A tailor named ‘Kakade’ lived in Kanakavli (Sindhudurg District) with his family. This family still lives in the same town. It was a big family made up of 3-4 sons and 3-4 daughters, but with very inadequate income. The Mamlatdar (Magistrate) office of Kanakavli was newly constructed near the river ‘Gad’ on Kennedy road. My father Nana gave Rs300/- to Kakade as a capital fund and allowed him to manage the canteen in the Magistrate’s office. Nana had not really followed any formalities or official processes of calling for tenders etc. There was a great retaliation in Kankavli due to this. Anyone who is familiar with the mentality of the people from Konkan can certainly imagine the severity of this great outcry. But Nana was firm on his stand and said,’I am supporting a poor family, not only to stand on their own feet, but also to recover themselves from poverty. Hence I am least afraid of such dreadful comments from the public.’ Later, the Kakade family honestly managed the canteen business and established themselves firmly. Eventually, the Kakade family took over another hotel in the main marketplace and as of today, Subhash Kakade may own assets worth Rs 2 – 2.5 crores. His father and elder brother are not alive in this world anymore, but Subhash Kakade never forgot the initial help they received from Nana. In addition to the existing business, Subhash Kakade also started one more store on sanitary wares. Once he took me (Shree Ashok Joshi) to Kanakavli and insisted me to sit on Cashier’s seat in both the stores and then he respectfully said, “All my business belongs to you. You are the owner of all my businesses.” Upon hearing his words I told him, “It is a great fortune that you remember about it! I have no further expectations from you on any other fortune”. Before departing from this world, Nana helped many such people and made them stand on their own feet. In my opinion, there are no limits to the glory and grandeur of my ‘Revered Nana’.

When we were in Kankavli, the parents of a boy named Vasant Mahadeo Sawant brought him to Nana for shelter. This 10-12 year old boy was very troublesome during this period. Nana had to spank him at least 3-4 times everyday due to his alcoholic and smoking habits; he behaved like a hooligan and that was the key reason why his parents had left him with Nana. He lived with us for nearly 10-12 years. But his behavior was very much the same. He always ran away from home and then returned a few days later. He still lives in Kankavli but shows up unerringly on any good/bad occasions in our house. No one knows where he gets the information from, but when my mother passed away in 2005 he showed up from somewhere exactly within the next few minutes. He was certainly a lot of trouble for Nana but it is certainly beyond my understanding why Nana had nevertheless retained such a person in our house. That limit of Nana’s forgiving nature is beyond our imagination.

A British person had come to stay in ‘Narsoba Wadi’ (Kolhapur District). He had accepted renunciation. He had come to Kankavli (Sindhudurg District) for some work. We lived in the house of Belekar. The raised platform of that house was quite high. One had to climb eight steps to come into the house. The British ascetic was informed by someone that there was only one gentleman named R.K. Joshi (my father) who was familiar with English as well as spiritual knowledge. So he came to our house and started discussions on the subject of spirituality with Nana. But they had differences of opinion and therefore, Nana finally told him that spiritualism was not in suitable for his nature and that it is not easy to understand spiritualism and hence he should not conduct further debates of this topic. This irritated the British ascetic and he pushed my father Nana over the steps. Nana fell down 7-8 feet but was not injured due to the grace of God. Nana was fifty-five years old when this happened! Amusingly, Nana had taken this incident very lightly and he quietly told that British ascetic that there was no point in his renunciation if he could not control his anger.

Nana was transferred to Vengurla three or four times and I enjoyed staying in Vengurla at different ages. Once we stayed in an area known as Mumbai Bazaar. We were the only Karhade Brahmin family amongst the 30-40 houses that belonged to Kudaldeshkar Brahmins in the neighborhood. We had completely blended with their traditions to such an extent that even our mother’s cooking was influenced with their style. The grinding of spices and mashing of split pulses, the special way of seasoning the cooked lentils, raw Jackfruit vegetable as well as seasoning of chopped chilies was clearly a Kudaldeshkar mode of cooking. Most of my friends Dabholkar, Tirodkar, Shirodkar, Samant, Vengurlekar also belonged to the Kudaldeshkar families.

