Born Babasaheb Pandurang Adhav in 1930 in Pune, Baba, as he is known in every side-alley of Pune’s working class areas, is a child of the freedom struggle. After a maternal uncle took him to a Seva Dal meeting while he was still in school, Baba became a committed activist, involved in many of the country’s major political upheavals. In 1952, he joined a satyagraha against high prices and food rationing during a drought, and went to jail — for three weeks — for the first time. “I have been (to jail) 52 or 53 times after that,” he says with a toothy chuckle. His most recent incarceration was in May 2008 when he served 14 days in judicial custody for protesting against, yet again, rising prices.