Sharad Kaka with Love
Sharad Kaka to some, Sharad Mama to others, and Ajoba to many, bid us adieu on way to his heavenly abode on 17th April 2021. Grief-stricken as we mourn the loss of our beloved, a thought of gratefulness to God for giving him a happy life and bringing us to be a part of his family. And here comes along a surge of happy memories of association with him stretching from our early childhood to the recent times.
Veena, Suhas, Anil, Bhaskar and I literally grew up in the arms of our dear Sharad Kaka – Munnu’s arrival was after a big gap. To my other cousins outside Kanpur, the youngest among mamas and mavashis, Sharad Mama was special. In interacting with people, Sharad Kaka tried to get to the level of the person, be s/he older or younger than him. No wonder he was extremely liked by one and all who he came across.
True to the family tradition, Sharad Kaka was a tremendous player in many a sport. His brothers and sisters were all great sportspersons. However, as a cricketer, Sharad Kaka made his special mark. A large UP Cricket fraternity simply adored him – an outstanding cricketer and later one of the most revered Umpires. He had first played for UP as a DAV College student of BSc. He would tell us how he had become a celebrity – students would point out to him and tell the others, “That is Sharad Athawale doing Physics practicals”. His cricket statistics don’t do justice to his class. He was held in awe by the opposition – bowled 15 overs from an end in 30 overs matches and then opened the innings. However, it is inappropriate to think of him as a cricketer alone. He was far more than that not only in sports but in life too.
As children, we saw Sharad Kaka as a blend of exceptional love and strict discipline. I vividly recall the times when the two of us Anil and I slept hugging him from either side. Bhaskar being a little small build got away as Anil and I were fielded against each other in wrestling matches on Sharad Kaka’s king-sized bed. Can we ever forget the time when Anil and I had shifted from Jhansi to Kanpur for the session before Dada & Aai had returned from England? We were under care of Sharad kaka and Mai. Before we settled down to riding bicycles on our own, Sharad Kaka dropped Bhaskar and me for the morning shift in DAV School by cycle for many days.
However, all the love was never to come in the way of discipline. On looking back, it appears as if he was preparing us for the military life. No concessions were given there because we were small. He would have made an excellent Air Force officer. Alas, a small medical issue stopped him – I recall having heard from Aai. Later when Ajit took to the skies in the Air Force, Sharad kaka saw himself in Ajit. Mama jaisa lagne wala Ajit sporting a moustache like Sharad Mama was especially a matter of pride for him.
We liked to hear stories from him - he had the knack of storytelling covering small details. On seeing movies much after having heard stories from him, we got a feeling that we were seeing those movies the second time – “Dial M for Murder”, “Vertigo” and “Veracruz” readily come to mind.
Sharad Kaka’s analysis about the top songs added a tremendous punch to Amin Sayani’s commentary of “Binaca Geetmala” especially as we usually assembled to hear it on the big Murphy Radio in the drawing room of Veena/ Suhas.
In recent years when in Pune, it was delightful to have a drink with him. Thanks to Suhas having arranged a family Zoom meeting during Diwali, we heard Sharad Kaka in his usual Buland Awaz, although he looked rather frail. No one would have imagined that it would be time out soon. The good thing is that we would remember him last for the strength he always projected.
Sushama Kaku, yours has been the biggest loss! However, we all are with you! The two, Vimal attya and you are the Sutradhars of the previous gen for us to derive inspiration from. Hope you will delight us by coming to stay with us frequently besides Suneet and Bhavana.
With love,
Pramod
