…Poverty and violence are not God made, they are man made. Poverty and peace cannot coexist. - Ela Bhatt

SEWA is about political action, and that has always been at the heart of what we have done. It is about changing the balance of power in favor of the poor. That has meant constant tension, with big farmers, moneylenders, contractors, big traders, government, local panchayats, and so on.

We were rebuilding the nation, looking to a more just society. It was a time when many of us were going to the villages to live there. We were a generation that had no confusion in our minds as to how to do things. Gandhiji had shown the way. This atmosphere infused politics and the way we did things.

The country is moving in a different direction, times have changed. But for me Gandhiji’s values are still the frame, still alive and valid.