After a traumatic couple of days post my beloved
grandmother’s death (11 Nov 2012), today we were blessed by “Maai” ( Sindhutai
Sapkal is called “Maai”).
As per my grandmom’s wishes no religious ceremonies were
conducted after her death and money was donated on her as well as my late
grandfather’s ( died 18
Aug 2011) behalf towards Sindhutai’s mission.
Pic: My family with Maai in the centre, her own daughter on
extreme left and her 1st adopted son on the extreme right.
Yesterday we contacted Maai’s mission in Hadapsar, Pune and
to our surprise we actually spoke to Maai herself where she cordially invited
us to come over.
She even gave us the directions to reach her mission’s
office as well as status in Pune especially sue to recent Sugarcane Farmer
agitation at Swargate Pune.
We reached her office in Hadapsar today around 11:30am and
she welcomed us cordially. We were surprised and taken aback by her humility
and her team’s supportive nature.
Maai gave us ample time to introduce us, talk to her and
convey our heartfelt regards. We were just total strangers just with a desire
to meet her and help her mission.
Today was 14th November – Children’s Day and Maai celebrates
her birthday symbolically with all the kids of her mission at Mamata Bal Sadan,
Kumbharvalan, Saswad, Pune.
Later she asked us to visit her newly built Sanmati Bal
Niketan, Bhelhekar Vasti, Hadapsar, Pune which will house 400 children
and then meet her at Mamata Bal Sadan for lunch.
Sanmati Bal Niketan, Bhelhekar Vasti, Hadapsar, Pune
Pic: Newly built 4 storeyed structure houses 400 children.
This land was purchased from the amount collected from her
US visit and series of speeches in US.
Pic: Ground floor houses numerous awards and recognition honored upon Maai
This building will have boys from Pune as well as other
mission locations like Wardha.
It has dining halls, bedroom halls with bunk beds, study
areas and small ground for leisure.
It took us almost an hour to reach her mission in Saswad and
it was already buzzing kids, visitors and activities setup for kids.
Mamata Bal Sadan, Kumbharvalan, Saswad, Pune
This is a simplistic setup exclusively for girls which
houses different activities and residential facilities.
As it was Children’s Day, special celebrations included Mono
Act plays, Mimicry to Camel rides.
Schemes for helping the orphans :
We adopted 2 orphan children ( a boy and a girl) for 1 year
in the memory of my late grandparents.
Amount is Rs 12000 per child which includes their stay,
education, food and medical care.
We will be informed about the child’s progress throughout
the year.
We donated old clothes as well.
I don’t intend to highlight the donation part but the
humility and welcoming nature of Sindhutai has really touched us.
Maai obliged us with few group photographs and later
personally came down till our car to bid a goodbye.
We were really moved by her personal touch during the whole
meeting.
Regards,
Anish Patki
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