Once we went from Vengurla to Shiroda (both in Sindhudurg District) to watch the Hindi movie ‘Mughale Azam’. We went on our bicycles to the ‘Mauli ‘ theatre in Shiroda. We were 7-8 boys including the son of lawyer Rege and Bandya Gavaskar. The theatre was only 10 miles (16 km) away but we had to cross the creek via a ferryboat. We had to cross through the hilly area and whenever there was an ascent we would walk up the hill with the bicycles and when there was a slope we would enjoy the ride down as though intoxicated. The 16 km bike ride took us more than 2 hours due to this reason. After enjoying the cinema, we came by the Sawantwadi (Sindhudurg Dist) road. All these hassles were undertaken by falsely informing our parents that we were all going to school. There was certainly the attraction of watching and enjoying the film, but it also included the experience of the thrilling bike ride on the way.

I loved biking and often rented bicycles to ride to the campsite in Vengurla. The campsite was located exactly opposite to our house. One day my father Nana saw me riding a bicycle and cross-examined me as soon as I reached home. “What were you doing there? Whose bicycle was it? From where did you get the money to rent the bike from?” Now, how do I tell him where I got the money! Unlike these days when even kids in 4th grade carry over Rs100 to 200 for pocket money, we did not share this privilege. In our young age there was neither the system of ‘pocket money’ nor were there any ‘guardians! All we had was a ‘Father’ who was very disciplinary and did not hesitate to scold us for any mistakes. We did not even have the courage to ask our mother for two anaas to rent the bike. So obviously I did not have the courage even in my dreams to tell my father that the money I used to rent the bike was collected from the change left after purchasing vegetables or groceries.

My father was a very distinct personality. Without even me asking for one, he later bought me a ‘B.S.A British’ bicycle for Rs. 350/-. The reason of course was I had passed my seventh grade exam. I sold that bicycle in the year 1993 when I purchased the Kinetic Honda Scooter. I am normally against selling old things. Any item to be sold must be done only after purchasing a better item. One should not make his living by selling old items. In our family, I never allow selling old utensils. If its time to discard a utensil I always advise them to purchase some other better utensil in its place.

Once in high school, my friend-circle had become very large. I played a lot of Table tennis when I was in Patkar High School, Vengurla. Sometimes, we played until 11.00 p.m. In the evenings we played Volleyball games to create the spirit of competition in the play. The bet was normally a box of sweets. Those days, a box of sweets normally cost around 5 anaas (Sixteen anaas equal to one rupee). The defeated team had to pay for the sweets and then players from both teams enjoyed the sweets. Time-consuming Cricket was one game I did not play much though!

My friends Manjrekar, Bandya Gavaskar and Shivaji Kubal were like tigers on the playground, but became goats in the examination hall. During the annual exams they would whisper to me ” hey, show us your answers! How else could we pass the exams?” And they would pass the exams copying from my answer sheets. Once they were out of the exam sessions, they would be back on the playground concentrating on Volleyball and Table Tennis. On account of my fondness to this game of table tennis, I always got warnings at home. Sometimes if the game was delayed, then I would be late for the evening prayers at home. Nana was very particular on the evening prayers and that every member of the household needed to take a shower and then read a chapter from the ‘Bhagwadgeeta’ daily. After this we all had to repeat the devotional prayers (shlokas) before the dinner such as –

‘GururBrahma, GururVishnu’ (Lord Brahma: the creator of the Universe ; Lord Vishnu: the God of substance)

‘Brahmanandam Paramsukhadam…’ (The bliss subsisting in the absorption of Lord Brahma, the Supreme Spirit)

We would also say a few stanzas from the creations of Saint Dnyaneshwar; some Abhangas written by Saint Tukaram such as –

‘Hechi Thor Bhakti Avadte Deva’ }

‘Kripalu Sajjan Tumhi Sant jana’ }All Devotional songs.

‘Sadguru Sarikha Asata Pathirakha’ }

‘Sadguru Vachoni Sapadena soy’ }

Saint Dnyaneshwar’s Pasaydan (Granting of a boon or blessings)

Sarva Deva Namaskarah

Keshavam Prati gachhati (Salutation to all Gods finally reaches to Lord Keshav)

Finally dinner would be served only after chanting the ‘Om Namo Bhagwate Vasudevay’ for 108 times. All family members came together on account of the evening prayers in the prayer room called as ‘Devghar’ (place of Gods). After a tiring day, full of activities and stress, sitting in a straight posture in front of the mantel and the small oil lamp, reciting the prayers gave us a strange mental peace and physical calmness. The good and bad events of the day would cross our minds and make us feel that the next coming day should also give us this opportunity to pray peacefully in front of the Supreme Lord, with a mind free from all anxieties.

