The baby girl lived to be 100 years old

The baby girl lived to be 100 years old
Shanta Bhandarkar as a baby with her English Mother Louisa Bishop, and father Dr Vasudev Sukhtankar (with turban) and her uncle. Bombay, Maharashtra. 1910

Shanta Bhandarkar as a baby, with her English Mother Louisa Bishop, and father Dr Vasudev Sukhtankar (with turban) and her uncle. Bombay, Bombay Presidency (now Maharashtra) 1910 Image and Narrative contributed by Usha Bhandarkar Shanta Bhandarkar, my Mother in Law, turned 100 on February 25, 2010. On the occasion of her birthday our family gifted her an album with a collection of these old photographs, one of which is this as a baby. Shanta Bhandarkar doesn't have very good short term memory, but her long term memory is sharp. She remembers details like her mother's Christmas Pudding and the cakes that they used to bake. She studied at Sommerville, Oxford , UK and has travelled the world extensively.

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The friends who couldn’t speak each other’s language

The friends who couldn’t speak each other’s language
The Rao and Hagwane family, neighbours and friends, Pune, Maharashtra. 1962

The Rao and Hagwane families, Pune, Maharashtra. 1962 Image and Narrative Contributed by Pavitra and Usha Rao This picture was taken with my father's friend Mr.Hagwane and his family. They were also neighbours. The most unusual thing was that Mr. Hagwane did not speak a word of English and my father did not know a word of Marathi. They perhaps communicated in broken hindi. Mr Hagwane ran a Jeenus (grocery) shop. And that is how dad got to know him. I was around four years old. Our family is on the right side of the picture, and Mr. Hagwane's on the left with his one daughter and two sons.

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Fresh emigrants to Bombay

Fresh emigrants to Bombay
My great-grandfather Tavadappa Talwar with his wife Laxmibai Talwar. Bombay, Maharashtra. Circa 1900's

My great-grandparents Tavadappa Talwar and Laxmibai Talwar. Bombay, Bombay Presidency, (now Maharashtra) Circa 1900 Image and Narrative Contributed by Manorath Palan, Mumbai My great-grand parents Tavadappa Talwar and Laxmibai Talwar migrated to Bombay from Mangalore, Karnataka in the early 1900's. Cultures like the Marathas were unheard of for a native of Mangalore, yet my great-grandparents adopted the native Maharashtrian attire and culture without any compulsion or threat from the locals, as opposed to the present situation in India. This picture was taken weeks into their moving to Bombay, sometime in the early 1900s.

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The first ever Vegetable Oil mill of India

The first ever Vegetable Oil mill of India
My parents Dinkar Wasudeo Mandpe & Vatsala Mandpe with their staff, Nagpur, Maharashtra.1943

My parents Dinkar Wasudeo Mandpe & Vatsala Mandpe with their staff, Nagpur, Maharashtra.1943 Image contributed by Vijaya Shenoy, Bengaluru The Hindustan Oil Mills - Staff Photograph. The mill was the first ever Vegetable Oil company of India.

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Eight months pregnant on the New Year’s eve

Eight months pregnant on the New Year’s eve
My parents photographed on New Year's Eve. Calcutta, West Bengal. 1958

My parents photographed on New Year's Eve. Calcutta, West Bengal. 1958 My father worked for a company called Metal Box in Calcutta. In this image, my mother, an Obstetrician,  is 8.5 months pregnant with my elder brother, who was born 18 days after this picture was taken.

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