Today we live in a modern world where we see women are treated equally to men. Also, we see women getting equal opportunities in society as men. When a woman receives a supportive gesture from society, it proves a woman's capabilities are not less than a man's, and if given any supportive situation, women can prove more successful.
Equal right to education irrespective of what caste you belong to. Numerous schemes that are funded by the government for females, It shows that women are getting empowered and are getting stronger in terms of gender equality which is very important for women and their sustainability.
Being a woman from India and seeing how the opportunities for women are getting developed in my country, I can't thank enough the lady who fought for freedom and equal gender right. She's none other than Savitribai Phule. Since it's her birthday today on 3rd January, I thought why not take this as an opportunity and write a few words about her for the remarkable reform she brought to Indian society.
It was in the 18th century where the ray of hope for the development of women started. It was Savitribai Phule who pioneered how important education is for women.
Savitribai who is known as the first female teacher of India was born on 3rd January 1831, her mother's name was Lakshmi, and her father's name was Khandoji Nevase. She was the eldest among all the siblings. Her birthplace is village Naigaon which falls under the Satara district of Maharashtra. Being born in a lower caste she never got an opportunity to complete schooling as at that time only higher class people were able to have the right to education.
Her parents, coming up from an orthodox family where they believed a girl child doesn't deserve much freedom, and following the ongoing customs, got her married at the age of 13 with Jyotirao Phule.
But marrying Jyotiba Phule had made her what she would have never become and we would have never known there was someone with the name Savitribai Phule.
Jyotiba didn't only change her life for the better but also made her capable enough to raise her voice against ongoing social inequality in terms of casteism and unethical customs that were followed for decades.
And it was much needed at that time, as someone should rise up and raise their voice against the customs that were followed. Though it needed the courage to go against the customs that were created by high caste people for their benefits and to exploit the lower caste people.
During that time, the exploitation of women in the family, the deteriorating condition of women in society, and many other unjustifiable acts were also followed in the name of customs.
In such a social condition, Savitribai along with her husband dared to bring change in society, though it wasn't easy and they had to face a tough situation in their life.
Jyotiba Phule being just 4 years older than his wife born on 11th April 1827, belonging from in and around the same age group, their good compatibility helped them to enjoy each other's company, spending good time together and thereby making their married life go smooth and well.
Even though he had not pursued any education more than the seventh standard, it was Jyotiba Phule's wish to make his wife get an education. When he told his wish to get his wife educated, his in-laws were upset with him since none of the girls from the lower caste would join the school. But being born with strong will and attitude, he convinced his in-laws to allow their daughter to study.
Initially, it was Jyotiba who gave Savitribai Phule the primary education at home and prepared her enough to face the world she was about to enter. She went ahead and pursued training for teachers at Ms. Farar's Institute in Ahmednagar and Ms. Mitchell's Normal School in Pune.
After completing her education, she went to teach girls in school at Maherwada in Pune. Very soon, the couple went ahead to open their own school at Bhidewada. The subjects that were covered in the school were Mathematics, Social studies, and Science. By 1852, they had started three schools that would provide an education to people belonging to lower castes like Mahar, Mali, and others.
Though the journey was not easy, they faced opposition from people belonging to Brahmin labeling their work as evil and against the good practices of society.
Facing opposition and social pressure from the people, his father made them leave their family house and stay separate.
But this opposition from high people of society and his father didn't deter their motivation to do something for society.
According to them, it is education that would motivate women and the depressed classes to fight with higher class people and allow them to stand on an equal footing with the rest of society.
Savitribai Phule played a crucial role in getting girls educated and ultimately, it was her struggle that gave rise to modern Indian women's public life in India. She devoted her life to spreading knowledge and education in people.
Imagine, in that era where giving deserving education to a girl child from parents was considered a shame. They must have put in much effort to bring girls to school.
It was in 1863, Savitribai with the help of her husband, opened a home for pregnant women whose newborn's life would have been in danger.
During that time, there was a belief that a girl child never brings good luck to the family. Female infanticide was also widely prevalent. Every married couple used to have a huge age gap.
The girls used to become widows at a very early age. The widow of the boy was required to shave her head and was obvious to get sexually assaulted by the elderly man that would lead to unintended pregnancies.
In such cases, a pregnant widow, her life, and her yet to be born child's life would have been in danger from the people who were known to be in charge of preserving the customs in the society.
In such a situation, Savitribai would help needy women and provide food and shelter for them. For this purpose, she had founded "Balhatya Pratibandhak Griha".
With the help of her husband, she raised her voice against the killing of the pregnant widows and would protect them and the yet to be born child from the orthodox people.