As per Nana’s book of rules, avoiding the evening prayers was one of the worst offences and the punishment would often be a lesson for life. One day, I was very late retuning home. When I came home, I saw Nana reading near the table in the living room. A table lamp that worked on Kerosene oil was kept on the table. The table lamp had a big glass along with a one-inch wide wick, which provided more light than a lantern. Nana always used this table-lamp for reading purpose. At other times my sisters and myself would sit around that lamp when studying. When I tapped on the door that night I was late, Nana asked, “Who is it?” I said, “It’s me, Baloba!” Nana said, “What time is it? How dark is it outside? Is this the time to come home?” And Nana continued his reading! I waited for sometime but his reading was still in progress. I was peeping inside hopefully but there was no movement from Nana. He was reading quietly turning page over page! I thought to myself with fear ‘Would Nana take me inside the house or not?’ So, I again spoke to Nana, “I have come home. Please open the door!”

The only reply to this was, “The doors will only open tomorrow morning.” When mother asked while serving the meals where I was, Nana calmly told her I was standing outside the house. Mother felt great pain upon hearing this and said, “Oh! He is our only son. How can you make him sit outside?” Nana replied, “Outside means not in the jungle. He is sitting on the step outside. If you feel sorry for him, you are free to join him. Both of you can come inside together tomorrow morning only.”

Nana’s was very disciplined. He would never forgive any wrongdoing. The same rule applied whether it was his son or a senior person. Once in Ratnagiri, he had an argument at a monthly meeting with the Collector. The Collector passed improper remarks against him and Nana immediately got up from his seat and told the collector with sharp reprimand that such unprofessional remarks did not suit his position and therefore he was leaving the meeting place in protest. He further announced that he would not attend any monthly meetings with the collector and immediately returned to Kankavli.

The collector’s assistant named Kayaal told the collector “With regards to R.K.Joshi, try not to expect any apologies. There is no doubt that it was your mistake today. R.K Joshi is a very firm person and will never get into the clutches of your words. He is very smart and sharp in writing hence if you increase the issue, it will create more complications and land yourself in trouble”. Kayaal, the collector’s assistant was acquainted with all the people in the district. Even the collector respected his words. Taking the assistant’s advice, the collector did not pursue the matter any further; Nana did not attend any meetings with the collector and instead send his head-clerk to attend on his behalf. Nana started re-attending these meetings in Ratnagiri only after that collector was transferred to another office.

Another interesting incident similar to the above occurred later. This incident took place approximately in the year 1956-57. A collector asked Nana to provide explanation on a decision taken for a case Nana had disposed. In response, Nana directly sent a court’s notice of disrespect to the collector through a lawyer. He quoted that the collector had no right to call for an explanation against the courts’ decision. He further suggested in the notice that at best when the case is escalated to the collector through an appeal made to the higher court of law, the collector can change the decision if appropriate. After receiving this court notice, the collector faced a lot of criticism. This incident turned out to be very sensational in the Government circle back then. The collector’s assistant warned this concerned collector that R.K.Joshi was an expert in writing and had deep knowledge of the rules and regulations. Hence he requested the collector to close off the disputed case without further actions. The collector then personally came to Vengurla and compromised with my father, R.K. Joshi.

My father’s self-confidence was praise-worthy because it was built on a firm foundation of inborn intelligence and deep study. Therefore, he could complete the period of his service very gracefully. He never carried the typical ‘Government employee attitude’ of stubbornness towards inferiors and helplessness in front of superiors. Once Honourable Yashwahtrao Chavan, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra was visiting Vengurla. Nana personally decided the menu for his meals and ordered ‘Bhakari (the homemade flat bread from millet flour) and dry mutton curry. This was the common meal of a common man especially farmers back then. Hon. Yashwantrao was so happy with the meal and the selection of the food that he immediately asked, “Who decided this menu?” After a momentary doubtful calmness the Collector told him that Nana (they called my father ‘Raosaheb’) had decided the menu. When they called Nana, Hon. Yashwantrao got up from his seat and appreciated Nana for his choice and said, ” Only you recognized that I am a farmer’s son in the true sense.”

