With current situation neither we see future to have socialized life.......

25th Sept 2020.

Today sky is open and clear after heavy rains during past few days at Mumbai and when I was peeping through gallery some past flashed in front of my memory recollections.

recalled the memories of my childhood days spent at my native village “Karvadi” at Karad Taluka in Satara district. I do not know whether the old memories led me to compare the existing situation of pandemic where you are literally prisoned at home with the past memories. Oh! really golden days those were!

Our village ‘Karvadi’was not famous or known for anything except you need to say another famous place just 1km away “ Oglewadi” which was very well known in Maharashtra for excellent glass factory of Ogle’s prior to 1970’s .

Our village, Karvadi like any other villages around was dominated by various casts, farm laborer's etc. and my small house was built by my father out of village in our existing farm. Cast differentiation was limited to few and this was non existent in my family. It was already melted away by my father’s upbringing and we were the only Brahmin in this village or may be 50 other adjacent villages around. My father struggled to acquire agricultural land which was held under land ceiling act of 1956 in Maharashtra .

We lived with various casts of Hindu’s and Muslims. My father became popular in many villages with his dedication towards resolving farm land problems with his witty mind and later became part of manty villages in Karad Taluka. The people who supported thick and thin made him contest elections opposing the ruling party then in whole Maharashtra. I do not recollect exact period but somewhere early of 1970’s,my father built a ‘Peer” a small mosque adjacent to our land. We never witnessed any clashes or disputes in Hindus or Muslims and all of us lived in total harmony. As children, our family never bothered to know about the people's or classmate's religion. We never heard of untouchability during our wonderful childhood.

Life was simple and stress-free. We spent our childhood playing out on the dry land, farm or bank of a stream (natural flow of water that follows or ‘Odha’ called in Marathi). We played in rainy and summer seasons in mud and clay, but were never discouraged from playing and we never felt sick because of dust or pollution. We never had heavy homework. Going to school was fun since we could meet all our friends. We studied only for the examinations. English was introduced only from Standard V. I can go on and on, with the memories of my village life and then city like Mumbai later part of school and back to college life at Karad.

Today this life was just flashed with current situation of stuck of lives everywhere ,loss of human lives, decline of businesses and movement of normal life in situation of of Covid 19, with neighbor's in apartments in cities boycotting one another just out of this fear of likely getting affected . We have backward with social harmony or social distancing. Our mindset has become so rigid against peaceful co-existence. Such an ugly transformation is only confined to the cities and not so rigid or has not spread to villages.

Our life has become much easier than past with scientific discoveries and technological advancement .However started wondering whether the discoveries and technological advancement has really led to living comfortable life ?People in past loved to socialize and had simple life to live ,later they became busy more so in urban areas and they have little time to socialize .

With current situation neither we see future to have socialized life nor we can enjoy past community life .

Is technology advancement boon or bane ??