Dr. Abhijeet Sonawane - Hope For Humanity

Dr. Abhijeet Sonawane is no ordinary person. He started a movement in Pune a few years ago. A movement of compassion, respect, and self-reliance for the beggars and homeless people in my hometown.

When It All Started..

Around 15 years ago, an Ayurveda (alternative medicine) doctor by education, Abhijeet was helped by some homeless men when he was struggling to establish his practice in a small village near Pune. A newly married man with no family backup, his life had taken him to the cleaners. These people whom he had befriended at a local temple, provided for his family selflessly when they themselves had nothing, thus helping him maintain his dignity. Dr. Abhijeet decided that he would repay his debt when he would have enough resources.

As fate had it, Dr. Abhijeet moved on to become a successful executive in an NGO and got busy in his life but always had the feeling of guilt for not fulfilling the promise he made to himself.

A few years ago, he lost his job and his life went down a spiral. After spending a few months brooding over his failure, he had an epiphany of this calamity being another chance to fulfill his promise of serving the unfortunate.

He then decided to work for the homeless and beggars on the streets of Pune. He started by providing free medication to old men and women in front of worship places like temples and mosques. After gaining their trust, he slowly began to persuade the able ones to quit begging and earn respect by selling something like flowers or small items. He bought weighing machines for the older ladies so that instead of begging for alms they could earn by requesting people check weight and pay for it. He earned respect from some whom he was helping and some turned him away thinking that he was there to snatch their begging "business". Some stubborn ones even tried to attack him.

The Determination

Dr. Abhijeet was determined in his mind and had finally found his goal in life to eradicate begging and create a system for them to earn with dignity.

While doing this service, he formed a connection with these unfortunate people and heard their life stories which would bring tears to the eyes of even the strongest persons. Some women belonged to well-to-do families in the past and mistakes in life cost them everything. Some were disowned by their children and some were begging to keep their bedridden partner alive.

Dr. Abhijeet started to write these stories and shared them on social media. This created a support group of like-minded people who started to raise help for his foundation.

Today, Dr. Abhijeet Sonawane and his wife Dr. Manisha who is also the primary provider of their family are a respected couple in Pune.

They have got volunteers ranging from people working in corporate offices, ex-military, and retirees. Soham Trust, a foundation established for this cause by Dr. Sonawane got approval from the government in record time because some of the officers in the social justice department were fully aware of his activities even before he applied to get charity trust status.

His achievements in these two years -

• He persuaded many of the beggars to do jobs in the organizations run by the patrons of Soham Trust and his well-wishers.
• Took full responsibility for cataract operations of hundreds of the old and homeless to revive their confidence in their abilities.
• Arranged old age homes for people he found randomly on the streets in inhuman conditions.
• He connected with people, heard their stories, gave them his attention and love, cleaned them, fixed their injuries, and arranged for their food and shelter in the old age homes.

Beyond The Patchwork

He has changed the lives of not only the homeless and beggars but also people like me who have their sympathy but were unable to help those people because of the sheer mammoth task that it is to restore someone's dignity. A few bucks given away at a traffic signal or at the footsteps of worship places were only worsening the problem. Dr. Abhijeet decided to attack the root of this problem.

Some people though admirers of his work cautioned him that what he was trying to do was tantamount to boiling an ocean. It's not about the existing beggars of Pune city but the influx of such people from around the country the size of India. Because of the wealth disparity between the urban and rural regions, no one really knows if the task would ever be completed.

Dr. Sonawane is not impeding himself with such thoughts. A journey of thousand miles has already begun. In his latest initiative, he has got a place where Pune Municipality Corporation has allowed him to run a small business for former beggars. They make gift articles, Natural beauty products, bags etc. By selling these items in his network, Abhijeet is trying to bring these people into the mainstream.

He considers Sindhutai Sapkal, a renowned activist, as his inspiration and she too has accepted him as her foster child just like the hundreds of others under her wings.

He is a good leader, a person with the vision and aptitude to run a movement. With his writings, he has managed to knit a network of people to carry this juggernaut. I hope his work reaches places from where he could get more power for his cause.

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Dr. Abhijeet Sonawane,
Soham Trust,

contact - +91 9822267357 

abhisoham17@gmail.com

www.sohamtrust.com

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1. https://www.indiatimes.com/news/india/keeping-humanity-above-all-this-doctor-from-pune-treats-homeless-people-and-beggars-for-free-346219.html