(h - Baba Amte - 1994) Worship Of Work Poem by Kannan G

All grim prejudice to work
He scrupulously shed;
He grew grace in such work
Which by ignorance lay degraded.
Human waste he deliberately,
Carried on his head.
“Work
With the people
Not
For the people”, he said.
His compassionate vision
And his passionate mission
Into undiluted action
Translated he ever.
With a philosophic wisdom
His work he executed.
With a messianic zeal
Was it ever saturated.
A contagious will
He exuded.
Through a rigorous path
He himself led.
He sweated.
He bled.
Still he never regretted.
For he had decided
That he would come out
Undefeated.
Living a common life
He won an uncommon strife.
He wore worn out rubber
To identify himself
With his impoverished brethren.
With shovel and scythe
He had established love.
For him none was below
And none above.
For him no labour was mean,
No labour, unclean,
When done with heart and soul,
When done for the good of the whole.
Even when his body,
Over worked and over burdened,
Played too much of cruelty,
He would not quit.
He worked tirelessly.
He worked zealously.
A variety of causes
He embraced passionately.
“Work is Worship”, says he.
And this devotee
Had all his life
Been worshiping Work
In silence and with piety.