Early Life
Kisan Hazare was born on 15 June 1937 (some sources say 1940) in Bhingar, near Ahmednagar. He was the eldest son, with two sisters and four brothers. He later adopted the name Anna, which in Marathi means "elder person" or "father". His father worked in a pharmacy and struggled to support the family financially. In time, the family moved to their ancestral village of Ralegan Siddhi, where they owned a small amount of agricultural land. A relative took on the burden of providing Kisan with an education, taking him to Mumbai because the village had no primary school. The relative became unable financially to continue the support and Kisan's schooling ended in the Standard Seventh grade; his siblings never attended school. He started selling flowers at the Dadar railway station in Mumbai and eventually managed to own two flower shops in the city. He also became involved in vigilantism, joining groups who acted to prevent landlords' thugs from intimidating the poor out of their shelter.
Read more about this topic: Anna Hazare
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