After the meals, Chief Minister went from Vengurla to Redi to check the mines. Along with him, Nana took all of us too in a launch (a large motorboat) including our guest Bhadbhade who had come to see the mine in Redi. We visited all the beautiful places in the vicinity of Redi and then returned after two days. Nana was a straightforward person as well as outspoken and free from fear. Hence he did not even think what the Chief Minister would say? He did not even think what the collector or the public would say? Rather, it is more appropriate to say that he had no such thought at all.

But sometimes, even with such outspoken personality, Nana would teach someone a lesson without talking at all. A good and virtuous head-clerk named Fernandes worked in Nana’s office. One of the office clerks troubled him everyday. Fernandes came to Nana with a new complain everyday. One day Nana told him, “Fernandes, you are such a fool! How can you not solve a simple problem like this? Just take him to the record-room, give him a good slap on his face, then come out and take your seat. Leave the rest to me.” Accordingly, Fernandes really took that clerk to the record room, slapped him on the face and then came out and sat on his seat as if nothing had happened. The clerk immediately started making loud noise and as required by the rules, he even wrote a complaint against Fernandes and gave it to Nana. Nana, then started a departmental inquiry as per procedures. But since there was no proof available against Fernandes, the case was finally closed! Since that day, the clerk had no guts to even look eye-to-eye with Fernandes.

Working as a Magistrate required a lot of alertness when dealing with the people in the Government Machinery as well as with public representatives, since Government employees have to always work within a frame of rules and regulations. A Member of Parliament(MP) once came to our house at Vengurla. We stayed in the house which belonged to Shirgaonkar during that time. The main floor of the house was setup with the usual family rooms and there was a spacious living room hall on the upper floor. Nana spent most of his time at home in that big hall. There was only one table and 4-5 chairs in that hall. Nana usually met with guests in this living room hall. I was studying in one corner of the hall on a desk. One of the poor students, who stayed with us in the same place under our shelter, was studying with me. But my sisters preferred to study down-stairs because there was always a disagreement between him and my sisters to some extent.

When that M.P. came to visit Nana, I was in the same room. Immediately after coming, the M.P. addressed to my father, “Raosaheb! There is a lot of black-market for kerosene in your area and you don’t seem to pay any attention.” Nana replied, “I have not received any complaints. But now, since you are complaining let us try to check. There are 3-4 kerosene depots in our area here. Why don’t you join me tomorrow morning and we can examine the hoarding of kerosene and other details. This is not a difficult affair at all.” Next day was Saturday. When I came from school, Nana was getting ready to go to work. I asked him with eagerness, “Did you go to see the kerosene depots and the black-marketing?” He calmly said to me, “You are still very young. You need not take any interest in these affairs. You must pay more attention to your studies!” And then he left.

Nana was obviously outspoken by nature but he never showered his outspokenness or let out a loose torrent of speech on anyone. But some people have a habit of disturbing the honeycomb by throwing stones at it. He never pardoned such people. My paternal aunt Ahilya (my father’s sister) was married to the family priest, Shriram of Sayali village (we called him ‘Rambhau’). He was a humorous conversationalist, a narrator of’ Keertans’ (singing in praise of God) along with ‘Pravachan’ (discourse on spiritual topics) and also a good reader as well as an author. He had an all-round personality and there were no limits to his egoism (such as, how can Atre (a famous speaker) talk better than me?) When Ahilya, my paternal aunt expired, Nana consciously avoided visiting her in-laws and other relatives as per traditions.

A few months later, when Shri Rambhau met our father and asked, “Raghunath, you did not even come to see me after your sister passed away?” Nana replied, “What was the necessity of meeting when I already knew that she would not live a long life anymore. In fact it was a great unpardonable mistake on our part to get her married to a person like you!” Rambhau angrily asked, “What mistake?” and Nana said, “After the marriage, we only saw her in two conditions – either in pregnancy or post-pregnancy. So it was already destined that she would have an untimely death!”

Nana always felt depressed due to the state of his unfortunate sister. Hence he extended all the help he could grant to his nephews and ensured they all lead a good life. He helped his nephews Vasant and Srikant, to get jobs in the Revenue department. Both of them later succeeded in becoming Deputy Collectors. Vibhakar the third nephew, stayed with us to complete his education from 8th to 11th grade. He is now retired as a teacher. When Vibhakar stayed with us, he had severe pain in his chest around 11.00p.m one night. Since there was no possibility of taking him outside anywhere in that condition, my father gave him a painkiller ‘Anacin” and put him to sleep. Next day morning Vibhakar and myself went to a very famous doctor named Taayshete (M.B.B.S.). The doctor diagnosed a case where the pain had started because the existing honey type thick liquid outside the heart had dried up. The doctor gave him some medicines for a month and within a period of one month Vibhakar was perfectly cured. If this incident had happened in the present, he would surely have been admitted into I.C.U. and then put on oxygen; plus they would make him go through about 17 medical tests such as cardiogram, cholesterol checkup etc. and this would have cost him about 50-60 thousand rupees easily. But it is a big question how an M.B.B.S. doctor had just clinically diagnosed that the pain was not in the heart itself but it was related to the fluidity of the outer membrane back in those days! The present doctors may not have any reply to this.

