The Patwardhans were brave but not overbearing. Macho males weren’t in favour in the Patwardhan family. Anand is a single child of his parents and was raised affectionately, but sent to boarding schools. He recalls that he wept all the way through his train journey to school, and so did his father while seeing him off at the railway station
By Bhupender Yadav
I celebrated ‘Constitution Day’ (which also happens to be my daughter Shiny’s birthday) by watching Anand Patwardhan’s latest documentary called Vasudev Kutumbakkam. The film screening was organised by a forum called ‘Nehru Dialogues’ and the venue was Jawahar Bhawan in Delhi.
Anand, son of Vasudev and Nirmala, pays his tribute to his aging parents through this film. It is a 94 minutes long story of two lovers who came together despite being born in different regions and decades. Nirmala was 12 years younger than Vasudev and belonged to a rich family of Sindh. Vasudev was a middle class person from a Brahmin family with roots in the Konkan region of Maharashtra.
The film was shot over 25 years and was not meant to be for public appreciation. The filmmaker thought his footage will be his cinematic companion and memory-jogger. The raw footage got converted into a film, thanks to the Covid restrictions on movement and normal activity.
Indeed, delightful small details emerge in the film. Vasudev and Nirmala married on January 18, 1948. Both came from illustrious families involved in the struggle for Indian independence, deeply involved in the freedom movement. Vasudev had seen a time when leaders were escorted to jails by huge crowds. Nirmala had twice given a donation of Rs 100 to Gandhiji and taken a handkerchief from him as souvenir. Needless to say, Rs 100 was a hefty sum those days.
Vasudev and Nirmala wanted to inform Gandhiji about their marriage. But they couldn’t. Nathuram Godse, the Hindu fanatic assassin, shot Gandhiji to death 12 days after their marriage.
The Patwardhans were brave but not overbearing. Macho males weren’t in favour in the Patwardhan family. Anand is a single child of his parents and was raised affectionately, but sent to boarding schools. He recalls that he wept all the way through his train journey to school, and so did his father while seeing him off at the railway station.
Nirmala, Anand’s mother, was an avid smoker. She refused to stop despite lung infections. Why, asked the son. “Because I have no desire to live. I have seen and done whatever I had to,” she replied.
What have you enjoyed the most? The son persists. “Pottery,” she says. “I have seen all the styles of it in the world and met all the good potters of my time.”
Vasudev was a less flashy man than his fashionable better half. However, he was brilliant and witty. He wore the wrong dress on one occasion and was chided: “Why don’t you use your brains?” asked Nirmala. “Okay,” he said. “I will use your better brain.”
The film ends with a story told by his father about religious rituals. Vasudev did not actually visit a temple. He just imagined what would happen if he did. He narrates this imaginary meeting with God. Vasudev is carrying flowers, camphor, prasad etc. But Hanuman asks him to turn back and kicks him saying “People come to ask me for something. But why have you come? What do you lack? Get out.”
This self-confidence angered God who replied, “Everyone queues up here for blessings to ensure their wish comes true. When you have everything, why are you standing here. Get out.”
Having lost the support of any institution after retirement, I can’t invite Anand Patwardhan for the screening of Vasudev Kutumbakam at my place, a town in UP. I don’t think he will like just a few fans of a family seeing his film and applauding it habitually. So, if any of you wish to contact him for a film show, they are welcome to drop him a line at anandpat@gmail.com
Excerpts from Anand’s interview after the screening of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakkam in Prithvi Theatres of Mumbai. https://youtu.be/dqaVFqd2vAA?si=BVNpnA2ycSgWlE7j
Bhupendra Yadav is a retired professor and historian, who is currently practicing law.
Well articulated Bhupendra. Correct the English spelling of the title of the documentary in the first paragraph.