“I would like to continue working on ovi translations.”
Ashatai was already in her late-eighties when she said this. She was recovering from a fall and found it cumbersome to use a laptop. So, we moved to handwritten translations -- she would write down the translations on a printout carrying 80 to 100 couplets. Once that batch was done, she worked on the next one.
Jitendra Maid worked closely with her on these translations and updated them into the database.
“A librarian is a serious person who takes care of books – that was my understanding until my college days. But in 1996 when I met Ashatai Ogale in Hematai Rairkar’s home, this [narrow] understanding vanished,” says Jitendra Maid. He worked with Asha tai on translating grindmill songs for nearly three decades -- from 1996 until her last days.






