘tonga’). Annual visits to the village by Dewal Circus and Drama
Groups from Mumbai were other major entertainments!
An event to determine my future career occurred. The wife of
the man-Friday had been discharged from a psychiatric hospital (Thane) after
some years and returned home. Her withdrawn and aloof nature sparked an
interest in me about study of the mind and the meaning of life in general.
My interest in world news was limited to reading the series
on the spectacular escape of Subhashchandra Bose and his subsequent travels, in
the Marathi newspaper.
The most tragic event in this period was the capsizing of
the ferry boat ‘Ramdas’ carrying over 800 passengers from Mumbai to Revas, 25
miles from Revdanda. Nearly 700 of them died and one of them was our history
teacher.
1948-1953 – My father retired in 1948 and decided to
continue in private practice (until 1961). My sisters and I then moved to
Mumbai for further studies. We stayed with our aunt (mother’s youngest sister)
and her family. They had one son a year older than myself. She was also a
foster mother to 5 other cousins of college age whose mother had passed away
when they were quite young.
This period was one of great excitement, with opportunities
to explore all kinds of activities – books, sports, cultural events, museums,
movies, zoo, etc.
I played cricket for the school and college (pre-medical)
for 6 years and 1 year in medical school. My uncle was very fond of cricket
also, and took us to all the cricket Test matches between India and visiting
countries (England, West Indies, Australia). In medical school I had to switch to tennis due to time
constraints. The school I attended was within a stone’s throw! The
College was a 10-15min walk opposite the Chowpatty beach! We had a wonderful teaching staff who taught with enthusiasm
for their subjects, especially English, Mathematics, History and Sanskrit.
Two books that thrilled me were Sw. Vivekanda’s lectures
‘From Colombo to Almora’ and Will Durant’s Story of Philosophy. The exposure to physics/chemistry, biology, and botany/zoology
thrilled me. However, I began to feel a lack of humanities in the curriculum,
and I began to explore more literary works but this was limited to English
only.
A major event in 1949 was the conversion of the school to a
Technical High School. I was in the last batch of the regular curriculum. The
inauguration was at the hands of Lord Mountbatten, 1st Governor-General of
India!
I was also able to attend many musical concerts, hearing
live the leading artistes whose albums I had relished earlier.
My high school final examination was an unusual event – I
broke into high fever and pox eruption over my body. The doctors could not
definitely say if it was chicken-pox or small-pox! So I was quarantined in the
Infectious Diseases Hospital (on Arthur Road), and almost lost a year. Another
aunt of mine happened to know one of the top officials in the Education Dept.,
and persuaded him to have me write the papers in the hospital!! Somehow I managed it and passed the examination. I was discharged
a week later. The urge to find a unifying thread in the physical,
biological and psychological fields began to intensify.
Vacations continued to be full of adventure, visiting many
places of historical interest, Belgaum Dharwar, Bijapur, Mysore, Mount Abu,
Jaipur, Delhi, Agra, Dehradun, Calcutta, Darjeeling.
1953-1961 – Medical School – I began to feel keenly the loss
of all my earlier friends, to be replaced by newer ones. The medical school was
about 4 miles away and I could commute from home in a tram car. I moved to an apartment not too far from my aunt’s. My
mother also moved to Mumbai.
Books that began to influence me now were Gospel of Sri
Ramakrishna, Autobiography of a Yogi by Sw. Yogananda, Radhakrishnan, Gita,
Dasbodh. In 1958 I came across Gondavalekar Maharaj’s biography. It
impelled me to go on a spiritual pilgrimage to Haridvar, Rishikesh and
Badrinath. In Badrinath I was most fortunate to attend Parvatikar’s performance
on Dattatreya-veena .
I finished medical school in 1959, and worked as a resident
doctor for a year, enough to qualify me for a licence to work in U.K. if I
wished to. As I had determined to study psychiatry and the
opportunities for this were not readily available in India, I decided to apply
to the University of London Institute of Psychiatry, on the recommendation of a
graduate from there who had just returned.
1961-1964 – U.K. Mumbai to London by ship – Chusan – its
last voyage! Stopped at Aden, Alexandria, Athens, Marseilles, Gibralter. Some
sightseeing in Athens and Gibralter.
Most of the shops in Gibralter were owned by Sindhi
merchants!
Spent 2 yrs in London studying at the University hospitals.
Lived as a paying guest in different homes listed by the University itself.
Absorbed as much of cultural activities as possible – plays, ballet, movies,
etc. Visited Wales, Cambridge and Oxford Universities. Spent a week in Paris.
Passed the examination of the Royal College of Physicians.
