B.R.Ambedkar
Family comes from Konkan. B.R.Ambedkar‘s ancestral village is Ambavade, five
kilometers from Mandangad, a small town in the Ratnagiri District. The family had
some prestige in the village. B.R.Ambedkar‘s grandfather Maloji Sakpal came
from good Mahar family. Of all the untouchables the Mahars are the most robust,
adaptable,
fighting, brave and leading community. B.R.Ambedkar was born on 14th
April, 1891 to a Mahar Hindu family. His parents were
Ramji Maloji Sankpal and Bheemabai.
His father
was a military subedar employed in the Indian Military unit at Indore state of
Mhow. The family hailed from a village Ambad, in the old Taluka Dapoli of
Ratnagiri
District in
Maharastra state and moved from one military camp to another. Bhim Rao as the
boy was named and was the fourteenth child of his parents.
Though
economically poor, the family was respected by the neighbors. Though there are
strong rationalist tendencies in his thought and he has interpreted Buddhism in
a rationalist manner, B.R.Ambedkar,
social his opinion that opinion, cannot be, strictly speaking, described as a
rationalist, since he ultimately embraced and advocated a religion, namely,
Buddhism.
He cannot be
described as a humanist either in the secular sense for the same reason.
Nevertheless, he was certainly an atheist, and that, his justification for
including him in
this book.
Besides, among all religions, Buddhism is, according to me, closest to
rationalism-humanism. In fact, B.R.Ambedkar‘s interpretation of Buddhism has
brought
it even
closer to rationalism and humanism. B.R.Ambedkar has clearly reacted God and
soul. He has also rejected the doctrine of the infallibility of the Vedas and
the vyavastha. Moreover, there are several groups describing themselves as ―Rationalist‖
or
―Humanist‖
which derive inspiration from B.R.Ambedkar. Thus, it cannot be denied that
B.R.Ambedkar has an important twentieth century Indian thinker from a
rationalisthumanist point of view.
Higher
Education
After
B.R.Ambedkar matriculation and marriage, he joined the Elphinstone College,
Bombay, Even though he passed the intermediate examination, he could not
continue his
education because of the financial crisis of the family, He was very fortunate
of getting scholarship of Rs.25 per month from the
Maharashtra of Baroda Sir Sayaji Rao Gaqekwad due
to the mediation of B.R.Ambedkar well wisher K.A Keluskar. The Maharaja
Sayajirao Gaikawad of Baroda had announced scholarship for higher
studies to any promising untouchable student. B.R.Ambedkar welcomed the
opportunity and Joined Elphinstone College, Bombay. One of his Professor
Muller, lent him books and
gave him clothes. However, the overall environment was humiliating. The college
hostel keeper, who was a Brahmin, would not give him tea or water. Nonetheless, B.R.Ambedkar
concentrated all his energies on his studies and passed his B.A. Examination in
1913 with English and Persian as his subjects. With this
amount Bhim Rao Ambedkar
was able to pursue his studies without distraction and could rents two room
apartment in parel, Bombay. Then he was selected as a lieutenant in the Baroda State‘s Army.
Due to the demise of his father on 2nd February 1913, he had to resign the Job.12 It was a
sad day in B.R.Ambedkar life. In 1913 he went to the
U.S.A., with a Baroda state
scholarship and joined the Columbia University from where he took, his M.A. in
Economics for his thesis in a year later he submitted his thesis ―National Dividend for
India– A Historic and Analytical study‖
for which he had obtained a Ph.D Research Degree from Columbia University in 1916.
In the same
year he went to England and Joined the London School of Economic and Political
Science and also the Grays inn. He was working for his M.Sc., in
economics and
was also preparing for the bar. Unfortunately he had to discontinue his studies
on the expiry of his scholarship and return to India in 1917. Back
in India he taught at the
Sideman college of Commerce and Economics, Mumbai as Professor of Economics
from 1918 to 1920. Having saved some
money and with financial assistance from some of
his friends he went to England again in 1920 to complete
his studies. He obtained the M.Sc., Degree in 1921. He was
awarded the D.Sc. Degree for his thesis ―The
problem of the Rupee‖ in 1923. In the same year he was also called to the 1923.
Marriage
In those days
children were married in their tender ages. Accordingly in 1905
he married a girl of nine when he was a boy of B.R.Ambedkar was married, at a
young age
of fourteen
years, after doing his matriculation. B.R.Ambedkar was married, at young of fourteen
years, after doing his matriculation. His wife, Rami, later renamed Ramabai,
was
only nine
years old at that time. She was the second daughter of her then deceased
father, Bhiku Walangkar, who worked as a porter. The marriage was solemnized in
the open
shed of the
Byculla Market of Bombay. His wife
Ramabai was from a poor Mahar family and illiterate. He had a happy life with
her for twenty years. When she died in 1935 he suffered a
personal set back.
He kept
widowhood for thirteen years. On April 15, 1948
he married a second time. Dr.Sharada Kabir who was from a Sarawak Brahmin
family of Mumbai. Later she was
named as
Savita. Dr. Sharda Kabir, who was looking after him in his ill health, shared
ten letters with him, before he could agree to this marriage. He was hesitant,
because Sharda
Kabir was
younger to him by 15 years at that time. The marriage was
conducted in the simplest manner. B.R.Ambedkar resigned as the Law Minister
from the Nehru Cabinet in
September 1951 and he lost the election in the first elections to the Lok
Sabha held in January 1952. However, in March 1952 he was elected to the Rajya Sabah from the
Bombay
Legislative Council and he remained a Member of the Upper House till his last
day.
