Thousand Full Moon: Shrimati Vibhavari (Akka) Gopal Gokhale (81+)
Contributed by: Varsha Dandekar
Octogenarian Shrimati Vibhavari Gopal Gokhale, Akka, as she is called by most, is an avid learner. She has pursued her passions and interests all through her life. She is humble, helpful and has a myriad of accomplishments to her credit. She believes in using her knowledge and skills to help others.
Akka hails from a large family from Khed,
Maharashtra. She
is one of the 12 siblings. Her father was a Hindu priest and mother was a
hardworking gentle soul devoted to the family's well being. She
remembers
her mother fondly and is grateful for the care she received from her
mother which helped Akka recover from a long illness.
We present below the narrative of Varsha Dandekar’s interview with Akka (Thanks, Varsha Dandekar!). The interview is in Marathi, Akka’s mother tongue. We also include three short video clips where Akka narrates her experiences about i) meeting Late Shri. Sudhir Phadke, the famous Marathi singer ii) about joining a ladies Bhajan, a devotional song group and becoming their compere and iii) volunteering at the Palkar Cancer institute and helping with the fundraising and offering companionship to patients.
Devotion to Lord Rama and meeting with Shri. Sudhir Phadke
Joining ladies' Bhajan Group
Here we give a bullet point summary of Akka’s narrative for the benefit of those who do not know Marathi.
- She learned to swim from her brother when she was in school. When she would complain about the frogs in water he would tell her that frogs were clean and that she could not use that as an excuse to get out of learning to swim. She used her swimming skills later on to teach swimming to women in the U.S. when she was visiting her son.
- She got married when she was 17 and in the 9th grade. Her in-laws supported her continued schooling. However, she could not go very far due to the eminent motherhood that followed. However, she persisted after her family responsibilities were completed and earned her bachelor’s degree at the age of 55!
- She learned yoga on her own and teaches yoga to children in the slums of Mumbai.
- She learned to knit and crochet and knitted sweaters for her family.
- She learned to sing Geet-Ramayan (program of devotional songs about Lord Ram’s life story) and became part of a group that was invited to perform at several places in Mumbai.
- She learned to do Kirtan (a folk performing art form used to spread spiritual/social message) and performed two memorable Kirtans at family functions.
- She raises funds for Nana Palkar Samiti an NGO that works to help cancer patients to offset their treatment costs.
- She is a compere for a women’s devotional song group where she shares informative forwards from digital media with other grandmother for them to share with their grandchildren.
- She helps her daughter-in-law with her catering business.
- Last but not the least, she has learned to use the modern digital gadgets and uses them to stay connected with the world.
