Torchbearer of Education
Revolutionary life and times of Savitribai Phule
3 min readJan 8, 2022
From being pelted with cow dung and stones every day as she traveled to teach, to being disowned by her community, she kept her vision to reform India strong and kept working.
- She was married at age 9 year to 13 year old Jyotibao Phule. Jotirao Phule himself was an educationist and reformist. At time when women were not allowed education, Jotirao would teach his wife at a farm.
- Jotirao and Savitribai worked for upliftment outcast community, even setting up well in their backyard, due to which Jotirao’s father fearing the attack of orthodox men disowned them. Savitribai followed her husband.
- Savitribai went on to complete her official education. Having witnesses the women’s oppression first-hand she was inspired to start India’s first all-women’s school Bhide Wada in 1848 along with Fatima Sheikh. She also became first women teacher in India.
- Her work drew great opposition as during this time in Maharashtra a nationalist discourse was playing out between 1881–1920 led by Bal Gangadhar Tilak that was against teaching of women and oppressed castes.
- Going to the girls’ school to teach became a huge ordeal for Savitribai. The orthodox group would come to her and throw rotten eggs, rotten tomatoes, cow dung, and even stone. They would abuse and curse her in obscene language.
- She came with a solution: she would carry 2 sarees. One she wore while traveling to school and people threw cow dung at her. Second, she wore in class when she taught. Then change back to first saree when she returned to be thrown cow dung and stones again.
- She kept working towards eradicating the evils of society, and opened a safe delivery centre named Balhatya Pratibandhak Griha for pregnant rape victims and helped to deliver their children, working for education and upliftment of oppressed.
- When Plague epidemic broke in 1897, she opened a clinic for plague victims in Hadapsar, Pune and continued caring affected women and feeding thousands of children.
- While carrying a 10-year-old plague victim to the clinic in her arms, she contracted the disease herself. On March 10, 1897, Savitribai Phule breathed her last.
She was Savitribai Phule.
Educationist, reformist and first woman teacher. She started out as an illiterate fought for her education and continued fighting for education and equality for rest.
The University of Pune is renamed after her, known as Savitribai Phule Pune University.
Education and freedom that we take for granted today are built on foundations of those who fought and sacrificed.
These fights for change against insurmountable social evils rooted as norms can only come from grit and greater vision.
