A Chosen Path: The steps taken towards the Constitution

In Mahad, while searching for a bus station, Sumit asked a group of children for directions. One of them replied casually, “Cross this lane of Chhota Pakistan, then it will be visible to you.”  The phrase referred to a Muslim-dominated locality. Sumit felt an instant unease, yet he stayed silent and walked on. That silence lingered. It troubled him, nagging at his conscience.

Why didn’t I say anything to the children? 

Why did I walk away?

What should I do to make sure this doesn’t happen again?

These questions became a routine for Sumit. Since his days in the National Service Scheme (NSS) during college, he had begun noticing things he hadn’t before - the separate cup given to a worker at home, the subtle pride attached to his own religion, the hierarchies embedded in daily life. With these realizations came restlessness. What could he do? And how?

The opportunity arrived in the form of Samvidhan Pracharak, a youth-led movement started to bring the Constitution closer to people’s everyday lives. Driven by a resolve to work for people and a growing curiosity to learn, Sumit found the movement intriguing. Until then, the Constitution had been just a text to him, distant and abstract. After joining their one-year Training of Trainers (TOT) and a subsequent training with We, The People Abhiyan, the concept of the Constitution transformed for him. It became a living companion, a lens through which he began to see himself and the world. It also helped him greatly in applying the constitutional lens to his own religious thought.  

But opportunity came with its own challenges. When Sumit began conducting Constitution trainings in Mahad, his first posting, he encountered deep-rooted caste divides and the dominance of religious ideologies in everyday thought. This time, however, he refused to remain silent. He began devising ways to bring people together across these divides. He noticed that villagers often debated Shivaji Maharaj’s legacy against Ambedkar’s vision. That sparked an idea: why not draw from both icons, their values and struggle, to make the Constitution relevant to their lives?

Drawing from his own experience of faith through the constitutional lens, he showed how Shivaji’s instruction “Everyone should practice their own faith, without clashing with others” echoed secularism, and how Ambedkar’s call for equality resonated with Shivaji’s respect for diversity. Slowly, villagers began to see the Constitution not as an alien book, but as part of their culture. His upcoming book, Shiv Raye se Bhim Raye, explores these parallels further.

This approach bore fruit during the Dhai Aakhir Prem Ka March, when long-divided villages collectively hosted travelers, arranging food, shelter, and care, living constitutional values of fraternity for a few days. For Sumit, it proved that connecting values to people’s culture and language was key. He now applies the same approach with tribal communities, linking practices like ghotul (freedom in partner choice) and reverence for nature to constitutional freedoms.

Over six years in the social sector, Sumit has trained nearly 4,000 people, closely building the capacities of 100–200. Today, he works in Pune as a fellowship coordinator with Econet while continuing with Samvidhan Pracharak. So far, he is content with the road he chose - away from the expected path: a secure job, marriage, perhaps a chance to go abroad. He was following it, but along with a job as a teacher in Beed and working in a management role in an organization, he realized it was just not enough for him, he would never be satisfied. He forged his own path, and still asks, “Khud ka banaya hua jo raasta hai, uspe chal raha hun ya nahi?”

Alongside his work, he has brought change at home too. Separate utensils for domestic workers are gone. Friends from SC, ST, Muslim, and other communities visit freely. Women are encouraged equally in family decisions. Small steps, but for Sumit, the Constitution lives in these actions. For him, the relationship with the Constitution is not automatic; it grows slowly, unevenly, sometimes never. But his hope is simple: that through his experiences, as many people as possible can find their own bond with it, through their own language and their own understanding.

The above story has been written and published with the explicit consent of the individual involved. All facts presented are based on WTPA's direct interaction with the individual, ensuring accuracy and integrity in our reporting.