In case of family matters, Nana was always conscious of his responsibilities and completed his responsibilities with earnest efforts. After my grandfather passed away my elder uncle Dada and my father Nana jointly carried the responsible duties of the family. Nana had to borne the complete responsibility of the family along with managing his job. He had to sacrifice his personal likings for the education and desires of his younger brothers and sisters.

Nana had the extra sensory power of a sixth sense. During a village inspection tour, Nana normally stayed either in the village hall or a charitable institution. He never stayed with anybody in particular. A peon would also accompany him on his tours and prepare meals for Nana. Nana would carry the groceries when traveling for these inspection tours. He would only purchase milk at the new place. He would never accept anything free of charge from anyone. If anyone visited while cooking the meals, they would normally allowed to leave after taking the meal. So the meals for 4-5 people were always kept ready when he was on tour.

Once he was visiting Parule (Sindhudurg District) for a Village inspection. His office peon, Sawlaram Vengurlekar was also with him. Just when Nana had started eating his food, he suddenly asked Sawlaram to go check the wall on the outside of the house. When Sawlaram checked, he saw a very big snake on the outside wall. Sawlaram immediately killed that snake. This was just one of the many incidents that prove Nana’s sixth sense.

With age, Nana nearly stopped attending public functions or visiting any relatives. He was anyways never too anxious about such social visits, but after 70 he totally avoided them. He once told Shree Digambardas Maharaj that he might not attend any of the temple functions from that point forward. When Digambardas Maharaj asked, ” Why so Raghunath? Are you angry?” Nana replied, “Now my teeth have become very weak and it takes me more time to chew the food. While swallowing the food sometimes I could get dry cough, which may make others sitting in the row for the meals a bit uncomfortable. Also, it takes me more time in the washrooms and it is not fair to the other visitors at the temple during festivals to wait for ½ hour to an hour outside the washroom”. Maharaj agreed with Nana and later started inviting Nana to stay at the temple during non-festival times. Nana then stayed at the temple for 4-8 days during these visits.

Ramchandra was Nana’s fourth brother and we called him Ramkaka. In the year 1938, Nana bought a Raleigh bicycle that cost 30 rupees for Ramkaka. Ramkaka roamed around on his bicycle in Ratnagiri like a ‘Laxmiputra’ (very wealthy man). He led an easy life full of pleasures and comfort. He delegated the work of cleaning the bicycle to his younger brothers, Vasant and Prabhakar. He gave them each an ‘anaa’ per month for this work. For Nana, who lived a life full of discipline and self-reliance, his younger brother (Ramkaka) was exactly contradictory to his own behavior. Nana washed his own clothes until six months prior to his death and also did most of his own personal tasks. Nana always taught us that one should always do their own tasks/chores; always utilize their complete physical capabilities and one’s life could become useless with comforts and pleasures.

My three younger uncles, Vasant, Prabhakar, and Madhukar had stayed with us for quite a long time for their education. My father Nana kept a strict eye on them, their behavior and also their education. Nana gave them a fatherly protection so that they never feel the deficiency of their own father. But blindfolding or negligence was never permitted even with the cover of affection. If they made any mistakes, Nana did not even defer from beating them up with a stick. But our mother would intervene during such moments and protect the boys. Our mother was an affectionate person. She always showered her love and affection on these younger brothers-in-laws. She gave them money without the knowledge of Nana to spend on eatables; whenever Nana was out of town she gave them an anaa or two to go watch the movies. All of this of course was outside of Nana’s knowledge.

These three boys lingered around my mother, especially the youngest one, Madhukar, constantly calling her “Vahini, Vahini(Sister-in-law)”. After the death of Nana, Madhukar took my mother along with him to Hyderabad to give her a change and arranged for her stay with him for 2-3 months. He considered her just like his own mother. When my parents got married, Madhukar was just eight year old. He would not let go of her even for a moment since her marriage. Even after joining the Indian AirForce at a high position, whenever he came on vacation, the first person he would run towards was my mother (his sister-in-law).

