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Journalism of Courage
This is an archive article published on January 22, 2024
IAS officer shares she ate kesar pedha on Dec 6, 1992, felt ‘like the beginning of something auspicious’
Patankar-Mhaiskar wrote that the belief held firm, that the pedha eaten surreptitiously on the night of 6th December 1992 was the “beginning of something powerful, something positive, something auspicious..”
Senior IAS officer Manisha Mhaiskar revealed that a Maharashtra minister refused to work with a woman secretary in 2023, an incident she described as a "shocking" exception in her 33-year career. (Photo: Instagram/manisha.patankar.mhaiskar)
Marking the occasion of consecration ceremony at Ayodhya’s Ram Temple, Maharashtra’s Additional Chief Secretary (Public Works Department) on Sunday shared a note on social media claiming how she and other trainee officers in 1992 discreetly celebrated on the night of December 6, 1992 — when Babri Masjid was brought down — by eating a kesar pedha while adding that “she knew that the happenings at Ayodhya were the beginning of something very positive, very powerful, very auspicious…”
“Life comes a full circle and… How !!!
6th December 1992 was a very cold day in Mussoorie. 1992 Batch of IAS were at their Foundation Course. News was slowly trickling in of the seminal developments at the Ram Janmabhoomi at Ayodhya. A very spontaneous meeting had got organised but very discreetly, by invitation only. My staunch Nagpur roots were considered good enough for an invitation. At the meeting venue, some probationers were chanting Jai Shri Ram, pedhas were being distributed… I remember eating one full kesar pedha and at that moment on the very cold night of 6th December 1992, I knew that the happenings at Ayodhya were the beginning of something very positive, very powerful, very auspicious…” wrote Manisha Patankar-Mhaiskar, a serving IAS officer on Facebook.
At present, she is the administrative head of the PWD of which BJP’s Ravindra Chavan is the minister.
She claimed that the news had leaked and furore was created, leading to notices being served. “1992 batch was termed disappointing, comprising mainly of easily excitable small towners — whatever had happened to the posh , smart, privileged kids of the Lutyens and such like ? Whatever is happening to Secularism? they said,” she wrote.
Patankar-Mhaiskar wrote that the belief held firm, that the pedha eaten surreptitiously on the night of 6th December 1992 was the “beginning of something powerful, something positive, something auspicious..”
“And the day will dawn tomorrow, 22nd January 2024 — with the Ram Lalla pranprathistha at Ayodhya and the declaration of a national holiday to enable everyone to join the celebrations. Today, on the eve, as I eat another kesar pedha, I remembered the seminal 6th December moment and the very positive, auspicious powerful feeling it had invoked,” she concluded.
Speaking with The Indian Express, Mhaiskar explained why she decided to write the post. “It all began with the Kesari Pedha given to me at Priyadarshini Park on Sunday morning amid chats of Jai Shri Ram. It led me to compare and contrast how the nation has changed in the last 32 years. The people always had this sentiment that there should be a Ram temple (at Ayodhya) and it also got validated by the Supreme Court. The feeling had nothing to do with Babri Demolition but only about love towards Ram (Lalla),” she said.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
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