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 today. Though the family owned a school, surprisingly, Indirabai had no formal schooling. However, she was an avid reader and wrote poetry. She would read them aloud to anyone who happened to be around and was willing to listen. In later years she always longed to see her poems published as a book. She was also fond of music and could play harmonium. Sharad imbibed his love for music probably from her. As a child she lost vision in one eye and even the other eye deteriorated in later years. Doctors recommended an operation. However she refused, saying, ‘What happens if I lose vision in the other eye as well?’ With one failing eye she used to read daily newspaper by holding it very close to her face and would also send letters to the editor. She had also written a few short stories and two plays. Even with one eye she was fond of doing minor repairs of things like the cooking stove or lantern or some such device at home often taking help of a lens and was surprisingly pretty good at it. She implemented in her household work all her high standards of workmanship. She was insistent that her way was the best. Consequently no maid would work in her home for long. Till the very end all household work she did herself. She survived her husband for 22 long years, all on her own, in a small bungalow in Pune. Sharad’s younger brother Prabhakar once told this writer, ‘Had my mother received formal education she could have easily become managing director of a company.’ Since Sharad was always travelling, it was his trusted lieutenant Sureshchandra Mhatre who kept in constant touch with her. She was a major influence on Sharad and he had written a moving article when she passed away on 3 March 1992. Many years later, in September 2015, Mhatre got a compilation of her poems published. During his childhood, Sharad was clever in his studies but was flat-footed and would often stumble while playing. He also stammered. Years later, when he addressed a large meeting in 24

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Sharad Joshi : Leading Farmers to the Centre Stage