Literarily Speaking : Shyamchi Aai (1953 & 2023) – A primer on moral righteousness and a son’s tribute to his mother

Pandurang Sadashiv Sane (1899-1950), also known as Sane Guruji, was an Indian freedom fighter, teacher, and social worker. His childhood name was Shyam, and his mother, Yashoda was the primary influence in his life. Sane wrote his Marathi autobiographical book, Shyamchi Aai (Shyam’s mother) while incarcerated in Nasik prison for his involvement in the Indian freedom struggle.

It is arranged as a series of anecdotes narrated by the older Shyam over thirty one nights to his classmates at the Ashram they study in. Describing the values his mother inculcated in him, the episodes are narrated chronologically, from a background about his mother’s humble beginnings, moving on to life in her privileged married home, to the rift in the joint family they belong to, the dire circumstances that test the family’s resolve to stay righteous, and ending with Yashoda’s death.

Sane admits that as a child, he was impetuous, prompting his mother to advise him, and if that failed, reprimand or punish him. In his childhood, he changed schools owing to his parents’ inability to afford the fees. The book interestingly centres on the home as a place of learning morals and values, as against the school, which provides education for a fee. The incidents when the education system let him down, but not his mother’s values, may have laid the foundation to Sane becoming a teacher.

Written as an emotional tribute to his mother, Sane's Shyamchi Aai is widely regarded as a classic, and a primer on moral values in an Indian context.

P.K. Atre’s Shyamchi Aai (1953)

While the book became popular, Pralhad Keshav Atre’s movie has its ardent admirers and won accolades like the President’s Gold Medal for All-India Best Feature Film at the 1st National Film Awards in 1954.

The movie begins a little differently, with a grown-up Shyam/Sane (Damuanna Joshi) narrating anecdotes about his mother, Yashoda (Vanamala) to other inmates of a prison cell, presumably Nasik, where Sane wrote the book. The episodes and incidents from the book become one lengthy flashback in the 1953 movie, and rather than dedicate precious screen time to some details, they have been depicted visually.

Little Shyam (Madhav Vaze) is a vivacious, naughty boy who dislikes sharing with others or doing household errands, and unwittingly makes errors of judgement. But his mother lovingly, and sometimes through punishment, instils a code of personal rules that she hopes will hold him in good stead through the travails that life will surely throw his way. Shyam’s is a god-fearing family that observes everyday religious rituals, but through his experiences and his mother’s wisdom, Shyam gains an insightful understanding of the moral values she is inculcating in him.

For instance, in the book, there is an episode where Shyam refuses to press the legs of his ailing brother. Yashoda urges Durva Aji, an elderly woman who lives with them, to sing the chindhi. A song featuring God Krishna, his sister Subhadra, Narada and Draupadi, the chindhi is about how being related by blood is at one level, but the kinship and bond in the relationship come from devotion to each other. Shyam realises that this was his mother’s way of urging him to build such a bond with his brother. In the book, the song is only referenced with a story narration, but in the movie, it becomes a lilting lullaby called Bharjari ga Pitambara, written by Atre and composed by Vasant Desai.

Madhav Vaze as little Shyam must surely have been the highlight of the movie, and regarded as a delightful amalgam of a beloved character and the right child actor to play it. Shyam is a child who feels both resentment and remorse in ample measure, and Vaze expresses these endearingly.

THE 2023 ADAPTATION

The book has universally relatable anecdotes and has stood the test of time, going by P.K. Atre’s movie adapted from the book in 1953, to numerous stage adaptations and many translations, including one to English by Shanta Gokhale as recently as in 2021. This month, we will see a new movie adaptation of Shyamchi Aai by Sujay Dahake hitting the screens.

Going by the trailer and song promotions, Dahake’s upcoming movie taps into the nostalgia surrounding the book and the 1953 movie. His adaptation, developed by Sunil Sukthankar, builds on the story of Shyamchi Aai as a foundation to portray the character development of Shyam, the boy, who became Sane Guruji, the freedom fighter, teacher, and social activist.

Readers of the book relate deeply to the episode where Shyam learns to swim. When other boys his age have learned to swim in the village well, Shyam is reluctant and has hidden himself. His mother forces him out and makes him confront his fear of water and the awkwardness of being a beginner in learning a skill. In the 1953 movie, this happens in passing, but one hopes that in the 2023 movie, this incident will get its due screentime.

One wonders how the new script will handle the depiction of corporal punishment. The original book and the 1953 movie have situations where Yashoda hits and canes the errant Shyam to teach him values, as does his teacher at school. This kind of punishment may have been the norm in 1933 when the novel was written, and perhaps also in 1953 when Atre made the movie. In the 2023 edition by Dahake, placing this in the context of Shyam’s character development to Sane, Yashoda's punishments seem to be portrayed for the contemporary audience as early training in resilience that holds Sane in good stead when he undergoes rigorous imprisonment as part of the Indian freedom struggle.

The 1953 movie dwells briefly on a memorable section of the book where Shyam travels with his mother on a pilgrimage to Ladghar. The description of this trip is evocative - journeying through forests, making offerings to the sea, and making acquaintance with people who love his mother. Sane regarded it as an enduring memory, not just for the time spent in Mother Nature, but also as precious time spent with his mother for perhaps the last time before she passed away. One hopes Dahake’s 2023 adaptation will delve into the emotions that this episode in the book evokes.

You can watch Shyamchi Aai here.

(Views expressed in this piece are those of the author, and do not necessarily represent those of OTTplay) (Written by Saritha Rao Rayachoti)