One of them

Today, I want to tell you a story, which, unlike my other stories, is not about Kings and Queens. It is about a man I know, love and respect. He is not a King. He definitely does not look like a King. In fact, if you see on the street you’ll not bother to give him a second look. He is a common man, who does uncommon things.

His name is Damodar Ganesh Bapat. Back home, we call him “Bapat Kaka” (Kaka is the Marathi word for uncle).

He lives in a world that is not as tech-savvy as ours is. So I did not find anything on the internet to tell you more about him and his work. This is all I could find.

http://ess.sewainternational.org/coms/display_organization.php?dios=222&&PHPSESSID=db48c860b69906c0b58890b736d4cc2d

He has spent his life working for (and working with) people who suffer from leprosy. 80% of the people he deals with on a daily basis fall in to one of the following three buckets

1. People who suffer from leprosy
2. People who used to suffer from leprosy before “Bapat Kaka” met them and helped them.
3. Children of the people who suffer(ed) from leprosy.

Most of these people are really poor people. So poor, that getting a square meal is an “occasion” for them. Most of these people beg for living. The story is about Bapat kaka and these beggars.

The story starts in Bilaspur, a small town where I hail from. Bapat kaka was in Bilaspur that day to meet someone. He had to catch an evening train to Champa. (Champa is the place where he runs his “Kushtha Ashram”, a place that he and a lot of poor people call “home”).

It was raining that day and he was running late for his evening train. People tried to persuade him into staying in Bilaspur that night. But he insisted on leaving, because one of the girls in the Ashram was sick and she wouldn’t eat food without Bapat Kaka feeding her.

He reached the station just in time. He saw the train moving. Forgetting the fact that he is getting old day by day and should stop running around like children, he ran and caught the train. He waved to the people who had come to see him off and smiled in satisfaction.

It was full 5 minutes before he realized that the person who was supposed to buy the ticket for him had forgotten to buy one. During the next 50 minutes of the journey (That’s how long it takes a passenger train to get to Champa), he was restless. He had never travelled in a train without ticket. Luckily, no TTE came to his bogie till Champa.

He got down in Champa. To his surprise, the sleepy locality of Champa was celebrating a “Railways Improvement Week”. There was a Ticket Collector standing at the exit door of the railway station. Bapat Kaka checked his pocket. He had no money on him. That’s not very unusual for him. He, like many other people who grace our home with their presence once in a while, does not carry much money. Not because he uses credit cards instead, but because like Gandhi, the only money that is available to him is the money that people have given him for social service, and he cannot spend that money on his personal life. So, he does not have a personal life and he does not need money.

Anyway, Bapat Kaka was in a big trouble now. It was then, when a gang of beggars spotted him. They all gathered around their Maharaaj (They call him Maharaaj) and started talking excitedly. For some reason, on that day, he did not seem as cheerful as he always is. One beggar asked him why it was so. And very shyly, Bapat kaka told him what the reason was. This is what one of the beggars told him.

“No problem Mahaaraaj. Train ticket is for other people. Beggars do not require train tickets. You are one of us. Why should you worry about a stupid train ticket?”

“But the TC will catch me now.”

“He won’t. You’ll come with us. We’ll form a huddle. You stay in the middle of it. You anyway look like a beggar. You have not shaven your face for some time now. You are carrying an old and dirty Khaadi bag. You are wearing a very old Kurta/Paijaama and plastic slippers. Practically, you are a beggar. Come!”

And really, they formed a huddle. Bapat Kaka was kept in the center. He walked with the beggars. Through the main gate of the Champa station. Looking the TC straight in his eyes. He walked straight. He walked proud.

Long time after that, Sandeep Kaka (One more person that I can talk about for hours, and BTW, he was the one who was supposed to get Bapat Kaka a ticket) was telling us this story over a cup of piping-hot tea and a plate of Pakodas. I was holding my stomach and rolling on the floor in laughter. After a while, his tone changed. He asked me.

“Alok, do you know why Bapat Ji came to Bilaspur that day?”

“No”

“He was here to meet Sunderlal Patwa. The CM of MP. CM had sent his Ashram a cheque of 1 Lakh rupees the week before that. Bapat ji was in Bilaspur to convince him that he should increase the amount to 2 so Bapat ji can build a bigger school in Champa.”

I just listened. In a stunned and awed silence.

“He is a great man. You know what makes him great? The fact that he meets the CM? No. The fact that the beggars feel that he is one of them. In social work, you can achieve big things only when the people around you feel that you are one of them. Each one around you is a lot more powerful and useful to you and your work than you can imagine. People will not tell you who they are until they believe that you are on their side. Respect people. Unconditionally. Don’t worry about “what they are”, think “what they could have been”. After all, you are one of them.”

Sandeep kaka,

It’s been a long time. We don’t get to meet each other anymore. But I haven’t forgotten anything. I remember all of what you told me. I do. I always will.