My Name is Mahant

My Name is Mahant

Mahant or Mahanta the Mathathipadis, for those unfamiliar with the term, Mathas are Hindu temples of learning and research headed by Mathathipadis.

My  Grandfather: Gurlingappa Bhimrao Mahanta

My memory goes only as far as my grandfather.  A phoenix that rose from the ashes of the Great Depression, he, my father told us, walked out of the family house with his two children, carrying only the clothes they wore.

He worked as a lowly clerk in the store he once owned, working diligently and most importantly without angst.  He brought up his two motherless children single-handedly.  His employer’s son insisted on heading his funeral cortege along with my father.

One of the three old timers who would wake up at 3:00 a.m. every morning to sweep the temple grounds of Akkalkot Swami Maharaj, he then, after his morning walk, returned to ring the temple bell for the morning Kakad Aarti.  This he continued to do until his last day when he passed away at the age of 96.

It is his legacy that no being, man of animal, is turned away from our home in Akkalkot without being offered the hospitality of food and water.

My Father: Chanbasappa Gurlingappa Mahant

My father was a small town village lad, who rose to the top echelons of the corporate world and one of the first Indians to have studied at M.I.T. USA.  His name today is synonymous with loyalty, integrity and honesty. 

He never brought home a pin that was gifted; he never brought home anything that was not earned.  We continued to live in a one bedroom tenement in a middle class locality, even as his successors built palatial mansions in up market Malbar Hill of Mumbai.

It is only on a recent visit to Akkalkot, that people point out to us the school he funded, the college he donated money to.

It is his legacy that ethics and morality were part and parcel of my personal and professional life.

If I am inordinately proud of being a Mahant, I am guilty as charged.  Fault me, if you may, if I bask, unabashed, in the reflected glory of the illustrious name.