Shyamchi Aai (Marathi)

Shyamchi Aai is a book that serves as one of the greatest tributes to the love of a mother. It is one of the most famous books in Marathi literature.

Summary of the book

The book Shyamchi Aai is a compilation of all stories about the love and care shown by the author's mother. Sane Guruji, fondly called Shyam, wrote this autobiography in the memory of his mother who was the epitome of love. He quotes incidents where she showed immense selflessness despite being unable to afford help herself.

The chapters are titled as first night, second night, third night, and so on, where each night the story narrated gives a deeper insight into the family. The stories are set in the Konkan region in Maharashtra, which has a very picturesque landscape and a beautiful seaside. The beginning shows how Shyam's mother was married into a family that was wealthy, during Sane Guruji's early childhood. As further stories unfold, the financial depreciation of the family into penury is shown. The book ends with Shyam's mother suffering from a prolonged illness because she could not make both ends meet, and eventually she dies.

At every stage, it is shown in the book that one must always stand by one's ideals no matter how well-off or how poor they are. Shyam's mother stands as an example of how life can be fully satisfying as long as love is around.

This book was first published in 2011.

About Sane Guruji

Sane Guruji, officially known as Pandurang Sadashiv Sane, was a popular Marathi author, teacher, and a freedom fighter, who is referred to as the ‘National teacher of India’.

His other books are Sundar Patre, Bharatiya Samskriti, and Dhadpadnari Mule.

His work has mostly been children’s literature. Apart from his regular books, he also started a weekly magazine called Sadhana to mark one year of independence on August 15, 1948. The magazine still continues to be published.

He was born in 1899 to a wealthy family in the Konkan region of Maharashtra. But the wealth kept depreciating and had come to such an extent that the government had to seize and confiscate their house. This drove his mother sick and she died of illness. He could not be with her when she was on her death bed. This thought troubled and haunted Sane for the rest of his life. He consumed sleeping pills and died in 1950.