admin SAVARI
In the book What Babasaheb Ambedkar Means To Me, authors tell their stories of how they became politicized. Like all stories, they hold many linked stories, the intergenerational ones capture snapshots of the hostile caste society over time. An Ambekarite consciousness is a means of internalizing universal values that regard all humans as equals. At the individual level, it helps create a positive armor against a crude society that is designed to diminish one’s personhood at every step. It is politics that aims to liberate both the individual and society as shown by multiple authors in this book.
An excerpt from Pragya Chouhan’s essay in “Babasaheb: A Symbol of My Existence.”
I was greatly inspired by Babasaheb’s ideology of giving back to society. There is a legacy behind this. My maternal grandfather N.L. Khobragade is an Ambedkarite social and political activist. He embraced Buddhism along with Babasaheb in Nagpur in 1956. As my parents were employed at different places, the four of us siblings spent our childhood days with our grandparents. My grandparents never let us feel lonely and took great care of our education and upbringing. I was exposed to the constant struggles waged by my grandfather, like a true Ambedkarite, against caste. He dedicated his life to the community.
A bitter experience from my childhood opened my eyes towards the casteist violence unleashed by Brahminism in our daily life. My grandpa is a writer. He had published one book in Hindi, Bharat Ki Vikrat Samaj Vyavastha, which was a great success, winning many awards. But caste Hindus did not like it and used to abuse us daily. One night, our house was surrounded by a group of hooligans abusing, shouting and hurling stones. We were trapped inside our own home! They cut off our telephone cable and electricity connection. One of our neighbours, a well-wisher, came in through the backdoor and informed us that the mob had brought kerosene and petrol to burn down our house. Somehow, my uncle managed to escape and get the help of the police. My grandpa went into hiding and was jailed later. For several months, our house and all of us were under police protection. The state banned grandpa’s book. We fought the case for seven years and eventually came out victorious. This incident gave me the strength and courage to surmount mindsets of casteist Hindus. I promised that I would work for the welfare of my community.
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