Vidisha: Vidisha has never been so thrilled as it has been in the last 24 hours since local resident Kailash Satyarthi won this year's Noble peace prize.
The town is already known for other illustrious personalities like Ramnath Goyenka, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Sushma Swaraj and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
It is also home to the first chief minister of erstwhile Central Province -Babu Takhatmal Jain.
Satyarthi is known to be down-to-earth and committed to his work. Vidisha residents said that Satyarthi rightly deserved the Nobel for his selfless service to the society.
Born and brought up in the narrow bylanes of Chhoti Haweli in the Andar Quila area of the town, Satyarthi is known for his kindhearted nature.
"Whenever he saw any kid begging, he snatched the begging bowl and offered food to the kid and gave them books and urged them to study," Satyarthi's sister-in-law Ratidevi Sharma recounted.
"He even cleaned the wounds of an ailing person in our locality and would share half his meal daily with the man," said an emotional Ratidevi.
She also said that Satyarthi never believed in the caste system and worked relentlessly towards an egalitarian society.
Like a true Gandhian, Satyarthi never donned on anything other than Khakhi pants and white shirts during his youth.
Chhoti Haweli's bylanes were choking full of people on Friday as visitors thronged the area to celebrate Satyarthi's win.
"I don't know what he has won but I am told that he has made us proud worldwide," said an elderly woman Sharda Sen.
Satyarthi's campaign 'Bachpan Bachao Andolan' has been a seminal endeavour in the global battle against child labour.
Bansilal Sahu, a grocery owner and a proud neighbor told News18 that he (Satyarthi) gives him Rs 300-400 whenever he meets him and has asked him to distribute free chocolates to poor kids.
Satyarthi's elder brother Jagmohan Sharma further related more anecdotes:
"In class Xth, he led an agitation with friends to protest against traffic jams created by idling governmental vehicles clogging market roads," Sharma said, adding that he used to snatch the keys of such vehicles and deposit them with the police.
Sharma also added that Satyarthi's book 'Vartman Samaj me Aarya Samaj ki Bhumika' had earned him recognition in New Delhi in his early days.
Satyarthi apart from being a respected figure in Vidisha has inspired many in his own family for selfless service, including his nephew Umesh Sharma who runs Bachpan Bachao Andolan activities in Vidisha. "He has devoted his whole life for towards rescuing children trapped in child slavery," Umesh said.
His close friend and government college faculty member MP Sharma said that even though Satyarthi has received the Noble peace prize now but his endeavours already have already been recognized globally.
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