“Ganapati Bappa” in Pulgaon Mill

Before 50 years! Glory of Pulgaon Mill … now it is Dead. But Ganpati custom still alive:
A talk of the masses of those gone days in “GANPATI FESTIVAL”

I got a birth on 31st September 1955 as per my school record. The birth place is Pulgaon in  Wardha District of Maharashtra.
     30 days have Sept., April, June, and November. All the rest have 31, except February alone. So Mr. H.N. Katkoria, my Gujrathi friend and a lawyer now, a businessman’s son. Once at journalism college said “TU IS DHARTI-PER KA NAHI HAI’.
     For the first time after graduation after I  passed  a journalism degree, I made an application for Public Relations Officer, in Govt. Office and it has been rejected.  Professors taught me that JOURNALISTS ARE MORE  POWERFUL THAN OF THAT COLLECTORS AND COMMISSIONERS. Being my date of birth as per record was, I was rejected out of the gate at the Govt. office,  indeed a key post for me to serve.
    When the application was rejected I went to my friend who was at that time an Additional Divisional Commissioner, who asked me to see the Divisional State Board Secretary. He gave dictation to his PA Mr. Joshi. Joshi jee handed over me a cover packed with a beautiful letter with the mono of TIN MUNDI and an extra carbon copy written by his boss, to make my problem solved.
     I went to the Board Secretary, who called me without waiting. ” YA!   BASA, BOLA. I narrated him briefly and he was pleased over a cup of tea. After tea he asked me to correct it first from the previous institute where I passed the examination.
     I went to the school head master who asked me to correct it in the primary school. They did not laugh at me, for the funny date of birth nor did they  hesitate to do my work but were sure that the mistake was being done at the first standard itself.
     It  came to my notice after my  graduation. Because till now I have not celebrated any date of Birth Of mine. So after 1st standard I got admission in secondary school and the same mistake was carried out in University as well. There was no reason to look at that date of birth to me. Because  at that time of this celebration we were looking at pictures only.  So again I got a letter from the Additional Divisional Commissioner, my friend and a visiting professor to me in the subject of future writing. Mr. S.Shenker Menon who asked me to go to the Minister of Education, it was SACHIVALAY, Bombay at that time.
     In the meantime as a Journalist with a daily newspaper and a student of Bachelor of Journalism. It made me thirst to visit the place where I had given birth. And it was PULGAON COTTON MILL HOSPITAL. I heard from my mother many glorious things about that Mill where my mother’s father was working as SPINNING MASTER, who gave employment to hundreds of youngsters at that time …  mostly came from a BRAMHIN FAMILY. Most of  my  Mamas are by the name
Deshpande, Shastri, Joshi and Kurkarni. These mamas mostly from the vicinity of Wardha District and they settle here in Nagpur after their education in Wardha District.
     Once ANNU MAOSHI came to my house along with DADA MAMA, her elder brother. My mother definitely would have told her against my father’s attitude or the behavior she faced with him day to day in her life.  Dada mama, was working in Govt. Central Workshop, where I was working as a daily wages worker (Mazdoor) but I was working in the accounts department. Dada mama came to me, and shouted at me against my father’s attitude, the next day, which made me the whole day, but I had not attended my office a week then. Dada mama came to me and told the family relations they were having with my mother, the shout was one of the reasons for that,  Deshpande Mama confessed it  in my mother’s present.
      I worked here and there and took all my education  after I passed 10th standard. Now I  was more matured at this stage and was working as a journalist in Nagpur. My paper’s correspondent at Pulgaon was Mr. Boratne. Who used to come to our office  for his Remuneration . I was handling a salary sheet of 350 to 400 workers at Nagpur Times. It was my additional Table because my graduation was in commerce. The workers payment sheet I was to get total corrected in an hours with FACIT MACHINE which before me was a work of a complete day and even some time office used to postpone the salary of one department for the reason of  ” CUTTINGS AND ADVANCES NOT COMPLETED.
     For me, Mr. Boratne was one of the  correspondents in the groups of many working correspondents working for our paper. His four-figure remuneration was more than that of our advertising manager. His salary was 999/- at that time. Whereas Boratne,s used to get an additional commission for his advt. business. He took me the next day at the dilapidated mill, which was on oxygen but was not  completely dead till then.
      The date of birth on the corporation record was 21 September and I got the certificate on the same day, using Mills workers together with Nagar Parishad staff members working hard for me, to get the certificate completed. It was all because of Mr.  Boratne, our correspondent at Pulgaon. I took the  certificate and was able to correct my date of birth on all my documents, even this change on my PASSPORT.
    Then started my opposite statement against Pulgaon where I got birth. This mistake I brought to the notice of those who used to talk about PULGAON. Late Kashikar, the ex- chairman of Vidarbha Development Corporation and so many other symbolic figures have got their berths including me in Pulgaon I am surprised. To my surprise Lokmats papers  Darda belongs to Pulgaon and their Mama Mr. Jain also had their ancestors from Pulgaon. I was surprised when I heard Mr. Jain, the maternal uncle of then one of the widely circulated paper LOKMAT are from Pulgaon. Mr. Jain repeated to me when I put my sharp tounge against Pulgaon and said me that ” I am Mama of minister” Rajendra & Vijay Darda, the one times highly circulated of the Darda people family who were their power in Assembly also. Mr. Chaudhari,  of National Fire College once boasted to me that his Grandfather was in a Pulgaon mill and father was in a Garrison Military Camp at Pulgaon. His father was working at the glorious Pulgaon Mill, he said once. And Mr. Boratne having his own multiple business there at Pulgaon. Once he told me  that he learnt how to fix postal stamps on a lifafa from his father who was working in Pulgaon Mill. Definitely the people of Pulgaon with the sense of more accuracy, I confirmed, when I got  50 years back date photos from my brother who reside at pulgaon till now. The mistake was of a clerk who wrote down 31 September instead of 21 sept. Indian people trained under britishers and those who were twice sure to tell other stories of NO MISTAKE  in GANPATI, when I used to go to my aunt’s house at Pulgaon for  GANPATI DARSHAN. A PULGAON Mill that has put lots of memories in the minds of people, today I remember the glorious way back to the unknown years of GANPATI procession. The dead mother’s LORY and her father who is to go to PCM in a horse cart awakened me today the trouble our ancestors took in the bygone days, the glorious movement it is for us…today.