A childhood passion reborn in retirement

A chat with model Perth senior Savitri Goswami

BY FARAH ADEEB

Savitri Goswami of Mount Lawley, Perth was only a child when she wrote her first play.

It was so good that she was advised to take it to the local radio station, in her city of Gorakhpur. Inspired by her first broadcast, the young Savitri took to her pen with great vigour, churning out many dramas, to the delight of her family.

Today, at the age of 80, Savitri’s passion continues to be alive and well, and is keeping her fully occupied in her retirement. She has to her name 60 short stories in Urdu published in 17 magazines in India. Two books have been published as well (Short Stories (2000) and Naya Daur (2010)).

One book is currently being published in Pakistan.

Surprisingly, however, Savitri’s love of writing, which had begun in her childhood, lay dormant all her adult life, and only resurfaced at the age of 65.

“Life got in the way,” muses the lovely lady, with so much wisdom, and with so little resentment, that one can only feel envious. Savitri devoted her life to her family. Moving from place to place as her husband took on higher and higher postings in the Indian Railways, the family’s relocation and children’s resettlement took up her all her time and resources.

Today, with much of her life’s formal responsibilities taken care of, she devotes her time to her childhood passion of writing.

Savitri now lives in Australia with her youngest daughter Madhu. She migrated to Perth from India 11 years ago, and has become well-known in the city’s Indian community - equally for her personable nature as for her literary skills.

Of course there are other passions as well, such as knitting. Savitri offers her skills and knowledge of this pastime to whoever maybe interested. She generously gives any monetary proceedings from knitting to poor people.

Another passion is meeting new people. “One learns so much by meeting other people. I like to meet people with happy, smiling faces”.

Savitri Goswami was born into a well-off family. Her father was a Christian priest and her mother a teacher. But as she herself recalls, her childhood was not a happy one, having lost her dear mother too early in life.

“I was like a free bird, riding my bike for hours without a care in the world. One day I woke up and found out that mum had been taken to hospital. She was there for 9 days. That was the most difficult period of my life. We did not know that it would only take a minute for my four brothers and sisters and me, to be left without our mother forever. We felt like we were empty handed… My mother’s death took away my childhood as well. I saw death so closely. She took away everything with her. My childhood was ruined at the time in my life when I needed her most”.

“I wanted to become a teacher like my mother but perhaps that was not meant to be,” she sighs as she delved back into past.

“At the time of partition, I saw too much anyone. This tragedy was so traumatic for me that I abandoned the idea of becoming a teacher and took up nursing training. I worked as a nurse for some 13 years, and had to give up that too - I am still sad for that”.

She got married in 1960 to Dr Annand Lal Goswami, who was Director General at Indian Railways. He was a Bengali Hindu and a strict Brahmin. At the time it was considered an unusual combination, because she is Christian and the daughter of a Christian priest. But the happy union lasted fifty solid years.

“I have been very happy with my life. We never had any arguments on religion. If you oppose religion and social norms, it is difficult to live in the same society though.

But my husband gave me everything - what else one can ask for, in a marriage? All you need is a sincere and truthful companion. My husband died at the age of 81… on his death bed he said to me, you have been the biggest treasure of my life”.

In her stories, Savitri tries to portray poverty in the country and the treatment of women in a male dominated society.

“I am really unhappy that Urdu readership is decreasing in India,” she observes. “Regrettably Urdu was born in the subcontinent and today it is diminishing from the very same place …”

She sees no difference in Indians and Pakistanis. We are one and the same, she says vehemently.

“There is no need for fighting and quarrelling. I will advise both Indians and Pakistanis to get education and serve your respective countries. We sent our children to study in the USA. We gave the treasure of education to children so that they can earn a decent living”.

So have times changed today?

“Yes, I believe they have, sadly. It is not the same. Times have changed. Older values are dying. We are now more under western culture. They do not respect their elders”. Savitri’s favourite verse defines her own life beautifully:

Log kuchch poochne ko aaye hain

Ahle mayyat, jenaza thehraoo

Suy madfin abhi na ley jaayen

Phir kahan sey laoo gey Ghalib ko

People haven’t finished with you, Let not the hearse depart just yet

Do not yet take it to the graveyard

Where will you bring Ghalib again?