Page 6 - My Father-Final Book

His Family Life
Vinayak had very little material resources at the starting of his marriage. Therefore, he had to work very hard to make a living. My mother came from a wealthy family and she was not used to working hard. Since getting married, she had to work very hard and manage with the difficult financial situation. Vinayak would do two full time school teaching jobs and also private tutoring to supplement the income.
Though life was physically hard, Vinayak and Sumati were both very spiritual and considered life as a spiritual practice. [1928 to 1968].Therefore, they were able to tolerate all the hardships. In spite of hard work, they spent many hours in ascetic spiritual practices such as reading scriptures in a very disciplined way and performing worships in a particular way. For example, my mother walked barefooted to Someshwara Temple in Shukrawar Peth of Pune each Monday, for several years.Tears used to flow from their eyes while my parents read scriptures. All this had a tremendous effect on my general life. There is one interesting event that may be mentioned here. There is no single photograph of my father and mother as a couple. Once my mother pleaded for such a photograph and when this photograph was taken, Shree Sai Baba’s image appeared in the middle of them. This particular photo is in possession of Ingle family in Pune.
Though Vinayak was ascetic by nature, he was equally loving, kind hearted and selfless. Therefore, he always put others’ needs before his own, as far as material needs are concerned. However, when it came to spiritual matters, he was introvert. His internal spiritual practice was hardly seen by others, except when it burst out in the form of some kind of miracle. He never professed his method strongly or tried to
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