These are excerpts from the Forward Press team’s India tour travelogue. Forward Press Consulting Editor Pramod Ranjan, sociologist Anil Kumar and Forward Press Editor (English) Anil Varghese were part of the team that went on the tour from Delhi to Kanyakumari between 5 January and 15 February 2017. The team covered nine states and one union territory (Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Daman, Maharashtra, Goa, Tamil Nadu and Kerala), traversing a total distance of about 12000 km. They met Gail Omvedt and Bharat Patankar in their village Kasegaon on 26 January 2017.

Gail Omvedt and Bharat Patankar are among the foremost scholars of India’s social revolution. While Omvedt has focused on India’s social structure, Patankar has combined his scholarly pursuit with activism on the ground. This couple has devoted their lives to the betterment of India’s Bahujans. An FP team met them at their home in Kasegaon, Maharashtra, during their India tour