Savitri Bai phule : The Mother of Indian feminism ....

Savitri Bai phule was an Indian social reformer, educationalist, and poet from Maharashtra.

 She is regarded as the first female teacher of India. Along with her husband, Jyoti rao phule ,she played an important role in improving women's rights in India. She is regarded as the mother of Indian feminism

In this blog we will discuss about the early life and inspiring story of India's brave daughter and a inspiring lady .

EARLY LIFE ;   

Savitribai Phule was born on January 3, 1831 in the village of Naigaon in Satara district, Maharashtra.

Savitribai Phule was an eldest daughter of Lakshmi and Khandoji Neveshe Patil, both of whom belonged to the Mali Community.

MARRIGE ;

At the age of 10, Savitribai Phule was married to Jyotirao phule , born on the 11th of April 1827. At the time of their marriage, he was thirteen years old. Savitribai and Jotirao had no children of their own, but they adopted Yashawantrao, a son born to a Brahmin widow.

EDUCATION ;

At the time of her marriage, Savitribai Phule had not been educated because Brahmins forbade it for people of low caste and gender. 

Jyotirao was also forced temporarily to abandon his education because of his caste but eventually was able to enroll in a Scottish missionary school, where he studied to grade seven.

After seeing savitri's immense interest in studies ,Jotirao educated Savitribai at their home. After completing her primary education with Jotirao, her further education was the responsibility of his friends, Sakharam Yeshwant Paranjpe and Keshav Shivram Bhavalkar. She also enrolled in two teacher's training programs. The first was at institution run by an American Missionary, Cynthia Farrar, in Ahmednagar.

 The second course was at a Normal School in Pune. Given her training, Savitribai may have been the first Indian woman teacher and headmistress.

CAREER ;

After completing her teacher’s education, Savitribai Phule started teaching girls at the Maharwada in Pune. She did so alongside Sagunabai who was a revolutionary feminist as well as a mentor to Jyotirao. Not long after beginning to teach with Sagunabai, Savitribai and Jyotirao Phule along with Sagunabai started their own school at Bhide Wada. Bhide Wada was the home of Tatya Saheb Bhide, who was inspired by the work that the trio was doing. The curriculum at Bhide Wada included traditional western curriculum of mathematics, science, and social studies. 

By the end of 1851, Savitribai and Jyotirao Phule were running three different schools for girls in Pune. Combined, the three schools had approximately one hundred and fifty students enrolled. The teaching method of jyotiba and savitri Bai was highly appreciated.

OTHER WORKS;

Savitribai Phule was also a prolific author and poet. She published Kavya Phule in 1854 and Bavan Kashi Subodh Ratnakar in 1892, and also a poem entitled "Go, Get Education" in which she encouraged those who are oppressed to free themselves by obtaining an education. As a result of her experience and work, she became an ardent feminist. She established the Mahila Seva Mandal to raise awareness for issues concerning women's rights. 

SOCIAL RESISTANCE ;

Unfortunately, Savitribai and Jyotirao Phule’s success came with much resistance from the local community with conservative views. Kandukuri states that Savitribai often travelled to her school carrying an extra sari because she would be assailed by her conservative opposition with stones, dung, and verbal abuse. The Phules faced such strong opposition because of the conservative and marginalized caste to which they belonged. The Shudra community had been denied education for thousands of years. For this reason, many Sudras began to oppose Jyotirao and Savitribai’s work and labeled it as “evil”. This uproar was often instigated by the upper castes.

 Up until 1849, Savitribai and Jyotirao Phule were living at Jyotirao’s father’s home. However, in 1849, Jyotirao’s father, asked the couple to leave his home because their work was considered a sin in the Brahmanical texts.

Even after so much disturbances savitri didn't stopped .Together with her husband, she taught children from different castes and opened a total of 18 schools. The couple also opened a care centre called Balhatya Pratibandhak Grih (literally, "Child-killing Prohibition Home") for pregnant rape victims and helped deliver and save their children. She continued her work in welfare of society and women. 

DEATH ;

Savitribai died a heroic death trying to save the son of Pandurang Babaji Gaekwad. Upon learning that Gaekwad’s son had contracted the Plague in the Mahar settlement outside of Mundhwa, Savitribai Phule rushed to his side and carried him on her back to the hospital. 

In the process, Savitribai Phule caught the Plague and died at 9:00pm on the 10th of March, 1897.

LEGACY ;

Pune City Corporation created a memorial for her in 1983.

• In 2015, the University of Pune was renamed as Savitribai phule university in her honour.
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• On 10 March 1998 a stamp was released by Indian stamp in honour of Phule.

On 3 January 2017, the search engine Google marked the 188th anniversary of the birth of Savitribai Phule with a Google doddle.

Recently Prime Minister Narendra modi paid tribute to her contribution on her birthday.