Pushpa Bhave, who died in October 2020 at the age of 81 defined the spirit of the quintessential Mumbai activist. Politically and socially aware and culturally rooted in the progressive local and international thought. She was a college lecturer and erudite of course who gave her students—as they testify so admiringly—more than a deep knowledge and love of Marathi literature. Starting from the Samyukta Maharashtra movement (She was a teenager then) this writer, theatre personality and Socialist contributed to every enlightened struggle and cause in the city and state.
In the book “Gandhi in Bombay towards Swaraj” by Usha Thakkar and Sandhya Mehta, Lord Bhiku Parekh writes: Gandhi called Bombay the ‘first city of India’ by which he meant among other things that it had a highly developed , public spirited civic culture not found in other Indian cities”. One thinks of Pushpa Bhave on reading this.
She was “tai” and teacher to people at large and what they mostly admired—or hated depending on which side of the cause they stood—was her fearlessness. There was nothing flamboyant and attention grabbing in her appearance. Even her speeches were backed by deep thought and sound reasoning rather than dramatic rhetoric. Whether it was the Ramesh Kini murder case that rocked Maharashtra or the struggle to rename Marathwada University as Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar University, Pushpatai was articulate and in the vanguard.
Nor was she unversed in the joys of cultivating friendships, relishing a taste for good cooking, discussing cuisine and with her knowledge of literature and theatre being a wonderful conversationalist. Many of her friends have emphatically mentioned her warmth and affectionate nature. All this went hand in hand with a quiet determination to take up for the victims of communal and irrational persecution. Her voice thus was raised in support of the late (assassinated) rationalist and anti- superstition campaign leader Narendra Dabholkar and to fight against the censorship of Vijay Tendulkar’s plays like Sakharam Binder and Ghashiram Kotwal. Any movement or campaign to do away with prejudice and bias had her support like participating as a delegate in a citizens’ group visiting Pakistan. Her work during the Emergency also won her many admirers. Her enemies she faced with courage and her sense of humour must have helped her in estimating them for what they were.
Her husband Ananta Bhave was a familiar (and popular) face and voice for Doordarshan news viewers and he was also an accomplished writer of children’s stories. Pushpa Bhave was closely connected with the Socialists who dominated the political sphere in the State then: Pramila and Madhu Dandavate, Sadanand … Mrinal Gore and many others. Among the Communists were Ahilya Rangnekar,Tara Reddy, G L Reddy and myriad others. Together this large group of activists ensured that no act of injustice or worthy cause in Mumbai and Maharashtra went unnoticed. Mumbai then was a city that was industrial and had a vibrant protest culture thanks to the working class and men and women who dared to take sides.
Pushpatai, as her students and admirers point out always travelled by public transport and her fellow commuters saw a serene sari-clad woman reading a book. She always gave the impression of poise and quiet confidence. Perhaps her last public appearance was in January 2019 when she spoke—from a wheelchair—at the Shivaji Mandir in Dadar. The event was organised to honour writer Nayantara Sehgal whose invitation was cancelled by a prestigious literary body after she made some statements against the restrictions on freedom of speech. Pushpatai and the other organisers wanted to “apologise” to the acclaimed writer for this cowardly act. Ill she may have been but there was no doubt about her courage and spirit that evening. Mumbai, now a city of services, has turned into another version from the one it was during Pushpatai’s time. Fortunately for us we have the legacy that she has left behind.
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Lina Mathias
Lina Mathias is a senior Mumbai-based journalist and former executive editor, Economic and Political Weekly. [/column]