Aanganevadichi Jatra

I always wanted to go to Bharadi devi Jatra but never could make it. This time taking a day early break it was possible. All the planning went in place. Nearly 10 of us decided to contribute. Everybody agreed that we should go and spend at least 3-4 days in our village in Nandos, Malvan Katta. The jatra was on 1st of March so 29 February was fixed to travel. We got two new friends Subhash and Mandavkar in our group. I boarded JAN SHATABDI Express at Panvel with Leena and Sharu. Rest of all boarded the train at Dadar. I took my telescope with me to have starry night sessions. The train journey was pleasant. We reached Kankavli at around 12:30 and then hired two Omni’s to go to our house. It was only 30 min drive. Everybody relaxed and had a fish in the lunch. Our liquor stock was waiting for us. We decided to have only beers for the lunch. Mandavkar gave us a beautiful gift, portrait of Shivaji. We took a quite stroll towards our bavadi. It was so wonderful. Tai prepared chicken for the dinner. Of course we had drinks. By that time I prepared my telescope and showed Pleades cluster, Aldebaran and surprised everybody with the rings of the Saturn. It was mesmerizing for all. Seeing Saturn with its rings clearly visible is a privilege. I also impressed my friends with few astronomical facts.
Next morning we all woke up quite early. Omni’s came on time. We reached Bharadi Devi temple at 8:15 in the morning. We thought there won’t be any rush at that time but we were utterly wrong. Everybody had a big question mark on their face. We stood near the entrance of Tula queue and waited for some time. It was decided previously that Avi and I will do Tula of Chinmay and Sharu. It was horrible experience to enter the pandal. When I saw Appa bent down to come inside I was scared. Ramesh is so heavy but even he managed well to get in. Finally we all got in but the struggle was not yet over. Tula queue was also very big and congested. Nearly 4-5 long queue from all directions were getting inside the temple at the same time. Avi and I stood in the Tula queue and rest all went ahead in the normal queue. After Tula we took darshan of Bharadi Devi. This time I enjoyed it even more. It was very clear view. When I came out of the temple I was so relaxed. Carrying small children in such a congested queues is scary. We were out by 9:30. I really appreciated all the village people who stood in the long queues for 5-6 hours to see the glimpse of the goddess. This Jatra is becoming very very congested every year. We left the temple by around 11:00 and went to our next journey.
After all this hassle to get inside the temple I wish to attend this Jatra every year.

Home Renovation

We have a big house in our village at Nandos Katta, Malvan. Also we have a very big family sharing this house. My great grand father Aaba built this house way back about 75 years ago! Probably he knew we would require a big house then. He built this house on his own efforts. Hats off to him.
I was born in this house as a fourth kid to my parents. They moved to Mumbai after a year or so to win the bread. I remember in 1980 when I was four years old I went to my village with my uncle just on a small visit. I could recall few moments from that trip. Since then I became a city boy and did not care about my village. I always thought what’s the point in going to village house which is shared by so many people and not producing anything but the rice? If we want to go there we have to carry everything from Mumbai and go.
When my brother Mangesh got married in 1995 we all went to our village in Ganapati festival. I saw my grand mother after such a long time and I still remember what she said ‘Moolbhumi isara nakos - Never forget the roots’. I liked that visit very much. Such a nice weather! Then I again went in 1997 when Mahesh got married and in 2000 when we had Home Haven program. That was wonderful again. When I got married in 2002 we again went there in Ganapati festival. All this time I never felt so close to my village house. It was kind of okay. I even said now it is not necessary to come back again.
In 2006 when we went to village again with lot of family members attending Ganapati festival, it was so enjoyable and peaceful to stay there. It was lot of fun. Considering the fact that our house as such was not in good condition and nobody to look after it since my grand mother died, we decided to contribute every month and raise a fund to manage day to day activities and bit of farming which we have. The fund was not enough to manage all that and if we wanted to re construct the house it was impossible. We had this point discussed in our family meeting when I decided to do something. I was thinking of bearing all the expenses that may incur to re build this house. With the present job and financial support it was quite possible for me. When I came back to Mumbai I called Mahesh immediately and told him about this. Leena jokingly said after all that was my birth place, the house in which I was born! I must do something for it. That’s it! Everybody agreed and we all went to village again in October’06. Actually we went there in a bit of haste. To fix a contractor was a pain. We could not find one until our last day to return Mumbai. Anyway we managed to find one and that was Parab and his friend Daji Sawant. The budget was quite high since we decided to build a terrace in the front portion. Our house roof was made up of wooden structure. Removing it and replacing it again with wood would have been very costly and stupid decision. So we decided to build a terrace. Rest of the house design was going to remain the same. Everybody like that idea but the money required was big. This is when Avi said to go ahead. He really contributed too much to make this possible. We started the work on 11th November and my parents stayed back to follow the job. It was going well initially but then the pace came down. We finally asked about this to Parab who said the budget which was quoted by him was a mistake. It was increased and he needed more money. He should have discussed it with us instead of delaying the job. Anyway we helped him by increasing our budget and asked him to finish the job quickly. He did not. The job was getting delayed and delayed. With so many frustrations on our part we decided to cut some extra jobs that we planned and finally finished the house in June’07. It was very late but the finished house was looking great. During the course of the reconstruction all the family members came forward and contributed. They were all happy to see the village house getting new look. It was truly amazing how many peoples worked for it, how many peoples visited the place and offered their valuable suggestions and not to forget their good wishes. Every rotation I was visiting village. Now I fell in love with the place. I like it so much.
Besides thanking all those peoples and my brothers who worked on our house I must appreciate the pain and the hard ship that my parents took while they were there to follow this job. Particularly we thanked our bull who stayed out in winter shivering from cold and under the sun as we took over his shelter to stay ourselves.
It was truly great experience. I wish I keep doing something better and improve my village house. It has given me quite a lot.
I will always keep in mind “NEVER FORGET THE ROOTS”.