Page 25 - My Father-Final Book

that expense for the IIT would be approximately Rs. 300 per month whereas my father’s monthly salary was Rs. 100 for his labor job at the age of 70. So, I was totally upset for a day. I was so furious that I was mad enough to lock myself into the house and kept my father and mother out on the verandah for a night. I heard my parents talking outside where my mother was really upset with my stupid and arrogant behavior, whereas my father was laughing with whatever feeling he had. Next day, I opened the doors for them to enter. My anger subsided. My father told me that I had done my job of studying and getting admitted. I should leave the expense part to Shirdi Saibaba who would definitely take care of me. It was a very courageous and farfetched assurance. My expenses at the IIT would be three times the income of my father! To our amazement, the following things happened. Rivers of tears are not enough to wash away the feelings that arise when we read the following lines.
Next day, one old family friend visited us. He was actually a priest at one temple where my father used to perform Thursday Arati prayers long before my birth. He learnt about my admissions and then he informed this fact to one of his clients at whose house he used to work as a professional priest. That client was the owner of Brihan Maharashtra Sugar Cyndicate, a large Sugar Manufacturer. They had a scholarship for promising students of a different caste than mine. But, he agreed to pay for my entire Engineering education. In fact he invited me to his office in a day and gave me cash for the entire year. Though this was a miracle, neither my family nor my father took it as anything special. They actually paid all my expenses for the 5 years of the Engineering studies and they also promoted my PhD studies in USA, which I could not join due to an unknown visas situation. [Illustration 8: Jagannath Pujari, the priest, 1953.]
25