Vasanti Chandavarkar (1933-2020) .. the little engine that could

 

With the passing of my mother, Vasanti, we celebrate a life dedicated to service and rehabilitation.

Fortunate to be one of the first women in her family to earn a college degree, she pitched in to the family cash flow by working at a Burshane (cooking gas cylinders) distribution store and the Handloom House back office until she got caught up full time with the rehabilitation of her younger child who got paralyzed at the age of one. Whether it was carrying him to therapy with his crutches and other paraphernalia through uncooperative crowds on Bombay's buses and trains in rain or shine, or running after snake-oil and spiritual remedies around the country suggested by anecdotal stories brought to her by well-wishers - she left no stone unturned. Looking ahead to the time when they will not be able to care for him, my parents joined forces with other families with similar situations to establish of a permanent residential facility for the physically and emotionally challenged.

Drained by the intensity of her life, she passed the last couple of decades in constant proximity of my father, who ensured that all her needs were met, as we saw her memory fade away in recent years.

She will be remembered not only by the extended family and friends but also those whose paths she crossed in the rehabilitation and elder care worlds.