Thursday, May 1, 2008

Murlidhar Devidas Amte | A Real Hero

Murlidhar Devidas Amte is one of my moral heroes. He was a man, who with hard work and perseverance, showed me that one man can really make a significant difference in the world. I chanced to learn about him when I joined the Ramon Magsaysay Essay Writing contest, which I joined year after year and writing about Amte each time.

Amte was a man of action. He once went into a brawl to protect a girl who was a stranger to her. At another time, he shielded a couple from falling luggage in an accident on the train, which cost him a broken shoulder for the rest of his life, which prevented him from lifting his hand higher than his head. He was born into a rich family, however, upon his decision to help outcasts such as lepers, he was branded as insane and unclean, since anyone touching an unclean will also be unclean. Thus, he lost his rights to the wealth that his family had.

This did not stop him.

He, along with his wife and children, six lepers, a lame cow, and a few meager rupees, started a settlement on land that they loaned from the government. The land was barren and hard, not suitable for growing vegetables. It was dangerous, hunting land, infested by tigers and scorpions. His wife had to kill a dozen deadly scorpions a day. Yet he named this land positively as Anandwan, meaning the Forest of Bliss.

They started digging a well. It took them several weeks before they dug enough to produce water. And even then, it was little. Amte mentioned that there were more tears and sweat that went down into the well than the water that was coming out of it.

In two years of hard toil, the small community became self sufficient. They had transformed the barren wasteland into productivity.

The community grew, and it now has thousands of people living in it, people who were previously social outcasts such as lepers, orphaned children, the visually challenged, mentally challenged, senior citizens, and differently abled individuals. It is one of the most productive communities in India.

Amte has created a community built upon the warmth of love. It was not a community for charity. He did not believe in charity. Instead, he believed in the power of work to provide people a sense of direction, purpose, and belongingness. For social outcasts such as lepers, this really meant a lot, to become part of a community where they too can contribute and have direction in their life. Through Amte, lepers have come to experience how to live again.

The following video was dedicated to him after his death by the people that he had helped. Today, his children have grown up to continue his work and to help even more people.