My father Sri Narayan Dhote was the youngest of 8 brothers and 3 sisters and I have always been proud of the fact that I am one of 54 first cousins!! This is often met with disbelief, incredulity or just a Wow!!! Summers and winters were mostly spent in Nagpur at a cousin's wedding or some other family function. All the Kakas and atyas made sure that they were duly represented at these events which have been a large part of our growing years. The cousins ranged across many ages and automatically gravitated into 'groups'. The families grew, and so did the distances, physical and otherwise. The entire family being present at an event slowly became a thing of the past, and faces began to be less familiar. 'Do you recognize me?', 'I am so and so's son/daughter" became  more common statements.
My late aunt Tarabai Dhote, my late Mother Leelabai Dhote and their sunbai,  Ashavahini's plan to create a family tree did not come to fruition. My cousin Ramakant has been trying to persuade me to put together this family tree for some  time, and my husband Shiva has joined him of late! The year 2020 began with three weddings in five days! While it was great meeting up with different sets of cousins at the three events, some truths that hit home,were
     # We are indeed blessed to be part of such a large loving family
     # Family has GROWN and is growing!!!
     # Our generation is finding it difficult to keep track of the nieces and nephews
     # The next generation is baffled by the aunts and uncles
     # We have all grown older and are continuing to do so- our memories are not keeping pace!
And hence this exercise to get all the Dhote first cousins under one umbrella. The starting point being our grandparents Shri Kisan and Smt Sakhubai Dhote. Memories were jogged, questions asked, and the inputs poured in from all directions as and when requested. Sushilatai Golhar at age 86 has an amazingly remarkable memory, Surubhau is the dada in support and has a wide 'reach', which was a great help in locating seemingly long lost cousins, Shekhar, Anup, Vishal and Gaurav are ever ready with more details!! I am thoroughly enjoying the walk down memory lane along with so many cousins!!!It has been a beautiful and mind boggling experience. The total count of family members till date has crossed 470, and is still growing. 
 Some details like birth dates and wedding dates, are incomplete for want of information. There are bound to be spelling mistakes, factual errors or missing information. Please correct if you see them. If any one or detail has been inadvertently missed out, please let me know and I will add them.
Finally, a word of gratitude to ALL members of the extended Dhote family whose encouragement and support have made this mammoth project possible.