3 min readMumbaiDec 7, 2009 04:23 AM IST
First published on: Dec 7, 2009 at 04:23 AM IST
What Vanaspati Durgat,86,does not know about the Indian Constitution,she makes up for with her knowledge about the man responsible for it. She knows,for instance,how much Babasaheb Ambedkar loved the violin and what Ramabai’s favorite paan was.
Durgat had worked at Rajgriha,Ambedkar’s house in Dadar,from the age of 12. She remembers him as a very composed man.
“He barely spoke to me. But he always asked me,‘How are you?’ He patted me on my cheek and head before leaving home,” she said at her 10 ft-by-20 ft house in Matunga Labour Camp on Sunday,the leader’s death anniversary.
Durgat said she used to dance as Babasaheb played the violin. “In those days he was learning the violin in his gallery. I really liked the music so one day I started dancing to the tune. Ramabai found it amusing and ever since then it became a habit,” said Durgat.
She recalled how her family had started to work at Rajgriha: “My parents were from a small village in Haryana,but shifted to Mumbai for a better living. They did odd jobs in British homes before they were thrown out. Due to construction work happening in and around the Dadar area then,they managed to do some work for 50 paise at Rajgriha,under Babasaheb Ambedkar’s nephew Mukund. The owner arrived once in a blue moon to check on the progress. Unaware who he was,my father asked a co-worker. Because he was illiterate,he failed to connect with the name.”
Later,Durgat’s parents were hired for housework at Rs 3 and one-and-a-half rupees.
“It was routine to see Babasaheb walk in with his bag in the evenings and meet the crowd who waited for him with their problems,” said Durgat. “I stayed with Ramabai most of the time. She had a habit of chewing paan and kept a silver case. Seeing her chew,even I asked her for a paan but she refused,saying,‘Pori tu lahan aahe aajun. Sagde data kidhul jaat’ (You are too young. All your teeth will fall out).”
Durgat could not read or write but was mesmerised by babasaheb’s collection of books.
“When I took to cleaning up the house,the most difficult was his bookshelf. It had thick books,” she said.
It has been a few years now since Durgat retired from work. Her elder daughter-in-law has replaced her. “Three generations of my family have worked at Rajgriha,” said Durgat.
Durgat’s eyes turned moist as she described the day his body was brought home from Delhi.
“Thousands of people thronged his house to pay tribute to such a great leader. Many lost their political leader but for me I knew him as my Baba,” said Durgat.
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