Savitribai Phule
The Life Of India's First
Woman Teacher And A Fierce Feminist Icon:
Known as modern India’s first female teacher, Savitribai Phule
was an exponent of female education, equality and justice who took on the caste
system with her revolutionary ideals and strived to dismantle the elite-controlled
education system.
January 3, 2023, marks the 192nd birth anniversary of the
trailblazing leader, whose individual contribution and identity in the field of
education and liberation needs to be echoed by and by.
Who
is Savitribai Phule?
Born in Naigaon village of Maharashtra’s Satara district on
January 3, 1831, to Khandoji Nevse and Lakshmi, Savitribai went on to become an
educator, a challenger to caste hierarchies and barriers, and a writer.
She was a Dalit woman belonging to the Mali community. At the
tender age of 10, she was married to 12-year-old Jyotirao Phule, a man of
social reform himself, who believed that women must be educated. He began to
home-school Savitribai.
Later, Jyotirao admitted Savitribai to a teacher’s training
institution in Pune and in 1848 the couple went to establish the first-ever
school for girls in Bhidewada of which Savitribai was the headmistress.
At a time when female education was an alien concept in society,
Savitribai and Jyotirao’s contribution to breaking social barriers in society
laid the path to women’s emancipation.
Savitribai’s
work received many backlashes:
In an essay titled “The Stuff Legends are Made of” published in the
book “A Forgotten Liberator”,
author Cynthia Stephen writes, “The young couple faced severe opposition from
almost all sections. Savitribai was subject to intense harassment every day as
she walked to the school. Stones, mud and dirt were flung at her as she
passed.”
Savitribai began teaching girls alongside Sagunabai Kshirsagar,
who was a revolutionary feminist as well as a mentor to Jyotirao. In no time,
the Phules were running three different schools by the end of 1851.
Her journey was not an easy one. It is said she was pelted
stoned and cow dung was thrown at her on her way to school by upper-caste men.
But that never jilted her spirit. Savitribai carried two saris to school and
she simply changed her soiled attire once she reached her school premise.
One report from 1852 in The Poona Observer states, “The number of girl
students in Jotirao’s school is ten times more than the number of boys studying
in the government schools. This is because the system for teaching girls is far
superior to what is available for boys in government schools… If the Government
Education Board does not do something about this soon, seeing these women
outshine the men will make us hang our heads in shame.”
However, in 1839, Jyotirao's father asked the couple to leave
his home because their work was considered a sin as per the Manusmriti and its
derived Brahmanical texts. Striving through continuous resistance from the
society, Savitri and Joytirao, in the 1850s, established two educational trusts
that encompassed the many schools set up by them to fund the education of
girls.
Beyond
education, a social reformer:
Savitribai started the Balhatya Pratibandhak Griha (‘Home for
the Prevention of Infanticide’), a childcare centre for sexually exploited,
pregnant widows and rape victims facing discrimination. She also adopted a
child of a widow, Yashwantrao, who was educated to become a health
expert.
In 1852, she started the Mahila Seva Mandal to fight for the
rights of women. She organised a strike against barbers in Pune and Mumbai,
putting pressure on them to stop shaving the heads of Brahmin widows.
In 1873, the Phules set up the Satyashodhak Samaj
(‘Truth-seekers’ society’), a platform open to all, irrespective of their
caste, religion or class hierarchies, with the sole aim of bringing social
equity. Further, in 1873, they started ‘Satyashodhak Marriage’, a rejection of
Brahmanical rituals where the marrying couple takes a pledge to promote
education and equality.
In 1868, she along with her husband set up a well in their
backyard to allow people from the oppressed classes to drink water. The oppressed
classes were otherwise barred from having water from the common well in the
village.
Eventually, in 1852, she was declared the best teacher in the
state by the British government.
When Jyotirao passed away on November 28, 1890, she defied all
social reforms and carried the titve (earthen pot) and led the funeral
procession. Savitribai was the one who consigned his body to the flames, a
ritual which is still predominantly carried out by men.
In 1897, following the Bubonic plague, Savitribai set up a clinic
in Hadapsar to attend to the victims of the plague.
She died on March 10, 1897, in Pune,
after she fell sick while serving those who
contracted plague during the epidemic.
Literary
work:
Her first collection of poems ‘Kavya’ (Poetry’s Blossoms) was published
in 1854.
She published Bavan Kashi Subodh Ratnakar (‘The Ocean of Pure Gems’),
in 1892.
