20070805 Book Launch of Gandhian Baba Amte book, Duke University

On Sunday, August 5th, 2007 at Duke University, I attended an event Surgery By Flashlight, Saving An Aborigine Tribe From Extinction, And Wrestling 800 Pound Lions about a tremendously giving couple, Dr. Prakash And Dr. Manda Amte. Sponsored by the Duke Chapter of the Association for India's Development, RTP Maharashtra Mandal, and peace group Niya, it was the US book launch of Wisdom Song: The Life Of Baba Amte, written by my friend, local author, and Niya founder Neesha Mirchandani . Baba is a Gandhian social reformer who gave up his wealth to help tribal peoples. He has established a "Forest of Joy" community for people with disabilities based on the motto "Work builds, charity destroys." Delicious vegetarian food was donated by Spice and Curry. I took a few pictures, presented here. Quoting from the event's description, "a quiet and and unassuming physician couple ... will launch a book ... about Baba Amte (Dr. Prakash Amte's father) ... they will also share their hair-raising stories about practicing medicine in one of the most remote parts of India. They belong to an illustrious family where three generations have dedicated their lives to social work. Baba Amte gave up an inheritance of 400 acres ... and a law practice to work with people with leprosy in 1951. His humanitarian and civil rights work has received many accolades including the Templeton Prize for Religion [1990], the UN Human Rights Prize [1988], and the Magsaysay Award [1985]. "Dr. Prakash Amte and his wife Dr. Manda have expanded the Amte legacy ... [making international] headlines ... for their work among the aborigine Madia Gond tribe of Central India. The Principality of Monaco has even issued a stamp to honor them. For the past three decades, they have provided free medical care to over 40,000 Madia Gonds in a remote [area] .... Till the early 1990s, they had no electricity and were often cut off ... by monsoon floods. They deal with public health issues that most in the West could never imagine and has performed live-saving surgeries by flashlight with hardly any medical equipment and supplies. Dr. Prakash Amte's animal orphanage has brought equal attention to the project. He handles poisonous snakes and playfully wrestles with leopards, lions, and bears four times his size. Deforestation and hunting have destroyed the local habitat for wildlife so the Amtes do their best to provide a safe haven for them." All author royalties from book sales benefit the Amtes' nonprofit organization, Maharogi Sewa Samiti, established by Baba Amte in 1951. Dr. Prakash and Dr. Manda Amte are invited speakers in 21 North American cities this summer. Photographs in this gallery copyright ©2007 by Dilip Barman of Vibrant Memories Photography. All rights reserved. Permission is granted for noncommercial usage, including downloading and printing. Promotional usage, with profits donated to help the Amtes' work, can gladly be arranged.