Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Madhav Rao Deshpande's ("Shama") House

Madhav Rao Deshpande's ("Shama") House
Shama

This house is mentioned in the Shri Sai Satcharitra, as Baba sent Hemadpant here to collect dakshina from Shama and to have a chat with him. Hemadpant had been feeling disconsolate because a newcomer to Shirdi had just had a wonderful vision after doing a seven-day parayana of Gurucharitra, whereas Hemadpant had been studying it for forty years and felt he had not had any result. "No sooner did this thought cross his mind, than Baba knew it then and there." Hemadpant's subsequent conversation with Shama on the verandah of this house resulted in one of the most beautiful passages in the entire Shri Sai Satcharitra (Ch. 18), in which Baba speaks (to Radhabai Deshmukh) of the great bond between himself and his guru.

Shama was among the most intimate devotees of Baba, and acted like a personal secretary to him. Baba once told Shama that they had been together for seventy-two generations. Shama's parents had moved to Shirdi from Nimon (five kilometres away) when Shama was only two. He became a school teacher in a room next door to the mosque and his interest in Baba was kindled there.

Shama House

Shama's house is a few metres from Dwarkamai - take the lane opposite and bear immediately right following the narrow winding lane. There is a sign on the building and it is still occupied by Shama's daughter-in-law. His son, Uddhavrao, passed away in 1998.

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