Anandvan through my eyes..By Mukul Kulkarni

When learning Gandhism in Political science classes, we had been taught Gandhi's concept of ' Swaraj' , which meant self restraint and self discipline, culminating in self rule. It meant that the society was self regulating, without any need for the state. Listening to Sir, I had always wondered if this concept was not utopian in a world driven by the mantra of self interest. This perception of mine had held strong, until I arrived in Anandvan.

Initiated by Dr Baba Amte and built upon and worked upon by thousands of leprosy affected as well as differently abled persons, Anandvan is Gandhi's Swaraj in actuality. Though himself not a Gandhian ( rather a follower of Gandhi influenced by ideas of Marx and Tagore), Baba laid the foundation of what he used to call a ' social prison'. Located at Warora near Nagpur, Anandvan is the home of leprosy affected persons, differently abled people,as well as unemployed youth, wherein all of them are provided with the means of livelihood necessary to live with dignity. but it is much more than that. Leprosy affected patients and differently abled people, both outcasts of society were and are welcomed here with open arms. And not just welcomed; but taught to live with dignity.

As Prabhu Kaka explained to us " Once a spiritual guru visited Anandvan. As he was observing the entire project, he asked Prabhu Kaka a question " wherever I go here, I see people continuously smiling. How is this possible?". To which Kaka replied " There are two types of complexes in the world. Superiority complex and inferiority complex. At Anandvan,we have a third type of complex. Equality complex. Every person is equal here, without any hierarchy of rich and poor, diseased and healthy. This feeling of equality imparts dignity to the individual which in turn helps him keep smiling."

Such is the simplicity and enormity of the work being done here. It is like a pilot project for the entire village economy. There is not a single product of the village economy that the magicians at Anandvan do not produce. Greeting cards, dyeing of cloth, handloom, carpet making, wood carving, fabrication,bag making and so on. And all this work is carried on by leprosy affected persons and differently abled persons.

As Kaka said to us during the visit
" Leprosy affects a person not just physiologically but also psychologically as he or she is shunned by the very society which nurtured him or her. In that case, it is work that acts as a psychological cure. Work manifests in the form of creativity which creates a sense of dignity as well as satisfaction within that person.

This work however,is not charity.As Prabhu Kaka puts it very precisely, "At Anandvan, we do not work ' for ' the people. A feeling of working ' for' the people gives man a sense of ego,of sacrifice, which is the undoing of man. Here thus, we work 'with' the people, and not 'for them'. Anand Van is not about sacrifice or any 'Tyaag'. We do what we do because it makes us happy.It gives us satisfaction. " Such a simple philosophy. Such a big message.

Infact, more than just a message, it was a practical lesson in the philosophy of life.Every step we took in Anandvan brought with it a sense of realisation. The realisation that dignity is what people want from life, not state doles or welfare promises. That our own problems in life and with life are too small and futile to even merit comparison.( There was a lady in one of the departments, who, because of her hands being affected by leprosy, was preparing a greeting card using her feet, sketching and stitching her way to a masterpiece. That day, I understood what resilience meant).And the lessons were not over.

Before meeting Dr Vikas Amte, we visited Baba and Sadhna Tai's Samadhi. Baba had asked to be buried after his death, along side his fellow mates who had initiated this revolution. Tai had subsequently asked to be buried besides Baba. As he talked about him, Prabhu Kaka talked about the kind of leader Baba was. " Before asking anyone to do Anything, Baba used to first do that thing himself. All his fellow mates were persons of intellect, and they followed him because he set an example for them to follow through his own actions.

Anandvan , thus, was a revelation. Having read and heard about it since childhood, visiting Anandvan atleast once in life was something I had always dreamt of. And as I left Anandvan, it was with a sense of fulfillment as well as one of incompleteness. Fulfillment because Anandvan taught me to be human again, to discover and serve the God in humans, and to respect every living being, be it human or animal,equally. The feeling of incompleteness on the other hand, was because I was sure this was not the last time I was going to come to this place.And that the place and its people had much more to teach me, and that this process of learning , I was sure, would go on for the rest of my life. It was this combined feeling , of fulfillment as well as incompleteness,both at the same time,which culminated in a feeling I was experiencing only for the second time in my life ( the first time being at the time of my first Himalayan trek at Sandakphu). A feeling of contentment, of satisfaction, and of something we call happiness.