Vidya

I was suddenly reminded of her in the early morning & thought I had to write about her. Vidya Thakre shared her birthday with me, ie in the month of December. We were introduced in college in 11th std. She completed her 10th from Boy’s Town school. She had a petite figure with lot of vigour, spunk & oh yes.. intelligence. Her eyes sparkled as she talked. One of the brightest students in class.

She opted for Microbiology in the first year & she became a fixed member of our small group. We had this system for Micro students in our college, 45 in FY, 24 in SY & only 12 in the third year. The lab was small & to give justice to the other subjects in the ‘B group’ like Botany, Zoology. One had to go to Pune for PG…either Garware, University of Pune or Ahmednagar.Changing the univ. & going to Mumbai was another route…rarely taken.

In First year, we had Rangoli competition in Dec. during gathering. She had drawn a beautiful one in a circle in black & white.The block next to her was mine. I had also participated( along with entry in cooking competition where I made ‘Gajar Halwa’ …the carrots were all ready I only had to steam them & add sugar. People had nicely decorated their plates & taken every care. In the end I lifted my plate & sat & ate it at home.)

When the results were declared, ‘ Consolation Prize’ was written next to my block. When names were announced, Vidya was enraged. she dragged me to the concerned teacher, Mr Sharangpani, who came with us & said the results are out I cannot do anything now.I didn’t know where to look. She was the deserving candidate! I was merely taking a prize in her name.By third year we shared the same class but rarely talked.

I picked up my result so late that I had to go to Pune to fill up my MSc form. It was the last day. In August, after Pateti I got a telegram informing me of getting admission in Nagar. I thought I was the last one. After a week came Vidya & one one more..Pratima, then the class was full.Five of us from Nashik, we would travel by bus. The red bus would take four hours in the morning & more later due to traffic. Everytime that Vidya’s family came to see her off at CBS, they would be crying, one of her sisters or her mother! When her mother came to set her up, she said we are getting this degree to get good husband!..what now how is education connected, we were aghast at her observation.

Later one of her uncles came down, we moved around in his jeep. We , hostelites look forward to visitors, so we had good food & could go places. He was an elderly person who looked at me & said why I had not taken care of my injury…I have a scar on my forehead that I had forgotten…who will marry you? I was stunned. I have a scar on my forehead, on my head, on my arm.. I am one of the many stitched persons..so what.. my knees have a lot many scars!!! when a glass gets broken we throw it away, but the Japanese have this method of sealing it with gold. It shows what is has endured! Isn’t it the same with us?? our Bodies??it cannot be soft & delicate like a baby..this baby has a long way to go & we have crossed or covered much of the way.

In a very short time she became one of the favourites of Mr. Patel, our HOD. He knew her so well & yet called me ..Thakre …( when I got that second prize in Seminar presentation he knew it was me & not Vidya! but he never appreciated openly. He did offer me to work with him in the end.)

Before the finals, in January she got married, one of the first of my friends. She was going to stay at Juhu, where her husband had a huge house. Her viva was a breeze. How lucky! She had first class & went to stay in Mumbai. Shortly she had a son & her marriage started crumbling. She left, got divorced & started staying with her parents with her son. She was working in a advanced Path lab which closed down. She then went on to become the registrar in the health institute & looked after the exam dept. She worked very hard & rarely came to meet the friends.

In december, she succumbed to her malignancy & passed away. I was not in touch & didn’t know of her health & her passing away came as a shock. She had recovered from her first stage but later it came fast & swift her weak body couldn’t bear it. I did not have the courage to meet her mother. Whenever we met we would promise each other to meet sooner. Now, there is no next time, this thought itself is so depressing .A fighter till the end I hope she attains that solace which eluded her in this life. So long!