A Field Worker’s Diary _ Part 54
“I did not just see Baba Amte’s leadership there but also the leadership qualities of each and every one who are making efforts to do their bit for collective purpose by providing support to differently abled people, sick people and people fighting against various problems.”
Our Foundation had been implementing some programs in a few villages that surround Warora, which is in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. Lying around just 5 kilometres from Warora is Anandavan.
Anandavan is a village founded by Baba Amte, who has received many awards such as the Padma Vibhushan and the Ramon Magsaysay for his outstanding contribution to the field of social service. I was elated that my desire to see Anandvan was coming true when I was going to visit Warora around seven years ago.
After going directly to Warora by train from Hyderabad, I spent my first day there by going to some nearby villages to complete the task assigned to me. The next afternoon, I finished my work and started for Anandavan.
Anandavan is a self-sufficient village. The whole village was divided into smaller units. Each unit produces different things. From food products through agriculture to making clothes, the people of Anandavan manufacture all products necessary for their life. I was informed that almost five thousand people are living in Anandavan. However, unlike the rest of the villages, this wasn’t your typical village. It was a special village established by Baba Amte for people afflicted with leprosy.
In later times, the village has provided shelter various kinds of helpless people who have been shunned by the society. The story behind how Baba Amte who belonged to a wealthy landlord family of the region started this effort was explained to us by the elders we met there. Though we had already known about Baba Amte and his work, it was really interesting to hear it from the citizens of Anandvan.
Baba, who had been a bit uncomfortable about the luxurious life of his family from the beginning, once saw a leper named Tulsiram on the road. Looking at his face with two holes in the place of a nose and with rotten fingers, and his extremely horrible condition, lying beside the road with no one to take heed of him, Baba had run away in fear. But Tulsiram’s face continued to haunt him. Baba, who considered himself the most courageous, was so ashamed that he fled in fear when he saw Tulsiram. “Where there is fear, there is no love, and where there is no love, there is no God” was the truth that Baba had grasped after painful deliberations.
Baba thought of working for those very same people he had run away from. Realizing that the real disease was not the loss of arms, fingers and legs, but the lack of sympathy and compassion for the helpless people in our minds, Baba immediately began Anandavan for them. Anandavan joins all those ill people who have been abandoned by their families on the roads. There they find complete respect and love. They get the necessary health care they need. They get work to employ them. They make everything that they need on their own. Later, it became a haven for not only lepers but also for disabled people, widows and single women.
We first saw a unit manufacturing assistive equipment needed by the disabled. Then, we went to see the farm lands. Food crops were being grown using organic farming and drip irrigation methods. From there, we went to the handicrafts unit. Special training is given to women to make greeting cards, paintings as well as a variety of handicraft products. Education, medical facilities, many cottage industries as well as a wide variety of wildlife are also sheltered in Anandavanam.
Anandvan is also an example of how good leadership can bring so many positive results.
I did not just see Baba Amte’s leadership there but also the leadership qualities of each and every one who are making efforts to do their bit for collective purpose by providing support to differently abled people, sick people and people fighting against various problems. Since Baba’s family members were available when we went there, we couldn’t meet them. But at a conference in Hyderabad I met his younger son Prakash Amte and his wife Mandakini Amte (the couple who worked for the tribals are also recipients of the Ramon Magsaysay Award). During a discussion in the conference, the moderator asked Prakash Amte what was the message he would like to give to all of them. Prakash replied with a smile on his face that he hadn’t achieved anything to come to the level of giving a message to others. It seemed to me that this humility was probably the reason that the family had reached such a stage.
Each and every one of the people I met in the units I visited in Anandavan had unique story. They all lived the most miserable lives and got there due to the horrible treatment meted out by the families and the society. I asked only one or two people as to why they came there. After that, I didn’t ask anyone else. I didn’t have the strength to listen to the stories. However, what inspired me the most was their zest for life even after losing so much in life and their indomitable spirit to live life on their own and build it back again.
Bharathi Kode