Savitribai Phule is regarded as the first female teacher of India. She was a feminist, a social reformer who worked for the abolishment of the caste system, a philanthropist, an anti-infanticide activist and a poet too. Along with her husband, Jyotiba Phule, Savitribai started the first Indian-run school for girls in Pune, Maharashtra.
Back then only the higher castes were permitted to attend schools, so Savitribai and Jyotiba also started a school for untouchable girls at the time. The couple contributed greatly for the upliftment of the lower classes and women, focusing on education, health and also social reforms. Savitribai was an advocate of widow remarriage and fought to abolish child marriage. Her contribution to women’s education and upliftment will always be remembered.
Savitribai Phule : Life
Savitribai was born on 3 January 1831 in a Dalit family in Maharashtra. At the age of 9, she was married to the revolutionary Jyotiba Phule, and at the time Jyotiba Phule was only 13 years old. Savitribai’s husband was a revolutionary and philanthropist and seeing this, Savitribai also devoted her entire life to this task. He served others throughout his life. On 10 March 1897, when the plague spread, Savitribai Phule gave up his life while serving the patients suffering from the plague, he died. He served children suffering from the plague and that is why he also got the plague. He died of the plague. Savitribai had set certain goals in her life, including getting a widow married, eradicating untouchability, getting women’s right in society, and educating Dalit women. He accomplished these goals.
An anecdote
In the year 1848, Savitribai Phule went to school to teach. During that time Savitribai Phule went to school with two sarees, wearing one and keeping it in a bag. Indeed, those who lived on the way believed that Shudra-Ati Shudra did not have the right to read. Because of this, dung was thrown on Savitribai on the way, and this would make her first sari dirty. After leaving from there, Savitribai used to wear the second sari and then teach the children. Finally came a time when they started opening their own schools and started educating Dalit girls. The praise of his works is less.
Hindi pronunciation of Marathi poetry written by Savitribai Phule- “Go and read, write, become self-reliant, do hard work; gather knowledge and wealth; all is lost without knowledge, without knowledge we become animals, therefore, Do not sit empty, go and learn, end the sufferings of the oppressed and abandoned cows, you have a golden opportunity to learn, so learn and break the bonds of caste, throw away the texts of Brahmins as quickly as possible. ”