From 1963-’64 worked in Dundee, Scotland. Visited a family
in Helsinki (Finland), who I had met in London. Spent a week touring in Berlin
and Venice. I had to escort one Indian merchant seaman from Dundee to
Mumbai. He had become seriously depressed and the airline would not carry him
without an escort!
1964-1967 – To Canada. Sailed from Glasgow to Montreal. I
had secured a research fellowship in a McGill University hospital. I worked
there for 2 years, and then joined Federal Govt. hospital staff. A medical
school classmate was also working there, and we had a great time. Escorted
another psychiatric patient a merchant seaman from Montreal to Mumbai.
Despite the cold winters and heavy snow-fall, the years were
most enjoyable. We thought Montreal is the most beautiful city in N. America.
Touring the Laurentian mountains in the Fall season was like being in paradise!
In 1964, when I visited Mumbai, I met my future wife, Lina,
at a dinner party. I proposed to her and she accepted after a few months. She
decide to come to Montreal and we got married there. The Catholic Minister had
to officiate at it as per the Napoleonic law in Quebec!
My efforts to return to India remained unsuccessful, and
Lina was quite happy to make our home here. Her parents as well as mine were
supportive also. Lina had completed her B.A., LL.B., and gave up her job in the
legal dept of a company.
In 1966, we drove across US to Los
Angeles-Vancouver-Montreal over 3 weeks, a heady journey!
In 1967 our first daughter was born. The year also saw the
grand opening of Expo ’67, an unbelievable experience of a virtual tour of the
world. President DeGaulle of France also visited and the cry of ‘Quebec Libre’
could be heard everywhere.
1968-1988 – Due to the unfavorable medical licensing laws in
Quebec and the anti-English atmosphere, we decided to move to New York state. Lina’s father had retired as Professor of French at
Elphinstone College, and a professor friend of his at the University of London,
Ontario, offered him an appt. there. They had studied together in Paris in
early 50‘s I was able to get a job in Buffalo, N.Y., about 120 miles away, an easy w/e commute to London, ON.
Niagara Falls was only 20 miles from our home, and we hosted
streams of visitors for years!
My parents were able to visit us for 18 mos., and celebrated
their Golden wedding anniversary in 1969, and arrival of our 2nd daughter in
1970.
In 1970, my best friend from school visited us, and I drove
him and my parents across the USA to the west coast on a sightseeing tour.
Every annual vacation was an adventure in driving somewhere!
In 1976 we visited the historic places on the east coast to celebrate US
bicentennial. From 1984-1988 we visited several university campuses for our
daughters to select their choice, the elder one chose University of Virginia in
Charlotsville VA, and the younger one chose Michigan State, Lansing, MI.
I also attended many annual conferences of Psychiatric
Association in different cities.
I was able to visit Stockholm (Sweden) in 1984 for a
conference, and visited HelsinkI again.
In 1973 and 1977 we had taken the children to see India.
1988-2016- Due to some unforeseen circumstances we had to
leave Buffalo, and we chose Battle Creek, MI (Kellogg’s ‘Cereal City’) as the
in-state tuition of our younger daughter was much less than out-of-state, and I
could transfer my job to the hospital there.
1988-2016 – Battle Creek, MI I worked in the hospital until
1996 when I was eligible to retire. We stayed in Battle Creek, where our elder
daughter got married. She later moved to Detroit area, where our 1st grandson
was born in 1993. She moved back to Battle Creek and we continued to care for
him whenever necessary.
Our travels for the Silver wedding anniversary in 1990
included Paris, Rome, Helsinki.
After retirement I volunteered for 3 years at the county
mental health clinic escorting
patients to various facilities for medical appointments.
Later I helped with the BalVikas classes in the Hindu temple in Kalamazoo, MI.
In 2013 Lina’s father’s youngest brother passed away aged
100 yrs. In Dover, DE.
Then the computer revolution gripped me and it has not yet
left me!
Book reading on spiritual themes had kept pace with other
professional reading.
In the 60’s, Marathi books on Yoga; in the 70’s Gurudeva
Ranade, Kanchi Parama Guru, Carl Jung, and many others. In the 90’s and later
Ramana Maharshi’s writings took central place as I found the unifying thread I
had been looking for in his works.
2016-present – Our younger daughter was married in 1999 and
settled in St. Louis,MO As our grandson had graduated from college and the
elder daughter moved to Tennessee working for the same company, we did not feel
the need to keep managing a house.
We sold it and moved to a senior citizens community
residence near our daughter in St.
Louis.
Thus ends my
‘sahasra-chandra-darshana’ saga. Study of the Bhagavad-Gita continues to fascinate
me as the nuances seem to be infinite like the colors
