*Kedar Nath Pathak-My Grandfather*
Kedar Nath Pathak (1902-1984)
Kedar Nath Pathak was my grandfather, who lost his father at the
age of 2 (Benaras - 1904). His tough journey started from the day onwards. My
great-grandmother (Ramjanki)
was only 21 years of age then. As it goes, she had lost all
hope and started living like a sage. She
lived only on fruits and milk all her life, beginning from the
unfateful day. She took care of
her kids until they were married when she asked them to leave and start
an independent life. At the age of 108, she passed away. Even in her
old age, she lived a peculiarly healthy life.
My grandfather started his career as an Ayurveda Vaidya (trying to follow his father's profession) and got married to Kishori (my grandmother). My grandmother passed away leaving three kids behind. The three brothers were aged 12 years, 2 years (my father) and 6 months old. My grandfather was a traumatized man. As he took control of his life, he studied Chemistry (Rasayan Shashtra) and went on to pursue research on the subject. He wrote a few books on Chemistry and Ayurveda - revealing his research and discoveries on the subjects.
The
freedom movement was in full swing. Like other men of the time, he
subscribed to Mahatma Ghandhi's thoughts and went to prison (August
1930 - February 1931). He wrote down his experiences and compiled them
into a book while he served in prison (with his
young sons back home). Mathalisharan Gupt (a great Hindi writer and poet), Hazariprasad Dwivedi, Ramdhari Singh Dinkar and
many other
famed authors and poets were regulars to his place, discussing and
debating on various subjects. Late in his life, when the British left
Refreshing his memories, he wrote books on Ayurveda, those books being published by Shyamsundar Rasayanshala (Gayaghat, Varansi). He started his own press, 'Lekhanjali'; and used it to publish a monthly magazine called "Gyani Guru". Lekhanjali lasted five years.
A friend in need of money asked my grandfather for help. He gave away a large sum as help and never got it back. Lekhanjali had to shut down due to lack of funds to run it.
As staunch Brahmins of
those times followed, my grandfather never had onion and garlic.
But it wasn't for long - until my mother came into our family (1972).
Both his daughter and daughter-in-law were very dear to him.
To put it briefly, Acharya Kedar Nath Pathak was born like a prince, went on to pursue the freedom of a nation and left the world like an unknown wanderer.
