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Baba Amte, a biography
The author found the article sketchy and was inspired enough to track him down in Anandwan (100-odd km off Nagpur) — his vision of a colony for leprosy patients. Baba Amte, now 90 and suffering from a damaged spine and having two pacemakers, is a picture of courage and fortitude. He was born into the archetypal Brahmin family which practised untouchability. He took to law, but was soon disillusioned with it. His "mad" mother was his only inspiration and would often pat him when he’d show an act of kindness towards the underprivileged. It was a defining moment when Baba ran into a dying leper with sores and maggots. The sight was so ghastly that he quickly threw a piece of cloth on him and took flight. His own behaviour rankled him to the extent that he decided to do something for such people. How at all of 36, he converted an arid piece of land into "the garden of joy" for lepers is enchanting. His single-minded focus and selflessness are admirable. His wife, fondly called Tai, has been his anchor. He first met her at a marriage, fell in love and marriage followed amid objections and speculations. Giving up the comfort of a well-off Brahmin family, Tai blended into his scheme of things even as she broke traditions to mix freely with the Dalits and won their appreciation. Baba’s sons and daughters-in-law, all doctors, are also involved with Anandwan, which became self-sufficient within two years of its existence and now boasts of Shirdi Sai Baba Hospital, a college of arts, an agricultural college, a school, an auditorium and an udhyog bhavan among other facilities. Baba has been awarded innumerable national and international awards, including the Padma Shri, Padma Vibhushan, Damien Dutton Award (the highest international award for leprosy workers), Magsaysay Award and Templeton Prize. He was also the first Asian to win the UN’s Human Rights Award, taking a place in history alongside Martin Luther. Baba also undertook environment projects, worked for the uplift of Madia Gond tribals and set in motion the "Bharat Jodo" movement. The foreword is by the Dalai Lama, who aptly sums up the uniqueness of Baba Amte, referred to as abhay sadhak (fearless achiever) Amte by Mahatma Gandhi. The Dalai Lama writes that in creating Anandwan, Baba has given people with crucial disadvantages an opportunity to show that they could regain dignity and come to be recognised as productive members of society. One can only salute his spirit that has within it the ability to go on forever. |
HOW this book came about is rather interesting. Anita
happened to read about Baba Amte in a newspaper article in 2002. She
read how a chance encounter with a maggot-infested leper had turned
around the life of Baba Amte, who until such time, was a young man given
to the niceties of life, including fast cars and smoking. The
transformation was hardly subtle, for besides dedicating himself to the
cause of lepers, he vowed to be a celibate.