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Early Years Sharad Joshi was born in Satara in Maharashtra on 3 September 1935. His father Anantrao and mother Indira lived a simple life of a lower middle class deshasth Brahmin family of that period along with their four sons and two daughters. The eldest was a daughter Nirmala, followed by another daughter Sindhu, then came four son Manohar, Sharad, Prabhakar and lastly Madhukar. Anantrao lost his parents when he was hardly four or five years of age. There was no one to support him and he had to live an orphan’s life taking turns to eat in the homes of other people or going from door to door seeking a meal, which was called madhukari. He studied at a Christian Missionary school in Kolhapur and Christian thinking had left a deep mark on him. Later on he got a job at the Post Office as a clerk and continued in that service till his retirement, gradually getting promotions up to Asst. PMG.. He had mild manners and very seldom a harsh word might leave his lips. He had no social life to speak of but did his duty at the post office diligently. He passed away in 1970 at the age of 65. Son Sharad was then in Switzerland with his job at the Universal Postal Union. Mother Indirabai hailed from the Apte family of Pandharpur. It is a holy town with its ancient Vitthal Mandir, which attracts lakhs of pilgrims every year. However, Apte family was hardly traditional. They detested practices like untouchability and highhanded behaviour of the temple priests. In 1914 the family started a school called Apte Prashala and it continues even Early Years

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