Baba Adhav is No More but his Life and Work Will Always Remain an Inspiration for Those Working for Justice and Equality | Bharat Dogra

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Baba Adhav passed away at the age of 96 on Monday December 8. As one of the most successful organizers of workers from poorest and largely unorganized sections of society Baba Advav became a legend in his lifetime. The inspirational impact of the struggles he led and motivated is very wide.

One of the important reasons for this success was his very high personal integrity and deep commitment to the cause of workers which has been admired by many of his opponents also. Another factor is that his struggles and the demands he raised were very innovative. When demands were raised in a way that at a practical level it was relatively less burdensome and hence more likely for the governments and various authorities to accept them then the chances of struggles becoming successful increased considerably. His innovativeness was also seen in low cost community kitchen which served healthy food to workers. Beyond this, Baba Adhav will always be remembered with great respect because of his very deep commitment at a wider level to creating a society based on equality, justice and dignity to all sections of society with special emphasis on those sections who have suffered injustice and inequality at historic level. He could be very firm ideologically on these and related issues, not making any compromises. Yet at a personal level, he could be very gentle and friendly, as I realized when I went to interview him and write about his work, spending some days in Pune, resulting in the publication of two booklets and several articles. He was also committed deeply to his family, led by his wife Sheetaltai, a trained nurse who, on a lighter note, once listed him as