Political
Life of B.R.Ambedkar
B.R.Ambedkar was
made the political secretary of the
Maharaja of
Baroda. He became victim of caste discrimination again and was humiliated
greatly by his peers. It was during this time that B.R.Ambedkar began the
movement to
eradicate
caste system and untouchability from society. B.R.Ambedkar again went back to
London, to study completed is law taken he and became a barrister.
Untouchability
and caste
system were the two social evils that had hunted Dr. B.R. Ambedkar since his
childhood days. However, he thought of tackling the problem himself and began
fight
against
untouchability. There were several ways by which he was trying to do this. He
started publishing a weekly journal called ‗Mooknayak‘,
where he criticized the orthodox
system that
prevailed in the society. He spoke openly about the discriminations that were
made to the lower castes in the society and the humiliations that they had to
undergo and
endure.51 He also voted for creating separate electorates for the
backward classes in society B.R. Ambedkar also formed the ―Bahishkrit
Hitakarini Sabha‖ so that the
deprived and
backward classes to get some opportunities to upgrade themselves. He arranged
educational systam to these classes and tried to improve their socio-economic
conditions.
He also became a member of the Legislative Council in the year 1926.
After this, he began an active movement by bringing out marches and
processions for the lower
backward
classes. In 1928, he was appointed to the Bombay
Presidency Committee so that he mishit work with the all-European Simon
Commission. With this, B.R.Ambedkar
made a mark
in the political arena of India. He had criticized the Indian National Congress
as well as the British Raj for not being able to curb the problem of caste
discrimination
and untouchability. His staunch stance against the orthodox authorities in
India made him quite unpopular with the politicians of those times.
There were no
considerable changes that were evident in the social system of India. The
Government Law College of Mumbai had Dr.B.R.Ambedkar as its Principal
for two years
from 1935. He even contemplated of building a new
political party that would work against staunch and orthodox Hinduism. He named
this new political party
as ―Independent
Labor Party (India)‖, which can
only managed around 15 seats in the Central Legislative
Assembly Elections in 1937. He also occupied important
positions in
the
government of the country. He had been appointed to the Viceroy‘s Executive
Council as the Minister of Labor. B.R.Ambedkar had also served in the Defense
Advisory
Committee.53 As mentioned earlier, B.R.Ambedkar was a
political leader and led an active and eventful life. He struggled for separate
electorates for the depressed
classes. He
was a member of Bombay Legislative Council from 1927. He
deposed before the Simon Commission in 1928. He attended
the Round Table Conferences in 1930 and
onwards as a
representative of the depressed classes. At the Second Round Table Conference,
he repeatedly clashed with Gandhi. In 1932, he signed the
historic Pune
Pact as a
representative of the depressed classes. In July 1942, he
joined the Viceroy‘s Executive Council as Labor Member
Reasons for
Conversion to Buddhism
Philosophy
and Reasons for Conversion to Buddhism From the point of view of philosophy of
religion, the most important event in B.R.Ambedkar‘s life was his renunciation
of Hinduism. He renounced Hinduism and
embraced
Buddhism towards the end of his life. What were his reasons for doing so? A
detailed answer to this question can be obtained by studying his ―The
Buddha and his
Dhamma,
Annihilation of Caste, Philosophy of Hinduism, Riddles in Hinduism etc.
However, some of his articles, speeches and interviews before and after his
conversion to
Buddhism
throw some light on this question
Death of B R
Ambedkar
B R Ambedkar
became diabetic since 1948. He also suffered from
depression and eyesight failure. He was almost bed-ridden in the last years of
his life. He breathed his
last on 6 th December 1956, in his home in Delhi.
The entire cremation process was carried out in Buddhist style, where
innumerable supporters and admirers gathered to pay
him the last
homage.
Bodhisattva
Babasaheb Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar was a renowned scholar, distinguished
educationist, a well-versed politician, an influential speaker, an authentic
constitutionalist, an able administrator, a visionary and a thinker. There was
a great urge among them to struggle with conflicts. He was a fearless supporter
and preacher of equality, freedom and humanity. His personality was
revolutionary. He was a fearless intellectual as well as a great politicalist.
In Indian history, the name of Babasaheb Ambedkar has been inscribed in the
alphabets.
speech about
ambedkar,
speech on
ambedkar,
speech for
ambedkar jayanti,
speech on
ambedkar jayanti in english,
speech on
ambedkar jayanti in hindi,
speech about
ambedkar in english,
speech on
ambedkar in hindi,
about abdul
kalam in english speech,
best quotes
about ambedkar,
speech about
ambedkar jayanti,
good
qualities of ambedkar,
speech for
ambedkar jayanti in hindi,
importance of
ambedkar jayanti,
ambedkar
jayanti par speech in hindi,
speech about
dr br ambedkar in english,
what was
gandhi speech about
speech about
dr ambedkar
speech about
br ambedkar
short speech
about ambedkar
about
ambedkar speech in english
importance of
ambedkar
speech of
ambedkar on constitution