My real aunty--------------Nirmala kaku.
There are some people that are born good, Nirmala kaku was a born good person, kind hearted, a philanthropist in our family. Ever since Nirmala married my uncle Mr. Bhimarao Sarvottam Dharmadhikari, and came into our family, she has introduced many new customs in our family. Nirmala kaku has been very pious from the beginning. All the year round she is busy in one religious movement or the other. Credit must be given to her to introduce the system of establishing Ganapathy in our family. Before that we did not have the system of bringing Gananapathy in our home. If any dispute arises regarding religious matter, the final authority in our home is Nirmala kaku. Our family is one but our establishments became two. My father, the elder brother, Mr. Seturao Sarvottam Dharmadhikari, married Malati and at Kalyan made a separate home as the custom was. Our two homes were no different. Then slowly, slowly as the time passed children trickled in. The first to appear on the scene was I myself, then Dinkar, my cousin brother then Shobha, devadatta, Sulabha, Sudhakar, Surekha and finally Pratibha. So we were four brothers and four sisters. Each born with a separate destiny of his or her own.
Credit must also be given to Nirmala kaku for keeping the bonds of family firm in our minds. I remember the Apate wada days. In Apate wada she was in fore front of all religious activities. She loved children like her own son. She always taught good values to us and inculcate on our minds the importance of truth and propriety. Then my uncle’s family moved to Krishna building. It was all together a different world. For the first time here we found ourselves in Sindhi and Muslim neighborhood and to top of it all a Chinese dentist family was our neighbor. So Nirmala kaku was at first little confused but she adjusted to this new neighborhood very smoothly and established rapport with the people laudably. The building resembled Batatyachi Chawl and all the characters were present in this chawl. The chawl is witness to our bitter sweet memories. We lived on the third floor as one family, our solidarity was unanimous. Shah family led our cultural movements and helped in the religious ceremonies of Narmala kaku. The cultural heritage given to us by these people, we can not forget. My kaku is now octogenarian but works her own and she is now president of an educational institution. I salute to my Nirmala kaku for standing tall today amidst various cultural tempests hovering around our families.