Savitribai Phule
Every year on January 3rd, India celebrates a special day called Savitribai Phule Jayanti.
About Savitribai Phule:
- Born in a small village in Satara district of Maharashtra on January 3, 1831, Savitribai Phule was an Indian social reformer, poet, and powerful voice in the Indian freedom struggle.
- She was an active participant in the women’s liberation movement.
- Savitribai trained at Ms. Farar’s Institution in Ahmednagar and at Ms. Mitchell’s school in Pune to become the first female teacher in India.
- Savitribai Phule and her husband, Jyotirao Phule (one of the most famous social reformers in Maharashtra), opened India’s first school for women in Pune in 1848.
- Despite resistance from society, by 1851, Phule was running 18 schools for children of different castes, with a strength of 150 girls.
- They also established two educational trusts: the Native Female School, Pune, and the Society for Promoting the Education of Mahars, Mangs, and others from downtrodden castes.
- In 1852, the British government acknowledged the great work of the Phule family in the field of education and honored Savitribai by naming her the best teacher.
- She, along with her husband, Jyotirao Phule, actively worked against the caste-based discrimination prevalent in society.
- She played a crucial role in grooming Jyotirao Phule’s pioneering institution, Satyashodhak Samaj (1873) that fought for equality of all classes.
- In 1852, she initiated the Mahila Seva Mandal, a platform aimed at creating awareness about women’s rights. Notably, this platform brought together members of all castes, challenging entrenched social hierarchies.
- Savitribai Phule was a vocal advocate for the rights of widows. She campaigned against the prevailing customs that forced widows into a life of deprivation and for the right of widows to remarry.
- Savitribai organized a barbers’ strike in both Mumbai and Pune to demonstrate their opposition to the practice of shaving the heads of widows.
- Savitribai also fought against dowry and other oppressive social customs.
- In 1863, Jyotirao and Savitribai began Balhatya Pratibandhak Griha, India’s first home prohibiting infanticide, helping pregnant Brahmin widows and rape victims.
- Savitribai Phule wrote two books, Kavya Phule in 1854 and Bavan Kashi Subodh Ratnakar in 1892, which are collections of her poems.
- She wrote the famous poem ‘Go Get Education’ to encourage backward and oppressed class people to get an education.
- Her birth anniversary, celebrated as Savitribai Phule Jayanti, is a day to commemorate her legacy and contributions to education and social equality.