The Real-Life Transformer: Dr. Prakash Baba Amte

Dr. Prakash Baba Amte is a medical doctor and social worker from Maharashtra. Son of the famous Magsaysay awardee, Baba Amte, he along with and his wife, Dr. Mandakini Amte, have also been jointly felicitated with the Magsaysay Award for ‘Community Leadership’, or as the citation reads, for “enhancing the capacity of the Madia Gonds to adapt positively in today’s India, through healing and teaching and other compassionate interventions.

” He left a budding medical career and moved to the forest region of Gadchiroli to work towards the upliftment and development of the Madia tribe who lived secluded from civilization. Having dedicated over 30 years of his life now, he provides the tribe with basic amenities of life including health care, education and farming. He has also established a hospital for injured animals. His contributions have transformed the lives, land and livelihood of the Madia tribe towards greater health, sustenance and longevity. He shares his journey with us… Baba Amte, my father, started his work of rehabilitating all suffering from leprosy and went on to serve everyone with any ailments like physical handicaps,” explains Dr. Prakash Amte, an erstwhile recipient of ‘PP Rtn. Taru Lalvani Environment Award’.

“But he wanted to do more for society so in December 1970, when my brother and I had completed our MBBS exams, he took us for a picnic to an unheard of place called Bhamragarh – which was nothing but a thick forest at that time. It took us two days to reach and was situated at the confluence of three rivers. We visited a couple of villages trying to make contact with the inhabitants – the Madia tribe who were completely removed from civilisation, but they would flee at the sight of us.”

“That’s when Baba said to us he wanted to do something for this tribe – teach them farming, healthcare and provide vocational training. He said my brother and I could take over his successful venture ‘Anandvan’ and he would stay here. That’s when I told him Baba I’m 22, you’re 60. I will take on this work – I will never forget the spark in his eyes when he heard this. The rest is history!” says Dr. Prakash Amte, who has also had an award-winning Marathi movie made, based on his life, in which the award-winning lead roles were enacted by Nana Patekar and Sonali Kulkarni. Dr. Prakash Amte went on to complete his PG in surgery.

He met with Mandakini Deshpande in the same medical college where she was also pursuing her PG as an anesthetist. They fell in love and she decided to get married inspite of the obvious challenge that stood in front of her in terms of everything – career, geography and lifestyle. In December 1973, the Maharashtra Govt granted them a piece of land and they left their respective studies and careers to live in the forest, where they built their very first hut. They were accompanied by 5-6 young volunteers. But the biggest disappointment was that no one seemed to approach them as they were all ruled by primitive habits and rituals where the sick were treated by witch-doctors who prescribed animal sacrifice instead of medicine!

Another major challenge was communication as the tribal dialect was unknown! However they studied their culture and language and finally were able to convince some of them to try out this alternative form of medicine. “We requested them to bring in critical patients who the tantriks had given up on! After treating the first few cases successfully, the news spread and soon a number of patients started coming in. Their threshold for pain is unimaginable! Once, a man was brought to me whose face had been completely mauled by a bear. He had lost his eyes. There was no anesthesia so he bore the torturous pain of over a hundred stitches that I had administer.

I learnt that he died a year later out of hunger as he was blind and couldn’t go out to gather fruit or hunt anymore. I realized then that there were so many people with cataracts, so their fate must be the same!” “I found myself in a predicament because neither could I get doctors coming from Nagpur, nor could I get these people to go there. So I bought my own books and equipment and started performing cataract surgeries. The first patient was a lady who returned home wearing just a loin cloth and spectacles for the first time in the village! Thereafter a number of patients approached us. We also started doing other surgeries including orthopedic, dental and deliveries.

So far we’ve had over 40,000 patients come in from 1000 villages around!” “Since we wished to provide education, we established a school and as of now we have 650 students in our residential schools. We have educated the people about health and farming and we also take great care of our animals! I have more than a 100 animals! At one point my family and I lived harmoniously with the saved babies of a monkey, a deer, a dog, a bear and a leopard – all together in my home, alongside my daughter! As of now, we have 4 leopards!” he beams. Did the Government not intervene?

“Oh yes! When the Forest Dept. said we are taking away your animals, I told them I would return the Padmashri I was felicitated with in 2002. The media got wind of it and the Govt not only accepted it but also made it a legal rescue home called ‘Dr. Amte’s Animal Arc’! My children and grandchildren all love and play with these animals!” “Now it is my two sons and daughters- in-law who have taken over and take care of it all,” beams Dr. Prakash Amte, a real-life transformer, who personifies and adds a whole new dimension to the noble motto, ‘Service Before Self’!