A Humble Begining

The genesis of Yuvak Biradari lies in the dreams and work of an amateur group of young men and women (in the historical city of Pune, India), whose conscience responded to the needs of social reconstruction in post-Independence India.

One of the trailblazers among them, a 22 years old young graduate named Kranti Shah decided that national integration and social reconstruction of India would be the mission of his life. Coming from an illustrious family of freedom fighters and philanthropist-businessmen, he imbibed the cultural and moral ethos from a very rich social surrounding, and drew inspiration from thoughts and works of great men of modern India viz. Mahatma Gandhi, Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, Jawaharlal Nehru, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan and the revolutionary Jayaprakash Narayan who gave the call for ‘Total Revolution’ (sampurna kranti) through essentially nonviolent means. For these stalwarts, he thought, ‘freedom’ didn’t mean merely thwarting the yoke of alien British rulers; rather, they envisioned freedom as a comprehensive emancipation of all beings wherein the best of opportunities are created for the overall development of people. And the route to such freedom, he believed, was essentially through promotion of humanity (insaaniyat), thereby transcending the barriers of caste, creed, race, religion, gender and language.

In the first three ‘decades of hope’ in Independent India, as the dreams and aspirations of charismatic leaders and millions of masses were riding high, a vision to realize those dreams twinkled in the eyes of these socially sensitive, responsible, enthusiastic and determined young men, who considered themselves Biradars (‘extended family’ to each other). These Biradars decided to embark on an unknown journey—a tryst with destiny, and vowed to contribute wholeheartedly in the noble cause of development.

During 1964-66, these early Biradars responded symbolically by supporting various social programs organised from time to time in Maharashtra. Hence, in 1966 in association with Samajwadi Yuvojan Sabha, the first Sneha Chhaavni Shivir (camp) was organized at Panhalgarh (Maharashtra) with the guidance of socialist leader S M Joshi, Gyanpeeth awardee V S Khandekar, social reformer Hamid Dalvai, parliamentarian Dr. Bapu Kaldate and with the participation of Dr Kumar Saptarshi, Anil Barve, Anil Avchat, Sunil Deshmukh, Ravi Purohit and many other eminent youth of the region. Its success forged them further, and they agreed upon a common concern, approach and resolve to continue organising such programs with greater intensity. Subsequently, many such youth camps (Yuva Shivirs) were held periodically during 1966-73: in Pune in ’67 under the auspices of the famous Coffee Club; in Goa in ’68 under the able leadership of Shri Balraj Sahni, Pramila Dandavate and Gopal Mayekar; at Kumbhoj in ’69; in Pune again in ’70; at Sangli in ’71 under the patronization of Prof. P B Patil; at Jambhli in ’72 in the guidance of Appa Saheb alias S R Patil; and at Sangli again in ’73 with Prof. Ram Joshi and Shivaji Patil. All these camps became increasingly popular and successful and they turned out to be important fixtures in the calendar of events that led to the shaping and birth of Yuvak Biradari which gradually evolved from regional to national level.

This motley group of patriotic and committed young men, eventually, thought of going one step further from youth camps and social activism. Coincidently, disaster relief & rehabilitation caught their attention as a primary concern when in 1969 nature rocked Koyna with a massive earthquake. Biradars rushed there with all the resources they could marshal, and worked towards the rehabilitation of hundreds of devastated families. In 1971, in the aftermath of Indo-Pak war, they extended a helping hand with material and social support to hundreds of Bangladeshi refugees who came to India. In 1973, as many parts of India were hit with severe drought & famine, Biradars visited many of those places in far flung areas, and helped restore educational facilities for the affected children.

Experience at grass roots level during those turbulent times brought these Biradars to a new realization that the condition of poverty stricken masses was compounded further by their ignorance, illiteracy, a general decadence in their socio-cultural outlook, religious dogmas and the intangible mental shackles that were keeping them from breaking free of the vagaries of inhuman existence. Though people had wishes, they didn’t have requisite means and awareness to accomplish them. Biradars felt they would have to reach out to people in the far corners of India, make them aware of their collective interests, and exhort local people--particularly the youth--to think beyond their personal life and interest.

Consequently, they envisioned a continuous nationwide movement for awakening through multi-faceted programs. For further deliberations, a 6-days educational camp (shiksha shivir) was held in May 1974 at Karla Holiday Camp located at the famous hill station of Lonavala near Mumbai which included Sarvoday thinker Yadunath Thatte, poet Mangesh Padgaonkar, Marathi writer Anant Kanekar, theatre artistes Sulbha and Arvind Deshpande, Laalan and Kamlakar Sarang, Prof. B S Bhange, industrialist Bhausaheb Nevalkar, Prof. P B Patil, and Advocate Eknath Salve. The young team that led the camp comprised of Krishnakant Kudale, Sudhir Gadgil, Prakash Kamat, Aparna Dev-Ramdas, Dashrath Parekar, Pramod Kulkarni, Vijay Sankhlecha, Shivaji Devre and Majid Khan.

The Biradars, who assembled there in huge numbers, felt the need to formally establish a charitable organisation in order to work in a coherent and planned way at an all India level. This dream saw the light of the day as noted film maestro Balraj Sahni, Gandhian writer Mrinalini Desai and Kranti Shah conceptualized and named the organisation ‘Yuvak Biradari (Bharat)’. The organizational structure, objectives and constitution of the organization were also delineated and agreed upon. Following this, on the occasion of the 32nd anniversary of the Bharat Chhodo movement, Yuvak Biradari gave the call of Bharat Jodo on 9th August 1974 in response to the new set of challenges and problems that confronted India during those turbulent years. In fact, in post Independence India, it was a call of its own kind that pursued the goal of national integration and social welfare through a sustained movement and a series of programs over many years to come.

Yuvak Biradari as an organisation came into formal existence with eleven founding trustees/members under the leadership of its first president Madhukarrao Chaudhary, first chairman Vasantdada Patil and Director Kranti Shah. The organization was registered on 9th August 1975 in Mumbai as a public trust under the Bombay Public Trusts Act, 1950.