When I read about the passing of Baba Amte, a lone memory of the day I met him at Anandwan in September 2005 resurfaced in my mind. Baba was lying down in bed as usual, afflicted as he was by severe cervical spondylosis which had caused a progressive degeneration of his spine. As I approached him, he warmly held out his hand. Holding mine with a firmness replete with affection, he enquired about me with genuine curiosity. His wife Sadhanatai expressed humble surprise when she was told that I had come with the express purpose of visiting Anandwan. The couple welcomed me with hospitality and invited me to spend a few memorable days there. In the short time before I took my leave, Baba had already carved a place for himself in my mind, not only as the great humanitarian Baba Amte, but as a down-to-earth, warm human being who had befriended me within the span of a few minutes.
More than two years later, the news of Baba's death brought back to mind the myriad courageous endeavours which this nonagenarian undertook during the course of his unique life lived with a firm conviction. Murlidhar Devidas Amte defied the meaning of possible. When Baba first saw the50 acres of rocky wasteland infested with brush, snakes and scorpions granted by the government to his organization--the Maharogi Sewa Samiti which served leprosy patients--this is what he told his wifeSadhana. "Perhaps it was symptomatic that there was nothing but a tangle of boulders, roots and creepers. Outcaste land for outcaste people. This is our lot from nowon."