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Dec 2, 2006

"Once you are in the orbit of your destiny, weightlessness is the only result." --Baba Amte

A Man Who Sees Beauty In Lepers

Born in a village in 1914, Baba Amte spent formative years with Gandhi, Tagore, and other luminaries, using those experiences to dive into a colorful odyssey -- to conquer his own fears and expand the notion of justice and peace through innovative experiments. Much of Baba Amte’s life has been dedicated to the care and rehabilitation of leprosy patients at a time when the disease was incurable. "We see beauty," said Baba, "in the ruins of the Ajanta and Ellora caves. Then why can't we see the beauty in the ruins of man? ... I started my leprosy work to find answers to these questions." His compassionate work has earned him several international awards, among them, the U.N. Human Rights Prize and the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service -- the highest such award in Asia. His acceptance speech follows.