Madhukarkaka was a very dignified person of our family. He was born on 1st January 1931, three months after the shocking death of his father. Hence during his childhood, Madhukarkaka was deprived of his father’s love, which is the birthright of all children in general. To say in the words of Shree Digambardas Maharaj, Madhukarkaka’s nature was altogether quite different. He wanted admission to the Medical College, but because of insufficient marks in the Intermediate exams, his dream of becoming a doctor totally failed. But then he read the advertisement that the Indian AirForce was in Nagpur for a Navigators position. So he sold his old college books, went to Nagpur without informing anyone in the house and joined the Airforce. Extremely fair, six feet tall, with a fully developed body frame, it’s not a surprise Madhukarkaka got easily recruited and was sent to Kashmir in his very first assignment.

In the year 1952, he received the Regular commission and in the year 1984, he retired from the position of ‘Air commodore’. He was blessed with an extremely sharp intellect. During the regime of the AirForce, he never left any training incomplete. He passed all these trainings with remarkable proficiency. At the age of fifty, he completed the M.B.A. course in the AirForce Academy, that too with a first rank. He was a trustworthy officer in the close associates of Smt. Indira Gandhi, the Prime Minister of India during those days. His wife Suman (we called her Sumankaku) had a Masters in English (year 1953) from the university of Bombay. I had instructed my son that whenever he visited Hyderabad he should meet this very brave grandfather and take his blessings. And, sure enough, whenever he visited, both the grandparents welcomed him with great love. Unfortunately, both Madhukaka and Sumankaku are no more in this world today.

I have a number of happy memories with Madhukaka. Nana had purchased a bicycle for me when I was in my seventh standard. During that same time, Madhukaka bought a brand new pair of Bata Ambassador shoes for me. Those were the first pair of shoes in my life. I can never forget that Madhukaka bought those for me. It’s these memories preserved carefully in our conscience, that our life becomes precious in true reality! Madhukaka always took us with him to the Braborne Stadium in Bombay to watch the cricket match. He made arrangements for plenty of goodies. Madhukaka was an AirForce officer and hence his nature was always free and fearless!

Surprisingly, we never watched these cricket matches from the pavilion booked for the high society, but specially from the ‘East stand’ that was full of the common public that are the real cricket fans. Normally, it’s this area of the stadium that is full of commotion, big crowds and fights. Madhukaka was mostly eager and ready to enter such a crowd and knock someone down. It was a really good experience watching the 5-day cricket matches with Madhukaka!

Nandu Natekar was the nephew of our paternal aunt, Seeta. He stayed with my aunt Seeta. He had just returned after winning the ‘All England badminton Championship’ competition. We were too young to understand the greatness of this sportsman. We called him as ‘ Nandu Dada’. Once when we were in mumbai to watch the Cricket match. We would spend the day with Madhukaka to watch cricket and then go to the club to play Badminton with Nandu dada in the evenings. I learned the preliminary lessons of Badminton from him. While returning home, he bought us ‘Lassi’ (a savoury drink made from buttermilk) without fail. I was rather surprised and became proud of Nandu Natekar just by witnessing the respect he got in the clubs and hotels.

The first pair of shoes received from Madhukaka is still fresh in my memories and also the foreign-made ‘Gillette’ shaving set given by Ramkaka. In the year 1965, I was visiting my paternal aunt in Mumbai. Ramkaka came to see me and then took me to the bazaar to purchase a ‘Gillette’ shaving set for me, which was worth rupees seventy-five back then. Unfortunately someone stole that shaving set. I purchased similar Gillette shaving set later, but the sentiments attached to the first set given by Ramkaka were not in this second set. There was no fun using this second set I purchased myself.

The personality of Ramkaka (Ramchandra Keshav Joshi) was beyond the ethical framework of our family. His whole life was like a rudderless small boat moving carelessly in any direction. He was probably fond of a pleasurable life from birth itself. Hence he did not really value the bicycle purchased by Nana with great love. In fact his younger brothers unnecessarily had to get involved with the additional work of cleaning that bicycle. It was actually difficult for any family member to guess what Ramkaka was doing at any given time. It was rather funny when at an important dinner function in respect of the great Freedom fighter Veer Sawarkar in Ratnagiri Ramkaka had a role more important than his own elder brothers. But later, he lived a very disorderly life. He started eating non-vegetarian food, alcohol and even started visiting prostitutes, which resulted in his moral downfall even more. When the sudden burning impulse of his body decreased in strength, the evening shadows of growing age started frightening him. He was not married and there was no mental support from anyone. Hence from the year 1970-71, he often started visiting me at my residence in Kolhapur.

