Chhatrapati Sambhajingar, Apr 13 (PTI) As the country gears up to celebrate Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar’s 134th birth anniversary, a centenarian from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar who once gave up a steady job with the railways to briefly serve the Dalit leader, shares how that experience continues to define his life.

Despite age catching up on him, 103-year-old Laxman Khotkar still remembers, with vivid detail, the six to seven years he spent serving the architect of the Constitution in newly independent India.

In 1948, Khotkar was employed as a gate watchman with Nizam’s State Railways when he got an opportunity to work at the Subhedari Circuit Guest House, where Ambedkar stayed intermittently during the construction of Milind College, which he founded in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.

“I was posted with the Railways in Shernapur (a railway gate north of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar). I found out that Babasaheb was building a college, and I left the railway job in a heartbeat and came to the college site, requesting the contractor, Appasaheb Gaikwad and one Mr Warale to hire me,” he says.

Khotkar says he took on the job of a watchman and handyman for Rs 1.5 per day just out of his love and admiration for Ambedkar.

“I earned Rs 15 per month in my railway job. However, I was paid Rs 1.5 a day at the college. There was no guarantee of work every day, and the income wasn’t steady. My family was small, and in those days, 16 kg of jowar cost Rs 1, which was enough for us,” he says.

Khotkar says he took care of Ambedkar’s daily routine and needs during his visits to the city.

“I would be informed of Babasaheb’s visits beforehand and would take care of everything for him during his stay,” he says with pride.

Ambedkar was a considerate and caring man, Khotkar says.

“Babasaheb would always ask us if we had had our meals and even asked his driver Maruti and me to have breakfast with him,” he says.

Khotkar recalls that Ambedkar was a workaholic and would work late into the night and be up by 5 am.

“Once, I left for duty at the guesthouse without having my meal. My wife arrived at the gate carrying my infant son and waited for me patiently with food. Babasaheb spotted her and jokingly asked if she thought her husband would be starved at work,” Khotkar says, talking about an incident still fresh in his memory.

Ambedkar then gave blessings to Khotkar’s six-month-old son.

Khotkar continues to live near Milind College, celebrating memories he has of one of the most revered personalities in the country. PTI AW ARU