Maverick botany professor who shunned electricity dies

Pune | Renowned botanist and retired professor Dr Hema Sane, who spent decades living without electricity in her ancestral house in the heart of Pune, died due to age-related ailments on Friday, family sources said.

She was 85.

Born on March 13, 1940, Sane, who worked as a professor at the Abasaheb Garware College in the city, dedicated her career to teaching Botany. She also wrote more than 30 books.

She lived in a dilapidated `wada' in a narrow lane in the buzzing Tambadi Jogeshwari temple area of Budhwar Peth, consciously choosing not to get an electricity connection. She did not have appliances like refrigerator and TV.

"Living a frugal life without electricity does not make any difference to your lifestyle. In 1997, I first came to know that the life I am living is different from others when Sanjay Sayan interviewed me," Sane told a web portal a few years ago.

Food and shelter are basic needs, electricity came later, she would say. "I am used to this life, and I like it," she would add.

She shared her home with animals and birds, describing herself not as an owner but a caretaker. "This place belongs to the dogs, cats, mongooses, and birds. I only look after it," she would say.

Sushma Date, an environmentalist, said in a social media post, "Every time I think of her, I am reminded of the old story about Socrates. Once, as he stood staring at the dizzying variety of goods in the marketplace of Athens, a student asked him what he was thinking of. "What a lot of things I don't need!" he replied."

Dr Sane lived in a sliver of forest, right in the heart of urban clutter, Date wrote.

"In this little verdant oasis was her abode -- a tin shed which she shared with her dog, 2 cats and many birds. She never felt the need for electricity or running water. Her only means of communication was a small un-smart phone, forced on her by a student, charged with a solar battery. Even in her 80s, she spent her days reading and writing. When I last met her two years ago, she was busy writing a book about Indian flora during the time of Ashoka," Date said.