Once I spoke to Ramkaka, ” Now your life line has started to decline. Your health has taken the stress of your disorderly life. Maybe it is time you totally give up such an unruly life.” He then asked me, “And what shall I do?” I told him to go to Narsobawadi (Kolhapur district) and thoroughly read the ‘Gurucharitra’ (The biography of a preceptor). This would help him spend the remaining years of his life in a better way. When he agreed, I made arrangements for his stay and meals with the priest Shankar Vishnu at Narsobawadi. I purchased a bed and bedding for him and also send him money every month. Finally he passed away in May 1991. We immediately left for his funeral, but my cousin sister’s husband from Kolhapur had already carried out the funeral rites before we reached. The remaining rituals of his funeral were carried out in Chiplun by our Prabhakar uncle. Every year when I perform the death anniversary rituals in the later fortnight of the month Bhadrapad (sixth month as per Hindu calendar and August-September month as per English calendar) I make the offerings to all the deceased uncles, paternal aunts along with Ramkaka.

Ramkaka and the kind of life he led was a great puzzle for me and so I finally asked my Sadguru, Shree Digambardas Maharaj as to why only this particular uncle in our family behaved differently than the others? He replied that some strange interchange of souls had taken place at the time of birth itself. He further added that there was no previous relation between Ramkaka and the rest of the family. Due to some carelessness he took birth in our family. Then I further asked, “Can such carelessness ever take place in the machinery run by God Almighty?” Maharaj smiled knowingly and said, “Such incidents do take place rarely!”

Shankarrao Desai, who was our paternal aunt Seeta’s husband, had completed his matriculation examination from the University of Bombay. He was awarded the Nana Shankarshet Scholarship. During the year 1933-34, he was a student of Pune Engineering College. He topped B.E. Civil Examination at Bombay University. After completing his education, he joined as an Engineer with the Municipal Corporation of Mumbai and soon became the Chief Engineer. He got tired of the politics in the Municipal Corporation and therefore, accepted early retirement much before the due date. He was a very intelligent man and led a very clean life! I have not come across anyone with such a intelligent and clean life other than our uncle Madhukar Keshav Joshi and S.D.Joshi (IAS), son-in-law of Nana Bhave, who also worked as a senior officer in the Government.

Shankarrao Desai was very conversant with ‘Dnyaneshwari’ (the simplified version of the Bhagwadgeeta, written in Marathi by Saint Dnyaneshwar) He had left a deep impression on me due to his intelligence and thoughts. The way he thought was systematically different. Once he visited us in Kolhapur. He stayed for a couple of days and then asked me to reserve him the afternoon bus for his return journey. I arranged for the reservation and on the departure day, at 1.30 p.m. I told him that I would go bring an auto-rickshaw for him. But he said, “Why rickshaw? I will give you the rickshaw money. You carry this bag and just come with me” At that time, I was working as an engineer in the Town-planning Department. But I carried his bag on my head and we both talked our way to the Bus station. Then Shankarrao gave me 70 paise for saving the rickshaw charges. Moreover, when he gave me that money, he instructed me to walk home otherwise, there would be no use for the 70 paise he paid me. This was his method of trying to make a person perfect.

Our aunt Seeta was also intelligent and bold like her husband. She was re-named as ‘Shalini’ after her marriage. She always helped her family members. She helped her brothers, sisters-in-law and the nephews in many ways. She not only helped in arranging for a number of marriages but also offered her own bungalow in Dadar, Mumbai for the marriage ceremonies. Shankarrao never opposed her in any of her activities and just watched calmly. After the death of aunt Seeta, Shankarrao donated all the balance from her bank account to the Institution of Shree Gangeshwar Sanstha Khanu (Dist. Ratnagiri) without any conditions on how the funds should be spent on welfare. The institution, completed projects like fixing tiles in the primary school of Khanu and established a fund for the supervision of the temple. While giving the donation, Shankarrao stated that the charities in the cities get a shower of funds but it’s the little organizations in the villages that really need the help of such donations. He further added that the money belonged to Seeta aunt and hence it was appropriate for this money be utilized for the welfare of her own paternal village.