Their attempts to bring equality and create awareness in the society would make people so furious that wherever she would travel, she would face her welcome with abuses, stones, and other humiliation.
But this didn't affect her determination. Instead, in 1872, they founded Satyashodhak Samaj, which would provide food and other basic necessities to the people who were really in need. Under this foundation, they had formed squads that would provide relief to the people by traveling to their areas.
It shows that, even after facing so much hate from society, still her will to do something and create awareness in lower class people didn't lose. She had seen so much anger in people against them that this people's furiousness helped her to make her will stronger.
Even after being married for years and experiencing the loss of their first baby due to unavailability of the right medical treatment in a serious situation, further they could not become a parent of their own child.
It was in 1874 that they took a decision to adopt a son of a widow who then would have been killed by the protectors of customs in the society. They named their son Yashwantrao, who in the future became a doctor and served for a social cause when the country faced the pandemic of plague in 1897.
Savitribai Phule had one more skill that would help her to write her thoughts regarding getting the education and getting freedom of people from the oppression of high case society and many other malpractices that existed during that era.
Her work would get spread across the city and also British rulers noticed her work.
She was an author and poet who would publish her work weekly.
She wrote Go, Get Education, a poem that urged the lower castes to educate themselves so that they could liberate themselves from oppression. She also wrote many more poems - "The plight of the Shudras" and "Kavyaphule" in 1854 and another one Bavan Kashi Subodh Ratnakar in 1892.
Death of Jyotiba Phule
Apart from being a fighter for social justice, he was a cultivator and worked as a Commissioner of Poona (current city Pune) municipality for a period of 7 years between 1876 to 1883.
He passed away on 28th November 1890 due to longing paralysis from a stroke that he suffered in the year 1888.
The death of husband Jyotiba Phule left his wife Savitribai in shock and shattered. But this didn't let her stop from working towards the cause of social welfare.
As the city hit with world pandemic of Bubonic Plague that would get transmitted from rats to humans leaving enlarged lymph nodes in areas of armpit, groin, and neck.
She immediately opened a clinic in the area called Nalasopara. She along with her son gave their best treatment to the people but unfortunately, she too caught in the spread of plague while treating people and she ultimately died on 10th March 1897 leaving behind his sole son Yashwantrao Phule.
Her Life in Summary:
Savitribai was a real iron lady, she had the power to fight the Sati system and education of the child. She was a social reformer who suffered many waves of abuse from society but founded the first school for girls in the country. People's anger and furiousness towards her social activities could not stop her from reaching her goal.
Savitribai along with her husband opened a total of 18 schools in their lifetime.
Her efforts towards removing social discrimination, caste inequality, and women empowerment was never a waste. In fact, her social reform activities and numerous campaigns against the dictatorship of higher class people inspired many others like B.R. Ambedkar who later became a social activist and took initiatives to remove caste discrimination from society.
Being an educationalist and social activist, Savitribai was an inspiring figure for young girls. For the women and girls of that time, she was a symbol of hope when India was deeply engaged in communal evils against women and with people of communities belonging to lower castes. Savitribai fought against all of them.
She opposed Sati's practice and raised her voice against social discrimination based on caste. She tried waking up people on the doing of the wrongful acts and following child marriage as well.
She urged parents instead to send their girls to school and get them educated. Though it was not easy to raise the voice against ongoing social inequality which were framed as custom and were followed by people. But she gave her life to bring the change she wanted to see.
Her revolution against wrong women's practices inspired many of her students to follow her and fight against the social injustice that they were receiving. One such student was Mukta Salve, who got inspired by her and became a symbol of Dalit feminism and literature.
The campaign that was started by Savitribai along with her husband Jyotiba Phule some hundred years ago is actually showing clear effect and is relevantly showing its results in today's world.
The abolishment of child marriage and many other acts that would put the life of a girl child in danger is abolished.
Today's women are not just getting a good quality education but also making their dreams true. In any field of career, women are not behind and are using their knowledge and are almost equal to men.
In a male-dominant world, getting equal rights for women was never easy. But it happened because of Savitribai Phule and many other activists who sacrificed their life for woman's equal rights.
It is because of them that today's woman in India is living their life with freedom and see a dream to pursue a career that would make their career and future bright.
Today it's been her 190th birth anniversary, recalling her contribution for emancipating women through all the injustice that they were facing from society, she made every woman of India be in her debt that never can be paid off and gratefulness that never can be forgotten.
I hope her contribution to society would inspire many people to work for women's empowerment till each and every woman in the country is empowered.
