I won’t call this article a book review as I feel my credentials are too meager to be able to do justice to this amazing Biography of Baba Amte. We all have sometime or the other heard about Baba Amte, either in our textbooks or through newspapers and magazines and like many I never gave it a second thought till someone dear suggested me to read this book.

I searched for the book online and when I found it, it carried a short description by the author Anita Kainthla –

“It is easy to ignore and forget some truly great men because they do not court publicity. They are too rapt in their service to attract attention with media. Many of them still become icons with their selfless service in the life of living societies. Baba Amte is one of them. He became the sole hope for thousands of sufferers afflicted with the great curse of leprosy. This biography, written after long and close interactions of the author with Amte and his family, narrates the inspirational story of meaningful socio-political action in the age of widespread irresponsibility.”

Reading this left me wanting to read more about this great man. I ordered the book online and got it in a couple days time. I was impressed to see that the preface of this book was written by The Dalai Lama himself. Baba Amte as we know has played a major role in working with people crippled with Leprosy but Baba was not always like that, even though he was very compassionate at heart from his childhood days he was also like any ordinary man with a taste for fast cars and other luxuries. His life was transformed the day he came across a leprosy patient laying in a gutter with maggots crawling where his eyes use to be. This single incident transformed Baba’s life for ever and it began a life long mission to server humanity with utmost humility.

Baba’s struggle in life is depicted in a detail account and reading it inspires you to stick to your goals no matter how tough the going gets. One of my favorite parts was his love affair while he had renounced worldly pleasures and taken sanyas. The love, respect and sacrifice between Baba and his wife (Sadhna Tai, as she was known) is ideal and is an inspiration in this modern time where people have forgotten about unconditional love.

I can go on and on about this book but I want you to read it for yourself. Trust me, it is well worth it and may give your life a new meaning. The author Anita Kainthla has written the book so well that it was gripping till the end.

The best way is to order this book online from this website, the cost is Rs.181