I put down the biography ‘Sangharshaachi Mashaal Haatee’ (‘Holding the Torch of Struggle’) only after reading more than half of the 300-page book. And that too because of my wife’s angry warning that the lunch was getting cold.

Mark Twain said in his autobiography “Every man feels that his experience is unlike that of anybody else and therefore he should write it down — he finds also that everybody else has thought and felt on some points precisely as he has done, and therefore he should write it down.”

What makes one enjoy reading biographies? I have reviewed several in my blog posts. Is it because we see ourselves in the place of the protagonist? Or is it because we always wanted to be like him, but could not be?

Well, you decide your answer. What is beyond doubt is that biographies are immensely captivating and set the reader thinking about his/ her life. ‘Sangharshaachi Mashaal Haatee’ achieves this will telling effect.

Narsaiyya Adam aka Adam Master taught mathematics to poor students so the name ‘master’ (meaning teacher) stuck to his surname although he was educated only up to 9^th standard.

Born in a Padmashali (Weavers community which comes from Andhra) family, Narsaiyya was deeply influenced by his father who was an activist of CPI-M. The family lived in penury as did many workers (like his father) of power-loom industry. His mother rolled beedis to supplement the family’s meagre earning. Circumstances taught Narsaiyya to be independent early on in life.

Narsaiyya’s first job was at ‘Prasad Vinkar (Weavers) Society.’ He discovered that the organization was run by corrupt people. He raised his voice against corruption before Banking authorities and lost his job!

Thus began the struggle to secure justice for people, invariably for the downtrodden. The first struggle was launched when the local Government decided how much weight a bullock cart can carry. The concern was about harming the bull, but the prescribed weight was too low, it resulted in loss to the farmers. Adam Master led a rally of 500 bullock carts to the Collector’s office which led to finding an amicable solution.

Adopting unusual ways of protests marks the leadership style of Adam master. In one case, the workers gheraoed the home of the employer who was unrelenting. In another case Adam Master faced a dilemma when he found that an honest Government officer implemented a rule which led to confiscating auto-rikshas.  Adam Master wanted to help the auto owners but had no desire to antagonise the honest officer. He asked families to meet the officer in batches of thirty or forty every day and request releasing the autos. It worked.

The most unusual and daring act of protest came when he led a procession of autos to the Court. Nobody leads a protest march against the Court! It is an extremely high-risk game. The RTO was dragging auto owners to the Court for flimsy offences and the Court was levying a fine of Rs 500. That was in 1993 when the fine would take away several days’ income from the auto drivers. Adam Master led a procession of hundreds of autos to the Court. The judge understood the issue and found a solution.

The Government departments are the most unresponsive organizations, and certainly this can be said about India. Yet, Adam master found a way to influence the Governments – both Congress led, and BJP led. He created a scheme for housing poor families and gave them ownership of houses for Rs 20 thousand. This was followed by another scheme of low-cost housing which has provided 40,000 homes to people! Yes, you read it right – forty thousand homes.

Watch the video (link below) discussing Solapur ‘Ray’ Nagar Society. Ray stands for Rajiv (Gandhi) Avas Yojana, and it was inaugurated by PM Modi. Adam Master succeeded in influencing Dr Manmohan Singh and Devendra Fadanvis alike who helped this project see the light of the day.

Leaders get noticed when they are in seemingly ‘destructive’ mode. Unresponsive Government and vested interests create a situation where thousands of people live in poverty and without enough food or shelter. Good leaders employ various tactics to change the situation, and some of those seem outrageous, but they produce the desired effect. Leaders do not influence only thru protests, they often do it by persuading people in authority.

And the life of Adam Master is a lesson on how leaders move from Rebels to Reformers. Rebels want to remove something, destroy it, Reformers have a vision, they know what is to be created, and strive to create it.

Providing 40,000 low-cost homes to the needy persons is a classic case of proactive leadership. It is matched only by Datta ji Iswalkar’s work for the textile workers. Datta ji was not a communist, Adam Master is wedded to communist philosophy, he belongs to CPI-M party. And both followed what Karl Marx said (and it is inscribed on his grave), “The philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point is to change it.”

I have the same question on my mind which Vijay Tendulkar posed in one of his books. ‘These men seem to be like us, they seem to be like those among us, nah, they are indeed like people among us. Then why can’t we become like them? Or why they can’t continue to be like us?’

Well, those questions will keep us awake several nights. Salute, Adam Master.

Vivek S Patwardhan

“What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.” All work copyrighted.