In 1958, Ram Mamaji was to get married in Barshi. Bai had already left for Barshi for her younger brother’s marriage with Asha, Ashok, JP and me- I was born a year ago. Pushpa Jiji and Om were left behind in the Bajaj Electricity home (near Durga talkies) in Wardha. Pushpa, just 12-year-old then, would cook lunch and dinner for Bhaiji. A fortnight later, Bhaiji too went to Barshi. He asked Uttambhau to look after the kids until he and others return.

Pushpa and Om went to Uttambhau’s home- about 200 meters from Jaishree bhavan. Uttambhau was Bhaiji’s 30- year-old nephew. He had a 2-year-old daughter, Sunita. Uttambhau and Gita bhabhi didn’t treat the two kids well. They were made to do all household chores- helping in the kitchen, sweeping and mopping the floor, doing dishes, and washing clothes. And they were not given enough food to eat. Often they would sleep part hungry.

Once Pushpa was sleeping with Sunita, Uttambhau’s daughter. Sunita was sleeping with a biscuit in her hand. Unable to resist the temptation of that biscuit, Pushpa Jiji snatched biscuit from her hand and ate. She was caught doing so by Uttambhau. He scolded and slapped her and drove Om and her out of his home. He locked the grill gate from inside. While both kids were begging to get in, he refused to let them in.

Both kids came back to the Bajaj Electricity home. Luckily, Pushpa had the keys of the home tied to her waist thread. Otherwise they would have been wandering on the street. They opened the lock, got in and slept. Very freighted of a ghost in the dark, they did not have even courage to fetch water from the kitchen and drink.

Next day, they decided to leave for Yelakeli, a village 10 km from Wardha. Dhapubai, Bhaiji’s sister and kids’ bua used to live there alone. They went to the Wardha bus station and began to look for a halftone bus that would take them to Yelakeli. They had some coins in their pocket and spent 10 paisa
each to eat a kalmi mango. They had no idea how to board a bus, nor courage to ask how to take a bus. Ultimately they found a bus that would take them to Yelakeli. The 10 km journey took four hours. By mid-afternoon they reached Yelakeli and went walking from the bus stand to the farm home.

Bua was surprised to see the two kids coming alone to her home, unannounced. “Have you had lunch?” she asked them. As soon as they heard this, tears began to stream down their cheeks, for they had hardly eaten anything since evening. They hugged their Bua and cried inconsolably. Bua cooked food for them and took their charge. She kept on wondering how could Uttambhau be so callous. Those were the days, homes had no phones.  She couldn’t send a man to inform Uttambhau, either. Although they spent the next two days with her, Uttambhau made no efforts to inquire about their whereabouts.

Two days later he got to know that they were in Yelakeli. Bai and Bhaiji were to return Wardha soon. Fearful that he would earn their wrath, he came to Yelakeli to fetch them. Bua took him to task, as did his father, our Tauji. He apologised and rode them back to Wardha on his bicycle- triple-seat. The next day Bai and Bhaiji and other kids arrived. Surprisingly, Bhaiji and Bai treated Uttambhau with a kid glove.

Today Pushpa Jiji and Badibai narrated this story.  Sixty-four years have gone past, but they vividly recalled the story. To fill a gap in the story, Pushpa Jiji called Om who helped her correctly recall the story. And Badibai too confirmed the sequence of events!