December 4, 2007

Cousins

Dada and Kaka had a sister.For some reason,nobody seems to know about her.She was married to one Waman Deodhar who resided in UP(I suspect he came from one of the families which went over during the Peshwai and stayedthere). Both of them passed away, and a word came to Dada, asking to take away the two orphaned boys,Gajanan and Shridhar,or Anna and Appa.
They grew up in the Kale household,Anna becoming an M.Sc.and industrial chemist,and Appa went to VJTI Mumbai to become a weaving master.Anna had a company called Sanjeeven Mfg.Co.,one of whose products was Sanjeeven Hair Tonic,widely advertised as the answer to Baldness.However ,he himself was totally bald.May be like doctors do not take family as patients,hair oil makers do not use their own product.The family had a house in Maharashtra Society,Ahmedabad(Karnavati). His son is also named Sanjeevan.He visits Pune off and on.
Appa had one son,Sharad,a naval officer,who passed away recently. Anna and and Appa were as different as two brothers can be.Anna was a health enthusiast,biut Appa was a Bon Vivant.They used to visit regularly and kept in touch,their children also did.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Shridharappa, as we called him was a person full of humour. I do not recollect his jokes, but for sure, whenever he came, Durgadhiwas was echoing with laughter! He used to use a hearing aid, a very new device in those days. Getting tiny batteries was a problem.I used to go with him searching for them in Deccan Gymkhana and the city.He lived in Solapur, and had to take stock from here. He was weaving master in Jam Textile Mills. Once, because of some disagreement with a worker, his hearing aid was " stolen" by the worker.eventually he got it back!