The
Sunrise
Š
Babasaheb Ambedkar was born Bhimrao
Ramji Sakpal in the last decade of the nineteenth century. His father Ramji, who
was from the Mahar caste that was considered to be untouchable by orthodox
Hindus, was a Subhedar in the army
and the principal of a military
school. Bhimrao alias Bhiva was born when his father was working at the
Military Headquarters of Warfare (MHOW)
in Madhya Pradesh. He was the fourteenth child in the Sakpal family, which
hailed from Ambadve village in Dapoli tehsil of Ratnagiri district. Now, the
village is located in Mandangad tehsil
of present day Maharashtra state.
Since Ramji used to be transferred to
different locations, Bhiva had to migrate to different villages and in the
process had had to face the pangs of untouchability in practice. Once, a farmer
refused to carry him in the bullock-cart when he came to know of his caste.
Bhiva lost his mother at an early age
and was fond of his
paternal aunt. Ramji had, meanwhile
retired from the army and Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s Social Revolution was surviving
on the meagre pension he used to get. His ambition of educating Bhiva was
facing a financial crunch, compelling him to borrow money, at times, from his
sister till he got his pension. Since the family was staying in congested and
noisy surroundings, Ramji asked his son to study during night hours and, often,
used to stay awake for company.
Bhiva’s progress in studies impressed
one of his teachers named Ambedkar so much that he not only shared his food with
his favourite student but also his surname. Bhimrao Sakpal became Bhimrao
Ambedkar. His Mathematics teacher N M joshi allowed him to use the blackboard
in the class to solve math problems despite objections by some students that it
would defile their lunch boxes kept near it. Bhimrao eventually matriculated, becoming
the first person from his community to do so.
He was felicitated for his
achievement by a teacher Arjunrao Keluskar,
who presented him with a book on the life of the Buddha. The book made a
tremendous impact on Bhimrao, who was not only impressed by the existence of
freedom, equality and fraternity in ancient India, but vowed to rejuvenate it.
After matriculation, the major challenge faced by Bhimrao was how to finance
his further education. Some wellwishers like Arjunrao Keluskar and Rao Bahadur
Sitaram Keshav Bole took the lead and sought the help of Chhatrapati Shahu
Maharaj and Sayajirao Gaikwad. Both of them helped Bhimrao in pursuing higher studies
in Elphinstone College in Mumbai and later, in the
universities of Europe and the USA.
Bhimrao was primarily interested in
economics and started comparative study
between the economies of India and other countries that culminated in his
research work, “The Problem of the Rupee”. He was also impressed with the
liberal societies in western countries where there was no caste system and untouchability. He realised that the caste
system was the root of the problem in India and it was widely practiced with
divine sanction given bythe religious texts of the Hindus. He wanted to negate
it, but it was like the fight between David and Goliath. He was influenced by
the teachings of Lord Buddha who had preached equality, freedom and brotherhood
apart from peace and nonviolence. But he had to wait for the right moment to usher
in Buddhist values in India to change Indian society.
Before Bhimrao entered public life,
two individuals were considered to be the saviours of untouchables. One was Sir
Chandavarkar and the other was Maharshi Vitthal Ramji Shinde. Both looked at
untouchables with compassion but did not consider them at par with others. The
Depressed Class Mission established by Shinde masqueraded with the attitude of
a messiah of the untouchables. While people like Walangkarbaba and Shivram
Janba Kamble were speaking about civil rights for the untouchables, those like
Ganesh Akkaji Gavai were waiting for the mercy of the Congress party.
After the intervention of Keluskar
Guruji, the ruler of the princely kingdom of Baroda, Chhatrapati Sayajirao
Gaikwad, granted scholarship to Bhimrao for higher studies in Europe. Though
Sayajirao was progressive, his officials and employees were orthodox. Since one
of the conditions of the scholarship granted to Bhimrao required him to
work for the Baroda government, he had to do so. Baroda was the fortress of conservative
people and before Bhimrao reached it to serve, the information about his caste
was in the public domain. The result was that he could not find a house to
stay. Despite being a highly educated person, he had to spend a night below a
tree and later attempt to conceal his identity by doning a Persian name.
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