Post # 004
The other father of the nation:
Tuesday, 14th April, was Ambedkar Jayanti. I found this video on YouTube and liked its caption. Babasaheb truly was a champion human being.
Did you know? B.R.Ambedkar was an alumnus of both London School of Economics and Columbia University. An untouchable from India getting doctorates from Ivy League colleges in early 1900s. Unbelievable!
I remember reading an Amar Chitra Katha, as a kid, on his life, where he says he felt more equal as a human being in London and US than in India. In school, he would not be allowed to drink water from the common pot. The peon had to pour water from a decent height so as not to defile anything. And, if the peon was not available, he couldn't drink water. Imagine, "No peon, no water."
Disgusted with the bigoted dictates of the Hindu manuscript Manusmriti, he organized a public burning of the book. In case you are wondering, Manusmriti laid down societal rules, which became the backbone for the rigid caste system and subjugation of women, including Sati. In his later life, Babasaheb became a Buddhist.
In 1990, he was awarded a Bharat Ratna, posthumously. I guess Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther and a few others must have raised a toast that day, from wherever they were.
Courtesy: Epified
