Ramabai Ambedkar, Savita Ambedkar: Women Who Stood Behind BR Ambedkar

The main architect of the Indian constitution, Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar was born on April 14, 1891. The day is celebrated as Ambedkar Jayanti all across the country. Ambedkar fought for the rights of Dalits and made sure that they get equal status in Indian society. Here's what you should know about Dr BR Ambedkar wives.

He renounced his Hinduism and became a follower of Buddhism, the Dalit Buddhist movement started by him has given a direction to many Indians. He belonged to the Mahaar caste and had faced discrimination himself so he decided to start a revolution against the inhuman practices against Dalits. He also saw the prevalent inequality between men and women and wrote, "Unity is meaningless without the accompaniment of women. Education is fruitless without educated women and agitation is incomplete without the strength of women."

Apart from his contribution to Indian society, his own life served as a lesson to many of his followers. The man who went on to become the Minister of Law and Justice in India lived a life of struggle and achieved great things just because of the hard work he put in. He got married at the age of 15 to Ramabai in Mumbai in 1906. She went on to be known as Ramai or Mother Rama and played an instrumental part in Ambedkar's journey.

Ramabai Ambedkar

Ambedkar's first wife, Ramabai, was born to Dalit parents Rukmini and Bhiku Dhatre. She had three sisters and one brother. Her father earned a living by carrying fish baskets from Dabhol harbour to the market. After her parents died, Ramabai and her siblings were taken care of by their uncles Govindpurkar and Valangkar. That is how Ramabai reached Mumbai. At the age of nine, she was married to BR Ambedkar in 1906. The wedding took place at Byculla vegetable market.

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Ambedkar used to call her Ramu and she called him Saheb. The couple had five children and only of them, Yashwant, survived his childhood. During these years, Ambedkar also went to London to pursue higher education at the London School of Economics and Political Science. After staying married for 29 years, Ramabai succumbed to a chronic illness in 1935. Ambedkar dedicated Ramabai his book Thoughts on Pakistan and credited for his transformation from a common man to Dr Ambedkar.

Savita Bhimrao Ambedkar

Known as Mai or Maisaheb, Savita Ambedkar was a medical practitioner who became Ambedkar's second wife after 13 years of the death of his first wife. Savita Ambedkar was with the father of constitution when he got inducted into Buddhism at Deekshabhoomi, Nagpur. She was also credited by Ambedkar in the unpublished preface of his book The Buddha and His Dhamma for she nursed him back to life during the five years when he was writing that book.

Savita had Brahmin roots and she converted to Buddhism with Ambedkar. The couple married each other on 1948 after exchanging about 50 letters over the span of one year. An archivist Vijay Surwade who has collected memorabillia concerning Ambedkar said that Ambedkar used to write 18-25 pages long letters to Savita.

Savita belonged to Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra and her father was a registrar of the Indian Medical Council. She too got her MBBS degree from a Mumbai college in 1937 and worked for a short period as the chief medical officer at a hospital in Gujarat before she met Ambedkar. After the Ambedkar died, Savita took kept his legacy alive and took the Dalit Buddist movement forward. She spoke at many public events and conference on the subject. Savita Ambedkar also helped set up Symbiosis Society's Dr Babasahed Ambedkar Museum in Pune in 1996. The museum has many of the Ambedkar's book, his violin, his framed spectacles, his Bharat Ratna medal among many other things. It is said that visited the museum every year on Ambedkar's birth and death anniversary.

Both Savita and Ramabai have been included in many films and books on Ambedkar's life and their own lives. They were the women standing behind the Father of the Indian constitution.