Mississauga mom Aaditi Kulkarni was so blown away when a few years ago she read a classic book in her mother tongue, Marathi, that she laboured for eight months to translate it into English so that she could share its message with the world.
The book, Shyamchi Aai (Shyam’s Mother), by renowned Indian author and activist Sane Guruji is, in Kulkarni’s words, “both educational as well as very touching for children”
She told The VOICE that she would like to see children in Canada to learn about “a bond between a mother and her son that easily translates over to any country.”
She added: “Canada is a multi-cultural country and introducing such a book will surely generate a level of interest in the children and their parents.”
Kulkarni, who’s currently working on her own book, said portrayal of the emotions between a mother and her child was absolutely brilliant. What drew her even more to the book was that her father’s side comes from the part mentioned in the book because she could relate to it from different angles.
The publication ceremony of the book was held last May in Pune, India.
According to information on Wikipedia, “This book is an autobiography of Sane Guruji belonging to a Brahmin family in Konkan region of rural Maharashtra during British Raj. Sane Guruji (now an adult) who was fondly called as Shyam during his childhood is narrating his memories to a group of children in a daily night sitting.
“Chapters in the book are named as ratra meaning night in Marathi. They are named as 1st night, 2nd night and so on. Every passing night the story takes you into the family setting in rural Konkan and its beautiful seaside landscapes along with adjoining ranges of Sahyadri.This book is representation of love of mother for her child in this world.
As the title suggests the central character is Shyam's mother and the kind of enormous influence she has on Shyam's life and upbringing. It involves sticking to one's ideals even though one is neck deep in abject poverty.
“The narration is flamboyant and involves you in the setting in a smooth manner. As the narration progresses we came to know the deterioration of Shyam's debt ridden family. The communication between father-son, mother-son, siblings is exemplary. It shows if love is present then how content a person's life can be no matter what how poor he is.
Like life, the book starts with Shyam's mother getting married into a wealthy family and its slow progression into debt ridden poverty and ends with illness and tragic death of his mother.”
http://aaditikulkarni.blogspot.com/
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