Seeta aunt was an initiated disciple of Shree Digambardas Maharaj. Formerly, during the festivals in the Temple, the women served the meals. Shree Maharaj had given her a nine-yard saree and made her take part in serving the meals to the devotees seated in the dining area. In the beginning she put a lot of effort in her spiritual studies, but later she got tired and started to neglect the same. Once Maharaj told her in my presence that even though she had avoided the performance of the penance in this life, she would be compelled to carry out the same in the next life without any alternative.

When my cousin Vimalakka (the eldest sister, Vimal) got married in the year 1954-55 we all went to Mumbai along with all the other relatives. We stayed with our aunt Tara Sapre in Dadar. Approximately, 30-40 children in the family had gathered together and I still remember a funny incident from that time. We all watched the movie ‘C.I.D.’ and after coming home, our cousin Sudhan Sapre, started imitating the actor Dev Anand from the movie. He mimicked, “I did not kill anybody” and while saying this he caught hold of the window bars and showed a lot of emotions. Balasaheb Sapre, husband of our aunt Tara, saw that from downstairs and wondered what happened to this boy. When our cousin sister told him that Sudhan was just acting, everybody started laughing. This went on until everyone got tired in the end. In one of my visits to Mumbai, Balasaheb Sapre told our Nana “Your son is quite different from others. His intelligence and the way of thinking is remarkable. You should pay special attention towards him. He will certainly do something noteworthy!”

Occasionally Nana took leave from work for about 8 days and went on pilgrimage. He went to Narsobawadi (Kolhapur Dist.), Audumbar, Gondavle and Sajjangadh (Satara District); he mostly spent time absorbed in deep meditation when he was there. He took me along with him for company and gave me all the money to free him from all worldly responsibilities for those eight days. I would then take responsibility for the reservations for the return journey, our stay, meals etc. Then finally I had to wake him up from his meditative state at the end of his leave and bring him home. This way, Nana took a break from the Government duties as well as from all the other family responsibilities.

Since Nana was one of the twelve brothers and sisters, he had a large family of close relatives. His spiritual relationship was also quite large. Nana had fulfilled all of his family responsibilities successfully. He never fell short of any duties as the key householder. It was great fortune that there was financial prosperity from the beginning itself. Nana led a comfortable life but never addicted to unwanted pleasures. Whenever my mother wanted to purchase sarees, Nana would ask the shopkeeper to bring home a bundle of 15-20 sarees of different types that my mother could choose from as per her taste. My mother normally just selected whatever she liked without any limitations. Ever year, once or twice, Nana bought enough clothing for all the kids from Kolhapur, Belgaum or Mumbai. The purchases also included enough bed sheets, white coverings and warm woolen blankets. There was always additional bedding and pillows in the house to avoid any shortage in case we had guests. This was arranged with the main intention of providing respectful treatment to the guests. Anyone that came never went back unsatisfied.

Once my mother planned to prepare ‘Srikhand’ (a sweet dish made out of yogurt) for the festival of ‘Bhaubeej’ when the brothers come over to meet their sisters with gifts. There was a scarcity of milk during those days, yet with the help of some people, she collected milk in small quantities for two- three days and then made curd to make the ‘Srikhand’. When Nana realized there was Shrikhand in the house, after 11.00 a.m. onwards he started telling us to serve the Shrikhand-Puri to everyone that was visiting that morning. So, by the time we sat down to have our meals, the Shrikhand was all over! Even the spicy rice called ‘Masalebhath’ that my mother had prepared was over and finally we celebrated the Bhaubeej with a simple meal of ‘Pithale-Bhath’ (rice with the a gravy made from gram flour). That day Nana showed us how much happiness and satisfaction one can achieve by sharing the food with guests generously. The generosity of Nana was gigantic. Many poor students benefited from this gigantic generosity of Nana.

Golden Words from Samarth Ramdas:

|| Without A Sadguru ||

|| Life Becomes Fruitless ||

|| Without A Sadguru ||

|| The Pain Becomes Whole ||

|| Without A Sadguru ||

|| The Restlessness Continues ||

(Except The Singing Of Religious Songs in the Praise Of Sadguru! There will be No Liberation Of Self From The Bondages Of Life And Death)

[More chapters to be added shortly……….]