BOOK REVIEW: Savitrinama — Many Shades of a Rare Teacher, Poet, Revolutionary

Mukta, a 14-year-old untouchable student of Savitribai Phule, wrote an article in 1855 criticising Brahmanical hegemony and the exploitation of Shudras and Ati Shudras. Her words were, “These Laddu-eating Brahmins say that Vedas are theirs. Ones who are not Brahmins, have no right to read the Vedas. Doesn't it mean that we people are without religion, because we are forbidden from reading Vedas? Oh God, please let us know which religion is ours, so that we can make the arrangements”.

When Mukta read her article before the editor of Gyanuday, the editor was speechless on the revolutionary content of her text.

Reading this particular incident of history, informs us about the social impact of the Savitribai’s way of educating masses. Unlike today, when academic institutions are merely instruments of the ruling Hindutva ideology.

Savitrinama, originally written in Marathi and translated in Hindi by author Ujjwala Mhatre, along with the introduction by Hari Narke, is an important academic work on Savitribai and her struggles. According to Narke, there are 200 books on the Phule (Jyotiba and Savitri) couple. Out of these, 40 books are on Savitribai Phule. It is widely known that Savitribai was the first female teacher of India, but her revolutionary thoughts and political writings are less read. Thus, this book informs readers of how the Phule couple challenged the Brahmanical hegemony and found solutions to it.

Challenging Brahmanical Patriarchy

The Phule couple saw the lack of education as the primary enemy of the untouchables and women. This persistence of no education posed the oppressed sections toward institutionalised slavery, which not only “mentally” enslaved them, but “materially” too. Therefore, this institutionalised slavery required fundamental and systemic reforms.

This systematic and revolutionary reform began with the initial education of Savitribai herself. Savitribai, who was married at the age of 11, was always enthusiastic about education. Jyotirao educated her at home. During those times, when education was supposed to be the “preserve” of the Savarnas (upper castes), the Phule couple resisted against the social norm by educating themselves. Both within the private sphere and public sphere, their desire to read made the orthodox society unhappy.

Savitribai was facilitated by Sakharam Yashwant Paranjpe and Keshav Shivaram Bhavalkar, both friends of Jyotirao. Thereafter, the Phule couple began to establish institutions to educate the masses. They began schools for people from different religions, classes and castes. These public institutions were open to all castes. They introduced schools for Brahmin widows.

The Phule couple resisted the traditional customs of child marriage and female infanticide. Two of the many schools established by the Phule couple were, Native Female School in Pune and Society for Promoting Education among Mahars and Matangs.

In 1882, Jyotirao Phule exposed the conditions of education among the non-Brahmins before the Hunter Commission. He argued that, “There were no schools for women that can be called our own”. Despite the establishment of schools for widows and untouchable women, the dropout rate among students remained a huge problem for the Phule couple because the dropouts mostly belonged to the working class and were victims of both Brahmanism and feudal slavery. Thus, the Phule couple began to provide financial assistance to those students to reduce the dropout rate.

Brahmin widows who could neither marry nor have hair (the hair of widows used to be chopped off to make them look unattractive), urged the Phules to take action against such corrupt practices. They provided shelter homes for widows, where they could learn and foster their children.

The book mentions the terrible story of two Brahmin widows. The first story, important to this discussion, is about Kashibai, a Brahmin widow. She was a worker at Jyotirao’s friend's house. Kashibai was manipulated by a Brahmin neighbour. Her sexual contact with the person made her pregnant. Scared by the consequences of bearing an illegitimate child, she killed her child and threw the body in Govande's private well. This incident occurred due to the patriarchal construction of our society.

Kashibai was given the harshest punishment for her act. She was sent to Andaman and Nicobar cellular jail, widely known as Kala Pani in 1863. She is named as the first woman in the history of India to be sent to Kala Pani.

Deeply shattered by the incident, the Phules sought to organise and educate upper caste widows. They opened community shelters to provide space for Brahmin widows. Consequently, their appeal reached the widows. Till 1885, as many as 35 Brahmin widows joined these community shelters.

It was the sheer dedication of Savitribai Phule that she envisioned the society as a whole as her family. The Phule couple was childless, for which they also faced slurs from the society, because childlessness was assumed to be the failure of women predominantly.

In 1874, another Brahmin widow, Kashibai. visited the Phules. She, too, like many Brahmin widows, was a victim of sexual violence that resulted in unwanted pregnancy. The Phules, who were childless, adopted the baby, and named him Yashwant.

The Satyashodhak Samaj, initiated by the Phules, also conducted “Satyashodhak Marriages” and promoted inter-caste marriages. Marriages promoted by Satyashodhaks shunned ritualism. These marriages did not follow the “dowry” system. Yashwant’s marriage, too, was held in the Satyashodhak way.

Savitribai Phule challenged all the predominant patriarchal social relations. She used to face humiliation for teaching working class children. The upper caste men used to throw cow dung and dirt on her. They used to gather around the street to stigmatise her. Savitribai Phule, determined to educate her children, didn't fear humiliation by the Brahmanical patriarchs. Instead, these occurrences strengthened her determination. People around her were inspired by her dedication for the human cause.

Narayan Meghaji Lokhande, who was editor of Deenbandhu, was greatly inspired by Savitribai. Lokhande led a massive strike by the Naai (barber) community, which was also considered inferior by the Savarnas. The motive of the collective strike was refusal to the practice of shaving the heads of Brahmin widows. According to Brahmanical customs, it was necessary for Brahmin widows to remove hair.

