History of Tambe family-Part 2

 

Tambe family 2

1880-1920

 

 

This chapter in our family starts when Nagesh (my grandfather), son of Ramchandrapant, probably got restless with life in Khedkuli and probably saw that there was no future in Konkan, and decided to migrate to the Ghat region.

In all probability, he must have stopped and prayed at the Laxmi Pallinath temple in Pali on his way. It is not clear if he was already married when he left Konkan.

The history of his early days and struggles is not very clear, at least to me.

The fact that the family had some land in Kalghatgi in Dharwad district shows that there was some connection with that area. What is known is that he entered service in the erstwhile princely state of Sangli and rose to the post of Mamlatdar( Head of Administration) of one of the Talukas in the state. He built a two-story house in Sangli in the Khan Bhag area.

He was a handsome man, as one can see from his painting which hung in the Sangli house and is now in the custody of Shirish. It is a wonderful portrait and shows clearly the way in which many of us have inherited some of his facial features.

 

He had six sons and a daughter.

Arranged age-wise, they were:

* Martand.

* Mukund

* Narayan

* Vishnu

* Ranganath

* Ramakrishna

(Note how all the names of the son are either Vishnu’s or his avatars)

 

 

 

 

* And a daughter (whose name I do not remember)

 We only called her Atyabai. And the brothers and sisters-in-law called her Akka.

She was widowed young (married in the Phalnikar family), and stayed in our Sangli house till the end, with occasional visits to the Phalnikar family.

She wore the widow’s dress, nine-yard red sarees, sometimes white, with the shaven head covered.

Ajoba’s sister was also in the house in earlier years, called Thoralya Akka by all, and Vaini used to tell us how much she learned from her.

 

I never saw my grandparents, as they had passed away before I was born.

Nor have I seen my uncles Martand, Mukund and Vishnu.

I have seen uncles Narayan (Nanukaka), who never married and worked in Sangli, Ramakrishna (Dhakate Kaka), Atyabai, and Mothya Kaku (Mukund Kaka’s widow).

 

Vishnukaka was studying medicine and had just got married when he died suddenly. Meenakshi Kaku, the young widow, returned to live with her parents in Karnataka, and all contact with her was subsequently lost.

Until I went to Bangalore and looked up her brother, Mr L G Gurjer. I went to their house and met her. It was a very happy meeting for both of us. Later on, Vaini visited Bangalore, and Meenakshi Kaku came over to visit us. For the two of them, too, it was a historic meeting as they were meeting after so many years. I kept in touch with her till her death. Shrikant Bhau and Vahini were also with me when we all went to their huge coffee estate in Koppa to meet her. That was the last time I met her.

 

Nanu Kaka was delightful. He was dressed in white pyjamas, a dark coat and a white cap. He worked as a compounder in a clinic. He did not talk much but had a wry sense of humour. My favourite memory of his was when he used to bring the famed Sangli Khare Dane in a huge newspaper cone when he returned from work, which we all devoured quickly. And on one occasion, a brass pot full of sugar cane juice!

 

Mothya Kaku was a quiet person, spending her time mostly in the kitchen, but watchful and caring for all.

 

 

The description of the Sangli household will not be complete without mention of a remarkable lady whom everyone called Nurse Bai. She was not related to us, but I think she took a small part of the house on rent and stayed on the upper floor. We had a Jhopala at the front, and she was often seated there in the evenings. She was a stern lady and a disciplinarian, and I was a little scared of her. She was from Konkan and quite well-to-do. It was a mystery to me why she continued to stay in Sangli even after retirement.

When we were living in Alibag, we travelled to her family's house and land, and it was quite impressive.

 

Dhakate Kaka worked in the Postal Department and used to be transferred from place to place. He was very tall, probably the tallest among the brothers. He used to be dressed in a dhoti, shirt, coat and a cap. We visited him at some of his postings in Konkan. He was well-read and took a lot of interest in the writings of Ramakrishna Paramhans. He also read Bengali authors.

The Kalghatgi land was given to tillers, and as in many other cases, we were lucky if we got anything from the tillers regularly. An anecdote about Dhakate Kaka was that he was deputed to go and collect the dues from the tiller. He came back after two days with bags full of fruit and other farm goodies and talked happily about the bounty. Of the cash from the tiller, there was no mention whatsoever!