My
Friend-- My Harmonium
Thousand full moon: Shrimati Neela
Shyamasundar Thosar
Age: 81+
Born in Pune as one of the four
siblings, 2 sisters, one brother. Growing up, she was close to her younger
brother, who is a year and a half younger than she is. The older sisters were
six years ahead of her and she remembers them to be a bit bossy.
She attended Nutan Marathi Vidyalay
in Pune till 4th grade and Hujurpaga Girls’ school 5th grade
onward.
Her math teacher, Mrs. Bhagwat, and
her Sanskrit teacher, Mrs. Paranjape, seemed to have left a lasting positive
impression on her. She mentioned them quite affectionately as she traveled down
memory lane with me. She also mentioned Shaymala Agashe, her best friend from
school days whom she remembered with pride and affection as being intelligent
and humble.
She said she has been fortunate to
have great family including—children, parents, grandparents, and in-laws.
She attended S.P. College. where she
regrets giving up math because she was repeatedly ridiculed for lack of math
skills and blames it on her naiveté at the time. She pursued a B.A. degree with
Sanskrit as the main subject. Her grandfather (paternal) would take interest in
her Sanskrit studies. There were about 20-25 students in her classes. She got
married before she finished her B.A. Her husband's uncle (who had assumed the
role of her father-in-law) staunchly supported her and encouraged her to
complete her B.A.
After her youngest son was born she
was contemplating getting a B.Ed. degree to become a teacher. That was when she
came in contact with one Mrs. Joglekar from Bhusaval who agreed to host her and
her baby for a year while she completed her B.Ed. course in a college in
Jalgaon. She would go home to Varangaon on weekends and take care of her household
duties, take stock of school work given to the two older children and return to
Bhusawal for her classes the following week. She became a teacher in Varangaon
when one of her teachers from the B.Ed. program recommended her for a teacher
position in a girls’ school. She quit that job when her husband was
transferred. She remembers her students coming to her house to request her not
to leave the school. Even the school principal contacted her and asked her to
rethink her decision.
About her special friend—Her
harmonium: Both her mother and her mavshi, mother’s sister, used to sing
very well. Once on the auspicious occasion of bhaubeej, during Diwali,
her uncle, mother’s brother, gave her mother a harmonium. She fondly remembered
her mother playing her harmonium upstairs in their two-storied house. She
expressed the loss of her mother by saying, “I did not have a mother for very
long. I lost her when I was ten”. She remembers that she, along with her brother and sisters, would
go upstairs and would their mother’s harmonium whenever they would miss
her. The random notes slowly evolved into melodies as all the siblings got the
hang of the instrument. Although she could not devote much time to playing the
harmonium due to her busy schedule while raising her family and working full
time, it was always at the back of her mind. She recalled that she would stop
by at Mehendale’s local music store in Appa Balawant Chauk and chitchat
with the owner about harmoniums. After marriage when her family moved from Pune
to Arvankadu she expressed her wish of buying a harmonium to Mr. Mehendale, the
owner of the store who sold it to her for the low price of Rs. 123. That was 56
years ago… The harmonium she bought then has been her friend ever since. Even
today when she feels lonely or when her heart get heavy, she plays the harmonium and
it always helps uplift her mood. Although she has played the harmonium to
accompany singers, she feels the harmonium has faithfully accompanied her
throughout her life as a dear friend.
Today too, at the golden age of 81,
Neela plays her harmonium and inspires all generations to find joy in doing
what they love to do.
We wish her and her harmonium a
melodious journey ahead!
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