Down the memory lane
By Parthajit Baruah
Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, is a great Institute for many of us, but for the family of Narayan Gaikwad, it is not just an institute, but a temple , a paradise and a life . The family is the witness of both the sweet and bitter memories of FTII. It was a way back in 1935 when the great Prabhat Studio was in progress in Pune , then the Principal of FTII was V. Shantaram. .Narayan Gaikwad, a dhobi by profession, approaches V. Shantaram with an inexplicable expression of happiness to inform the latter that he became the father of a baby boy. V. Shantaram, a man with the milk of human kindness, said to Narayan Gaikwad that as his marathi film ‘Sant Tukaram’ was about to come on floor, so, his new born baby should be named as Tukaram. Narayan Gaikwad was working as a dhobi in the Prabhat film Company when Tukaram was born. The Gaikwad family had been staying inside the studio campus for a long time. But the problem arose when the Prabhat Studio was taken over by the government. From the Prabhat Studio, it came to be known as Film and Television Institute of India in 1961. The Gaikwad family who had been living in the FTII premises since 1935, came under threat as there was no provision for any dhobi post. The family was ordered to leave the premises. But the family was saved by Ganjanan Jagirdar, the first principal of FTII, in the eleventh hour. With the permission from the government. Gajanan told them that they could live in the quarters but the government would not pay any salary to his family. Their source of income would be only through laundry work. Since then, they had been residing at FTII premise in a small quarter .
The then baby Tukaram has grown up and is now 74 years old. He is fondly called by the FTII regular students and FA students as Tukaramji.But I call him Tukaji. He is soft-spoken and sober dhobi who welcomes everyone with a sweet grin. I met Tukaramji when I went to do the Film Appreciation Course at FTII. I asked him to tell some of the most indelible memories that he still cherished. In a glittering evening,sitting under the wisdom tree , he goes on telling me about the past. Tukaramji told me that once Jaya Bhaduri who was an Alumni of FTII, borrowed the ornaments from his brother’s wife for a student’s diploma film. He also said that Shubhash Ghai and Asrani once took ten rupees as their money order did not come in time. With that ten rupees, they saw the film ‘Ganga Jamuna’. He also remembers humorously that Shubhash Ghai was very sympathetic and while Asrani was miser by nature during his FTII days.
Tukaramji, a man with a few words, still lives in the quarter of FTII premises and stands as a symbol of witness of long history.
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