‘Anna left family for the nation’

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It’s been more than three decades since my brother (Anna) decided to devote his entire life for the betterment of the society. Today, I can proudly say that he has stood by his word and not changed a bit. However, he has paid a price for this dedication, and as his family, so have we.

I remember him opting for voluntary retirement from the Army and returning to his village in 1975. After coming to Ralegan Siddhi, Anna left our home and started living in the Yadavbaba temple, where our village deity is housed. Anna is the eldest among five brothers and two sisters. A rebel since childhood, he had always been a stubborn person with zero tolerance for any kind of wrongdoing.
It has been 36 years now and my brother has never once visited our house. He doesn’t even know the names of our children. My own brother treats me like he would treat any other villager. It may be a loss of a brother for me, but I console myself by thinking about what the nation has gained instead.
Shunning his family life may not have been easy on him too. But while Anna may have firmly decided to stay away from his own family, he is now a people’s man, and a member of a family that comprises crores of Indians.
My brother may not consider us family, but he will always remain an integral part of our family. In fact, watching him fast for 12 days at the age of 74 for the Jan Lokpal Bill was one of the most traumatic moments of my life. We would feel guilty about eating a single morsel of food. Even the youngsters of the family completely shunned food during that period.
However, this is not the first time. Each time Anna sits on a fast, the family goes through the same emotions, but we admire him for his grit and his determination to turn the tide in his favour. Even today, I clearly remember when Anna sat on his first indefinite fast in 1979 in Ralegan Siddhi, demanding education for children beyond Class 7. He faced several hurdles from the state government, but didn’t budge.
Anna was adamant about bringing a change in the society and started scripting his own life based around that philosophy, turning into an eternal rebel.
My brother has been deeply influenced by our mother Laxmibai and the teachings and thoughts of Swami Vivekananda. Our mother also participated in a few agitations with Anna. After the death of our father Baburao 13 years ago, she also started living in the Yadavbaba temple. Unfortunately, a few years after our father’s death, our mother too passed away. But she played an important role in instilling confidence in Anna to stand up against evil.
Anna shot to fame after a hard battle against corruption. It is very hard to believe that a son of a poor unskilled labourer, one who was brought up in a small room in Ralegan Siddhi, is now an anti-corruption crusader for the entire country.
Now, suddenly after his fast for the Jan Lokpal Bill, my brother has brought the unknown village of Ralegan Siddhi on the map. Today, lakhs of people visit Ralegan Siddhi to see how the village has scripted its development story and become an adarsh village for all.
People want to speak to the family of the great crusader and call me up for quotes. But it is all Anna’s glory. We are just in the sidelines, watching and praying to God to be with this old man — not because he is my brother, not because he is from my village but simply because he is the only hope for a nation full of poor, marginalised people.

As told to Pratik Salunke