Baba Amte, a leading social worker who devoted his life to the care and rehabilitation of leprosy patients, passed away today.

Murlidhar Devidas Amte, popularly known as ‘Baba Amte’ (’baba’ is a honorific and his last name is pronounced as Am’tay) was born on December 1914 in Vidharbha, Maharashtra, India in a wealthy family. Educated with a law degree, he setup a successful practice in Warora, and was leading a very prosperous life. One one rainy day, he saw a leper on the street getting drenched in rain and left helpless. Baba Amte thought to himself - ‘What would have happened if I was in his position?‘ This little incident was enough to cause a paradigm shift in his perception of society. The well educated rich professional simply quit his practice and decided to dedicate his life to the cause of social justice.

Leprosy was/is probably the most damned disease in India. Plenty of myths and orthodox beliefs existed around leprosy patients. As a result, they were (and still are to some extent) subjected to severe social boycott and condemnation. Baba Amte devoted his life for the cause of the leprosy affected, even allowing his body to be used for medical experiments. With 14 Rupees, two cows and a makeshift building, Baba Amte and his wife established a community project at Anandwan (आनंद वन abode of happiness) near the woods of Nagpur, Maharashtra, central India.

Today Anandvan is recognised all over the world and has led the crusade for dispelling prejudice against leprosy in India. It has a sprawling campus of 180 hectors and runs a budget of millions of Rupees. Thousands of patients live in this colony.

This is one of his compositions that touches my heart. (I’d be thrilled if someone can translate, I can’t)
Update: Ash has translated the first paragraph, and Devendra has translated the entire poem. Checkout the comments section, thanks guys

A picture that speaks more than a thousand words.


“Joy is more infectious than leprosy”
- Baba Amte

माणूस माझे नाव, माणूस माझे नाव…
दहा दिशांच्या रिंगणात या पुढे माझी धाव…
बिंदु मात्र मी क्षुद्र खरोखर,
परी जिंकले सातहि सागर,
उंच गाठला गौरीशंकर
अग्नीयान मम घेत चालले आकाशाचा ठाव…
मीच इथे ओसाडावरती,
नांगर धरुनी दुबळ्या हाती,
कणकण ही जागवली माती
दुर्भिक्ष्याच्या छाताडावर हसत घातला घाव…
ही शेते अन् ही सुखसदने,
घुमते यातून माझे गाणे,
रोज आळवित नवे तराणे
मी दैन्याच्या विरुद्ध करतो क्षण क्षण नवा उठाव…
सुखेच माझी मला बोचती,
साहसास मम सीमा नसती,
नवीन क्षितिजे सदा खुणवती
दूर दाट निबिडात मांडला पुन्हा नवा मी डाव…
[संग्रह: ज्वाला आणि फुले]

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“शिवसेना-भाजप-कॉंग्रेस युतीला मतदान करा” - ठाकरे
सकाळ: सत्तेसाठी आम्ही हपापलेलो नाही. शिवसेना-भाजप युतीशी कॉंग्रेसने अंबरनाथच्या विकासासाठी हातमिळवणी केली आहे. राष्ट्रवादी कॉंग्रेसची मस्ती उतरविण्यासाठी शिवसेना-भाजप-कॉंग्रेस युतीला मतदान करा, असे आवाहन शिवसेना कार्याध्यक्ष उद्धव ठाकरे यांनी येथे केले.

अंबरनाथ तालुक्‍यातील जिल्हा परिषदेच्या दोन आणि पंचायत समितीच्या चार जागांसाठी शिवसेना-भाजप-कॉंग्रेस युतीतर्फे निवडणूक लढविणाऱ्या उमेदवारांच्या निवडणूक प्रचारासाठी वांगणी रेल्वेस्थानकाशेजारीच झालेल्या प्रचारसभेत ठाकरे साहेबांनी असे विचार मांडले.

राजकिय पक्ष खरंच् विचार भिन्नतेतून जन्माला आले आहेत का? ‘सत्ता’ हा जरी एकच् विचार असला तरी हे मात्र फारच् झालं…. !!

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Last week’s Economic Times article “Where even Ethiopia is doing better than Asia” brings out the stark imbalance in [tag]India[/tag]’s [tag]economic growth[/tag]. India’s position on malnutrition is worse than that of Ethiopia - one of the most poor countries of the world.

“The Unicef analysis, done in conjunction with India’s health ministry, found that about 46% of children below the age of 3 suffer from [tag]malnutrition[/tag]. That’s a staggering figure, and one that compares with roughly 35% in sub-Saharan Africa and 8% in China. It’s even more startling when you consider India predicts growth of 9.2% this year. “

The fact that we are so casual about our future, speaks volumes about the disconnected focus of the government on ‘reforms’. What’s worse, the situation hasn’t really improved since independence. This news succeeds the recent shocking event at Puri’s Jagannath Temple reported by DNA: “[tag]Food[/tag] destroyed at temple after foreigner’s entry”.

In a country where millions go to bed hungry, Rs 1 million worth of food meant as a holy offering at Orissa’s Jagannath temple was destroyed on Friday because a foreigner had entered it — an act seen as defiling the premises.

Patrix has some creative ideas I couldn’t agree more-

If the temple authorities feared associating themselves with the ‘defiled’ food then they could have ‘conducted a yagna to disassociate’ (bear with me, trying to be a lil creative here) themselves from it and leave the food alone in a lonely corner outside the temple complex. I’m sure the ‘defiled’ food would find plenty of takers even in the most religious of towns.

60 million malnourished [tag]children[/tag] in India, while people in North America take food for granted… I can picture Gods shaking their heads in disapproval.

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