Introduction
You might wonder about the Right to Education Act, midday meal schemes are a modern-day concept but Savitribai Phule and Jotiba Phule set the stage for it almost 170 years back by giving stipends to children to reduce the dropout rate in schools. They took initiatives to reduce malnutrition in children by taking care of the health of each child in school. Savitribai Phule is also said to have inspired a young student to ask for a library for the school at an award ceremony instead of gifts for herself. She inspired the young girls to take up painting, writing, and other activities. Savitribai Phule wrote many poems against discrimination and advised people to get educated. Savitribai Phule was the first Indian woman whose poems got noticed in the British empire. Savitribai Phule was the mother of modern poetry stressing the necessity of English and education through her poems. “Kavya Phule”- the first collection of poems was published in 1854. Read a few of her poems from “Kavyaphule” from here.
Life sketch
Birth and Death
Savitribai Jyotirao Phule was born on January 3, 1831, at Naigaon, about 50 km from Pune. She belonged to the Mali community, which is now included in OBC (Other Backward Classes). She was the eldest daughter of mother Lakshmi and father Khandoji Neveshe Patil. In July 1889, when Jyotiba Phule suffered a stroke and the right side of the body was paralyzed, Savitribai nursed him night and day hence he managed to recover and write again. During the draught in 1897, Savitribai Phule forced the British government, which was ignoring the well-being of people, to start relief work.Savitribai and her adopted son, Yashwant, opened a clinic to treat those affected by the bubonic plague when it appeared in the area around Nallasopara in 1897. Savitribai Phule personally took patients to the clinic where her son served them. While caring for the patients, she contracted the disease herself. She died from it on 10 March 1897 while serving a plague patient.
Marriage
As was the practice then, at the age of nine, she was married to twelve-year-old Jyotirao Phule in 1840. Savitribai and Jyotirao had no children of their own but they adopted Yashavantrao, a son born to a widowed Brahmin. In 1874, the Phule couple adopted the son of Kashibai, a Brahmin widow. When Infanticide Prohibition Home was started by Savitribai Phule working as a hospital, Savitribai did not remain as one who served widows but she went further in this regard. She adopted a child from a Brahmin widow (Kashibai) and thereby gave a message to the progressive people of the society. This adopted child was named Yashwant Rao, who later became a doctor.
Education
Shortly after the marriage to Jyotiba Phule, the education of Savitribai Phule started. Impressed by her thirst for learning, Savitribai’s husband, Jyotirao Phule, taught her to read and write. Becoming fond of teaching, Savitribai trained at Ms. Farar’s Institution in Ahmednagar. Passed third and fourth-year examinations from a normal school.
Steps for female Education and social work
Savitribai Phule along with Sagunabai started school in Maharwada on 1st May 1847, initially, 8-9 girls were enrolled but within a year strength reached 40-45. India’s first school was started at Bhide Wada in Pune by Phule couple, Savitribai Phule became not only the first woman teacher but Savitribai was nominated as India’s first lady headmistress on 1st Jan 1848. The country’s first school for girls was started at Bhide Wada in Pune. On 1st Jan. 1848, India’s first school for girls was started at Bhide Wada in Pune by Mahatma Jotiba Phule and Savitribai Phule. The present condition of that first school for girls is miserable because of the lack of interest from subsequent governments in preserving the
heritage.
The life of Savitribai Phule as a teacher in the school at the time when orthodox people used to look down wasn’t easy and many times they used to pelt stones and throw dung on her. 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 but Savitribai Phule faced everything courageously. Savitribai Phule and Jotiba Phule’s work of educating the downtrodden and girls infuriated many Brahmins of that time and because of the fears of attacks, Jyotiba Phule’s father was afraid.
In 1849, both Savitribai Phule and Jotiba Phule were thrown out of their home. After being thrown out of their home, Savitribai Phule and Jotiba Phule started school for adults at Usman Sheikh’s Wada in Pune for educating Shudra and Ati-Shudra community. Savitribai taught at this school along with the first Muslim woman teacher of India, Fatima Sheikh. Parent-teacher meeting was conducted at regular intervals to aware the parents about the importance of education and to encourage their children to attend the schools regularly.
By 1851, Savitribai Phule along with her husband was running three schools with around 150 female students. For her, education was not simply alphabetical learning, but rather, an evolution of the mind itself. Her innovative methods of teaching slowly attracted the common people, as the number of girls increased. On 16th Nov. 1852, the Phule family was honored by the British government for their works in the field of education and Savtribai was declared as the best teacher. Savitribai Phule started Mahila Seva Mandal in 1852, which worked for raising women’s consciousness about their human rights, the dignity of life, and other social issues. She went on to organize a successful barbers strike in Mumbai and Pune against the prevailing practice of shaving of widows’ heads.
On 28 January 1853, the first-ever infanticide prohibition home of India was started by Savitribai Phule. There were a large number of widows in the Pune City and the nearby villages during days. Adolescents and young girls happened to be more among the widows. These widows were boycotted publicly and with the meager financial support, they were clandestine subjects to sexual exploitation. They happened to be pregnant due to a lack of contraceptives or other measures. So they had to be victimized for the reason for which they had not been responsible. Women had to lose their life due to unhealthy ways of abortion. Many newborns were been killed after delivery by widows to avoid social ostracism. Many times they had to leave their home. On 28 January 1853, Savitribai started a shelter for such women – Infanticide Prohibition Home – the first of its kind in India. In this Infanticide Prohibition Home, widows could give birth to their children and leave them there...
In 1855, a night school for agriculturists and labourers was started by the Phule couple. Many downtrodden people had no option to go to regular schools but could themselves available only at night so to cater their needs Phule couples started the night school.
Savitribai Phule edited and published Jyotirao Phule’s Speeches on 25 December 1856. It contains four speeches by Jyotirao Phule. Phule couple started an orphanage home for pregnant widows in 1863 so that they can give birth to their children and live without the fear of society.
At a time when even the shadow of untouchables was considered impure when the people were unwilling to offer water to thirsty untouchables, Savitribai Phule and Mahatma Jotiba Phule opened the well in their house for the use of untouchables. It was a challenge thrown at the Brahmins to change their mindset towards untouchables (But unfortunately, the sick mindset of so-called upper castes has not changed even after almost 200 years, Dalit (untouchables) still strive for water rights).
When Jotiba Phule established the Satya Shodhak Samaj, Savitribai became the head of the women’s section which included ninety female members. Moreover, she worked tirelessly as a school teacher for girls. After Jotiba Phule’s death, she was the chairperson of Satya Shodhak Samaj and carried his work ahead. Savitribai Phule acted as a Chairperson of the Satya Shodhak Samaj Conference at Saswad in 1893. Its purpose was to liberate the Shudra and Untouchable castes from exploitation and oppression.
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