“Caste and religion should not be the criteria for determining one’s worth. Education should be the only yardstick” – Savitri Bai Phule.
Imagine if half the population of India was illiterate, based on their sex or social standing, because evidently, girls and the lower castes were considered undeserving of education even after the British regime and missionaries had opened the doors of education to them. This could’ve been the stark reality of India, if not for two mesmerizingly revolutionary people, Savitri Bai Phule and Jyotiba Phule. Back in the not-so-good old days of the 19th century, it was only the boys from upper caste, who could be the recipients of basic education. This tradition was finally discontinued in 1848 in Indian society when the progressive social reformers Savitri Bai Phule and her husband, Jyotiba Phule established the first school for girls in Pune at Tatyasaheb Bhide’s residence or Bhidewada.
This essay delves into the life and accomplishments of Savitri Bai Phule, and how exactly she transformed and redefined Indian society for good. You cannot talk about Savitri Bai without the mention of her just as revolutionary husband Jyotiba Phule and vice versa, so let’s have a deeper look into the struggles and achievements of this trailblazing couple. The life of these great social reformers was not without a lot more than their share of adversities. Born on 3rd January, in the village of Naigaon in Satara District, Maharashtra, Savitri Bai was the youngest daughter of her parents, Lakshmi and Patil, who belonged to the ‘Mali community’. She grew up to become the first female teacher in India, a poet, and a social reformer. Considered to be the pioneer of India’s feminist movement, she was a victim of child marriage, as was her husband. She got married at the young age of 9 or 10, to her 13-year-old husband, Jyotirao Phule. It was her husband, who taught the young illiterate girl, who was interested in studying. She completed her primary education with her husband and then studied further under the guidance of her friends, Sakharam Yeshwant Paranjpe and Keshav Shivram Bhavalkar. Later, she enrolled herself in two teachers’ training programs; the first was at an institution run by an American missionary, Cynthia Farrar, in Ahmednagar, and the second course was at a School in Pune. But all these feats as a girl pursuing education in those times came with a struggle-riddled life. When what you do does not align with societal norms, social resistance is often the fastest of the problems that arise to plague you and the cause as well, no matter how noble it is.
After completing her teacher’s education, Savitri Bai Phule taught alongside Sagunabai Kshirsagar, sister of Jyotiba Phule, who was her sister-in-law and another revolutionary feminist. Shortly after this, these two along with Jyotiba Rao Phule, established the first school for girls at Bhidewada. This was the time that tested the grit of this woman. Her work had deeply enraged the Brahmins, as it went against the Manuwadi ideology, making education accessible not only to the lower castes but to women as well. She was harassed frequently on her way to work, both verbally and physically. In a majorly shameful act of the Indian society back then, Savitri Bai’s conservative opponents used to pelt stones and throw cow dung at her, for the mere act of her wanting to teach other uneducated girls. But Savitri Bai persevered and overcame all these challenges. She used to carry an extra saree with her which she changed, upon reaching the school. A woman of strength and spirit, with an unmatched commitment to teaching, is truly an incomparable inspiration for the women of the 21st century. Equality will always challenge one or another societal norm, so persevere and you shall see results.
In 1849, they had to leave Jyotirao’s father’s house which only resulted in a meeting that redefined education in India a little more, giving India its first Muslim female teacher, Fatima Begum Sheikh. By 1851, the couple was running three schools for girls in Pune with one hundred and fifty students. This outnumbered the number of boys enrolled in government schools at that time because of the unrivaled methods of teaching used by the Phules. The couple’s dedication to humanifying society through their highly commendable actions continued throughout their life. No societal resistance could deter them from their path.
When a long famine struck the farming community in 1860, thousands died or were famished. The Phule’s scoured the drought-hit villages and opened a shelter for the drought-hit peasants near Pune, where they fed and looked after more than 2,000 children. From 1848 to 1852, the Phule started 16 schools in and around Pune for girls and children belonging to the lower castes. Infanticides in Pune by Brahman windows were common at that time. In 1863, the Phule couple with their longtime friend, started an infanticide prevention center called ‘Balhatya Pratibandhak Griha’ mainly for pregnant widows with advertisements like “widows having unfortunately and in ignorance become pregnant to come secretly to their house and deliver their babies.” Once Jyotiba saved a pregnant Brahmin widow from committing suicide, they adopted her child and named it Yashwant, who later grew up to be a doctor, who helped the people greatly, when Pune was threatened by a plague epidemic. On 24 September 1873, Jyotiba founded the ‘Satyashodhak Samaj’ to carry out the work of his social reform agenda, particularly for uplifting the lower castes and women through education and awareness. Jyotiba suffered a paralytic stroke in 1888 and died on November 28, 1890, after serving the uneducated for over forty years. Savitribai continued his great revolutionary legacy and took charge of the ‘Satyashodhak Samaj’ founded by him.
Apart from being an educator, Savitri Bai was also an author and poet, publishing ‘Kavya Phule’ in 1854 and ‘Bavan Kashi Subodh Ratnakar’ in 1892. She also published a poem titled, ‘Go Get Education’. Being a zealous feminist, she also established a ‘Mahila Seva Mandal’ and called for gatherings where all women were supposed to sit on the same mat, symbolic of the gatherings being free from caste discrimination. She also ardently campaigned against child marriage and widow remarriage as well.
In 1897, Pune witnessed an unprecedented bubonic plague epidemic where Phule’s son Yashwant treated plague patients day and night. Savitri Bai worked hard for the cause too but unfortunately, contracted the deadly disease, ultimately, breathing her last on March 10, 1897.
A life dedicated to equality for everyone in society i.e. not only rigid but also, highly condemning, it is not easy to defy the norms, but the lives of the Phules truly exemplify that what society might have normalized today, might not be the absolute truth of how people should live. “Justice is not served until it reaches the last woman standing in the queue,” these words of Savitri Bai have only come to hold more relevance with time. An educator, a feminist, a mother, a wife, an author, and an iconic social reformer, what was it that Savitri Bai wasn’t?
“There is no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women.”
Her life was a true and relentless commitment to a cause that plagues the world even today, i.e. inequality, based on shallow and empty beliefs. Centuries and decades have passed, but the cause the extraordinary couple worked so relentlessly for, persists. It’s our turn now, so, what if we all, the youth of today, took a chance, and stood firm and untied for our self-expression as well as for the rights of all those who are deprived of them, even if it means going against the values of the society, and consequently, made this world a little more equal? What if we decided that this chain of inequality ends here? Wouldn’t that be the perfect tribute to these phenomenal and monumental social reformers?