A forgotten liberator

Karthik Venkatesh

SAVTRIBAI Phule was the equally extraordinary wife of the path-breaking social reformer, thinker and writer of the nineteenth century, Jotirao Phule. As Jotirao strained to break the shackles of caste orthodoxy through his writings and activism, Savitribai was by his side in all his endeavours. Hers was a life of service before self. Completely devoted to her husband's vision and philosophy of education and equality for all mankind, Savitribai never wavered from her chosen path. Born on January 3, 1831 in village Naigaon, district Satara in today's Maharashtra, Savitri was married off to Phule at the tender age of nine. Her husband was 13 at that time. Unusually, he was also being educated, which was a rarity for lower castes given caste injunctions against educating Shudras were very powerful at that time. 

Phule's education was soon to result in a vigourous social activism that more often than not put him in harm's way as he challenged every social institution that attempted to place obstacles in his mission of education and social awareness. Phule's concerns were ensuring education for the lower castes and women (he termed them stree shudra-atishudra), putting an end to the exploitation of the lower castes by unscrupulous upper-caste elements and creating a more equitable society. Several well-meaning citizens flocked to Phule's side. Unwittingly, the British too came to be seen as favouring Phule's drive for education and equality. But throughout his life of struggle, the one constant companion at his side was Savitribai. 

Very early in the marriage, Phule revealed his non-conformist side to Savitribai who knew very little of these matters. When they were still teenagers, he began to teach her to read and write and kept his lessons going in the face of opposition from Phule's father, Govindrao. The latter was worried about the inevitable backlash from the orthodoxy. In 1846-47, Savitribai alongwith another woman compatriot, Fatima Sheikh were admitted to a school in Ahmednagar. Soon, they were also formally trained as teachers. 

In 1848, Phule and Savitrabai took the controversial decision of opening a girls' school in Pune, with Savitrabai as the headmistress and Fatima Sheikh as the teacher. The going was tough. Only nine students enrolled. Also everyday as Savitrabai walked to school, the public jeered, some going to the extent of even throwing cow-dung and stones at her. Stoically bearing the insults heaped on her, she determinedly went to work each and every day. On Phule's suggestion, she wore an old saree and carried with her a fresh saree to change into on reaching the school. For the journey home, she changed back into the old saree. Realising that the Phule couple were determined to carry on, the orthodoxy now pressurised the senior Phule to prevail on his son and daughter-in-law to cease their activities. Govindrao attempted to do so, threatening expulsion from the family home. The couple opted to leave rather than stop their activities. For a while, they lived with Fatima Sheikh and her brother, Usman. Soon, a second school was started in 1851. In November 1852, the education department of the government felicitated the Phule couple. Even as their educational activities continued unabated, in 1853, the Phule couple opened a home for unwed mothers and their children. This was a time when young widows were often preyed upon by men, often close family members. Such illicit relationships often resulted in pregnancy and ignominy for the woman whose life was already steeped in adversity. By recognising the existence of this problem, caste orthodoxy was being shamed for its practices. Eventually, the childless couple adopted a young Brahmin boy born to a widow, Yashwanth as their son. 

In the 1860s, Savitribai convinced barbers to refuse to shave the heads of widows as was the practice at that time. It was a spirited stand against patriarchal practices that stigmatised the widow and condemned her to a life of servitude. When Phule founded the Satyashodak Samaj (Society of the Seekers of Truth) in September 1873, Savitribai was chosen as the head of the woman's unit. The Samaj sought to liberate the lower castes from the yoke of Brahminical orthodoxy. In December 1873, in the face of stiff opposition, the Samaj organised a wedding without a Brahmin priest, in effect making it the first civil wedding in the country. In the 1870s, many parts of Maharashtra were struck by a famine. Both Jotirao and Savitrabai were in the forefront of organising famine relief. 

After Phule's death, Savitrabai took another controversial decision. Contrary to accepted practice which stipulates that only a male ought to light the funeral pyre, she lit the pyre of her husband. She also took over the Samaj and kept its activities going.  

In 1854, Savitribai published her first book, a collection of poetry entitled Kabya Phule (Poetry's Blossoms, the name was a play on her surname which indicated the family's line of work, growing flowers and vegetables). Choosing to write in the popular Marathi folk metre-the abhang-Savitribai's poetry is characterised by her use of simple, yet powerful language to sensitise people to her pet themes of education and liberation. In the poem, Rise to Learn and Act, she implores her caste brethren to rise and act with these lines: "Weak and oppressed! Rise my brother/Come out of living in slavery". In another poem entitled Mother English, she says: "Knowledge is poor man's refuge and shade/ It is akin to comfort mother-made." 

In 1891, Savitribai published another book of poetry, Bavan Kashi Subodh Ratnakar (The Ocean of Pure Gems). It was a versified biography of her husband who had passed away the previous year. She also edited and published in book form, four of Jotirao's speeches on Indian history. A book of her own speeches was published in 1892. 

Savitribai's battles to secure equal rights for women and the lower castes, her run-ins with orthodoxy and her relentless determination to continue to fight in the face of hostile opposition are beacons of inspiration even today. Hers was a life of service right till her death in 1897 which came about when she was nursing a plague-ridden child during the plague epidemic that swept Pune in that year. 

In another context, the eminent Punjabi poet-novelist Amrita Pritam had written: Te jitthe vi sutantar rooh di jhalak pavey/ Samajhna mera ghar hai (Wherever an independent spirit exists/ My home is there). These lines could easily apply to Savitribai Phule too. 

The writer is an educationist & Consutting Editor of a publishing house.