Kavya Phule

Savitribai, along with her social activism, wrote poems that questioned the ruling Brahmanical ideology. These poems highlighted the oppression of Shudra, Atishudra and working classes. A few of her poems are titled as, Angrezi Maai, Mannat, Shudra Sabd ka Arth, Angrezi Seekho and Agyan.  Her words echoed resistance and strived for a better world. She spoke of the terrible conditions of peasants being exploited by feudalism, religious dogmatism and communalism.

Her poems spoke of resistance, liberation and history. Poetess Phule knew the importance of art and culture. This artistic side of Phule is less known and acknowledged. Civil rights activist Nina Simone has spoken on the arts and politics in a more nuanced way.

"An artist's duty, as far as I'm concerned, is to reflect the times. I think that is true of painters, sculptors, poets, musicians. As far as I'm concerned, it's their choice, but I CHOOSE to reflect the times and situations in which I find myself. That, to me, is my duty. And at this crucial time in our lives, when everything is so desperate, when everyday is a matter of survival, I don't think you can help but be involved. Young people, black and white, know this. That's why they're so involved in politics. We will shape and mold this country or it will not be molded and shaped at all anymore. So I don't think you have a choice. How can you be an artist and NOT reflect the times? That to me is the definition of an artist."

--Nina Simone.

Poetess Phule, too, reflected the times she was living in. In her poem, Shudron ki Vyadhi”, she wrote about education as the only means to achieve liberation for the Shudra slaves.

“दो हजार वर्षों से शूद्र एक व्याधि से हैं पीड़ित । भूस्वामियों की गुलामी से हैं अब तक दमित ।।

हाल देख उनका, मन बगावत कर उठता है।

 क्या इससे मुक्ति का कोई सहज रास्ता हो सकता है?

शिक्षा ही एकमात्र राह, और नहीं विकल्प। गुलामी की जंजीरें तोड़, मानवता का करें संकल्प ।।”

In another poem, Divya Kheti, she explains how the labour of Shudra peasants is appropriated by the priestly class.

“शूद्र खेती कर जैसे-तैसे निज पेट पालते हैं। उच्चवर्णीय बिन श्रम के छप्पन भोग खाते हैं ।।

The Phules considered English as a progressive response to Brahmanism. Savitribai Phule’s poem, Angrezi Maayi, well explains their optimism toward the English language.

अंग्रेजी माई ज्ञान सच्चा हमें देती है।

मानवता का दूध पिला, शूद्रों को समर्थ कर देती है।। दे तालीम उनको, दूर करती है अज्ञानता, जोड़ती है शूद्रों का मनुष्यता से नाता ।।

Savitribai’s Letters …

 Apart from protest poems, Savitribai wrote three letters to Jyotirao Phule. Her first letter to him, written on October 10 in 1856, provides us insights about the first Muslim female teacher of India, Fatima Sheikh. Recently, a public intellectual has claimed that Fatima Sheikh never existed, instead, she was a fictional character. Reading this letter of Savitribai Phule, provides us concrete evidence of Fatima being the historical figure and close companion of the Phules. In this letter, Savitribai also shares the essential details of the dominance of Brahmanical ideas in her family. She faces criticism from her brother for her emancipatory moves toward the uplift of untouchables. However, her brother was unanswerable to Savitribai’s rational arguments.

Rad Also: Fatima Sheikh: Politics of Historical Erasure, Exclusion

In her second letter, written on August 29, 1868, Savitribai mentioned an “unusual” incident. According to the letter, a Brahmin, named Ganesh, who had interest in the “ritualistic” activities, reached Savitribai’s village. During his work of teaching religious rituals, he had a relationship with an untouchable girl named Saarja. Both fell in love.  Soon, the villagers were informed about their relationship and Saarja being pregnant. Angered by their inter-caste relationship, the villagers paraded both of them on the streets and decided to kill them. Savitribai, when informed about this, reached the spot and resisted against the villagers’ tyranny and saved Ganesh and Saarja. People who were silent on the injustice being done to the couple, were shocked by Savitribai's courage.

The third letter, written on April 20,1877, gives the reader insights into the horrible reality of famine in the region. According to Savitribai, rivers, canals and trees, everything withered in the region. People were dying of hunger. They were forced to flee to other places. She decribes how people are drinking their own urine in compulsion, to save their lives. In response to these horrible sufferings, Satyashodhaks moved forward to help the peasants and distributed material necessities to save their lives. Fifty Satyashodhaks were arrested by the British officials, but on the insistence of Savitribai Phule, they were set free.

Apart from these essential letters, this book consists of speeches of Savitribai Phule on different subjects, such as industry, ethics and morality and indebtedness.

Phules’ Love For the Society

This book makes us aware about the many shades of Savitribai Phule. She was revolutionary in many aspects. She understood the pain and suffering of Brahmin widows, taught students from all classes, helped out the victims of famines and droughts, provided financial assistance to the students and much more. Brahmanical patriarchy, that dominated every sphere of the times then, was challenged through the institutionalised and systemic measures of Savitribai. Her revolutionary activism teaches us the true meaning of love and revolution. Love shall never be limited to individuals, instead it shall be extended to the oppressed classes of our society.

She is not only the first female teacher of India, rather she has ‘firsts’ in many spaces. She was the first woman in India to participate in a funeral procession. After the death of Jyotirao, her life-long comrade and partner, Savitribai performed the last rites.

The Phule’s revolutionary activism challenged all the prevailing “isms” of the times, such as, feudalism, casteism, colonialism and communalism.  Savitribai Phule, mother of the Indian working classes, passed away after falling prey to the dangerous plague disease, while saving the life of others.

The writer is pursuing a Masters in political science at the Department of Political Science, Delhi University. The views are personal.