PUNE: Activist Anna Hazare catapulted into national stardom following his relentless pursuit of the Lokpal Bill, but the unassuming dhoti-clad social worker has been a star in his state, and village, for a long time now.

Fifty-year-old Maruti Auti recalls the days when villagers in Ahmednagar's Ralegan Siddhi, 80 km from Pune, lived in abject poverty over three decades ago.