Shrimati Malati Joshi
(Year picture taken: Unknown)
Thousand full moon: Shrimati Malati Joshi 82+
Contributed by: Varsha Dandekar
I received Shrimati
Malati Joshi’s hand written story and I have posted the original below
for reading pleasure of those who can read Marathi. For others here is a brief
synopsis of her narration.
Malati Joshi is content with her healthy, peaceful life. She
has well settled children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. Malati got
married at an early age of 15 on completing her 7th grade
education. After her children were school-going age, Malati returned to school to complete her education. She was 28 at the time. She successfully completed a bachelor’s degree
and later worked as a school teacher.
Other noteworthy events from her accomplished life, recounted by
her, are summarized below—
- She and her husband, a purohit (priest) by profession, ran a Mangal karyalay (an event hall) for many years.
- Her visit to her relatives in the US along with other friends and family in 1976. Due to some glitch with Visa documents, the people with whom she and her husband were to travel to Ottawa could not make it and Malati and her husband, who did not know much English, ended up making the seven hour bus journey by themselves. Although the bus drivers were helpful she describes the relief she felt when she saw the familiar faces of their relatives on Ottawa bus stand by saying, “jivaat jeev aalaa"-- I became alive again!
- Malati and her husband traveled from Mumbai to Goa, on a scooter, a distance of 1000+ Km, in 13 days.
- She visited Koyana Dam and was terrified upon realizing that she was 100 feet below the water surface.
- She describes an eventful morning when her daughter and daughter-in-law, both pregnant and living with her at the time, gave births to their respective healthy children within a span of four hours.
We thank her for sharing her experiences and wish her all the very best in the coming years!
