| Thorns
in the Path of Service Karve
encountered great difficulties in running the Ashram. Every evening he had to walk four
miles from Pune to Hingne. It was dark. The road was not at all good. If it rained the
road would be slushy. Wind or cold or rain, the forty-three-year old Karve walked the
distance of four miles every evening on this road, carrying on his back the articles
needed for cooking the next day's food. If Karve's wife or children were ill he would
entrust the treatment to others and go out on his 'pilgrimage'. For two years he rendered
this service. (About these times Karve has written in his autobiography: I always feel
sorry that my wife and children suffered hardship because I did not give them sufficient
attention. But I had no choice. On a number of days I walked to the Ashram shedding
tears.')
Karve could not find time to attend to his ailing wife or
child. But if somebody fell ill in the Ashram the person to console her and give her
courage was the 'brother' -Karve. The Karve family settled in Hinghe. Some girls of the
hostel themselves would not touch the water touched by Karve's wife Anandibai. When
Anandibai was dining she had to sit apart from others-because once a widow, she had
married again. She was the wife of the founder of the Ashram, Karve, but yet she could not
escape from this insult.
As the work of the Balikashram increased, Karve thought of
giving up his post. At the suggestion of the directors of the Deccan Education Society he
went on leave for three years without pay-
A number of people opposed Karve at that time. Orthodox
people blamed him for destroying the purity of religion. Reformers objected that Karve had
established the Ashram, and so people were less enthusiastic about the remarriage of
widows. Stinging letters were published in newspapers. Karve patiently put up with all
this.
Karve's children did not have good clothes. They had no
money for games and entertainment. The children felt unhappy; they would ask their mother,
'Why is this so?' and complain to her. She also felt unhappy.
In 1907 Karve started a school by name 'Mahila Viclyalaya'
in Pune. The main object of the school was to spread knowledge among women. Two funds -
the 'Brahmacharya Fund' and the 'Education Fund' - were started. The object was to ensure
that girls did not marry till they were twenty years old and that, till then, they
attended schools. |
