Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar - Early Life and Contributions of Dr BR Ambedkar (Babasaheb)

Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar also popularly known as Babasaheb, the contributions of this great man are more than just the upliftment of the untouchables. He was not only responsible for the constitution of India but had played a major role in many forming many other departments of Independent India. I have tried to highlight the different aspects of his life and his contribution to the entire nation.  

Early life: 

Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (Babasaheb) was born on 14th April 1891 in Mhow (Maharashtra) in a backward caste family. He was the 14th child. His father was a Subhedar in the British Indian Army. He was lucky enough to go to School.

Struggles: 

Although Dr B R Ambedkar went to school and the suffering started in his life very early. It was because he belonged to the Mahar caste which was considered a backward caste. There are many incidents but I will mention one such incident. He was not allowed to sit along with the upper caste students. He was not allowed to drink water from the pot. If he feels thirsty, he had to sit down on his knees and bring forth his hands in front. The peon would pour water on his hands and this is how he would get to drink water. The Dalits in the school were not allowed to touch the water jugs in the school.

Education: 

As Babasaheb were good in his studies. He was provided scholarship by the King of Baroda 'Saiyyaji Rao Gaekwad'. He was the first person in his family to have graduated from the University of Bombay in 1913. In all, he had 6 degrees namely University of Mumbai (BA) Columbia University (MA, PhD) London School of Economics (MSc, DSc) Gray's Inn (Barrister-at-Law). I have attached a photo of all his degrees for your reference. This photo is clicked from the Office of Registrar, Columbia University.frijrl

Passion for Reading Books: 

He was crazy about his books. He has more than 50,000 books on 64 different subjects, all stored at his home. It was said to be the largest personal library of that time. He lived in Dadar, Mumbai where he stayed one entire floor of his Bungalow was dedicated to books. A few of these books can be found in Siddhartha College, Mumbai. 

It is said that he was so fond of reading that he used to read for 18 hours every day. The Librarian of London School of Economics once said that Babasaheb was the first person to enter the library and was the last person to leave, The librarian used to check the entire library just in case if Babasaheb is still in the library and would often find him sitting with books around him.  

Languages Known:

Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar had knowledge of 9 languages like Hindi, Pali, Sanskrit, English, French, German, Marathi, Persian and Gujarati. He could speak all of them very fluently.

Dr B R Ambedkar's Residence 'Rajgruha': 

He lived in Mumbai in Hindu Colony, Dadar area. It is a three-storey building. He designed the structure od the house. The name of his house is 'Rajgruh', It is a memorial now and anyone who wants to visit can see the house free of cost. The timings are from 10 am to 5 pm. I would suggest you should definitely visit this place to see the architectural work of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. He was the architect of this house.

Books Written by Babasaheb:

During his entire lifetime, he has written several books which were published. I am sharing a list of his books:

B. R. Ambedkar is an author of The Constitution of India, the supreme law of India.

 [I] Books and Monograph

(1) Administration and finance of the East India Company ''(Thesis for MA Degree)''

(2) The Evolution of Provincial Finance in British India ''(Thesis for PhD, 1917, published 1925)''
(3) The problem of the Rupees: Its Origin and Its Solution ''(Thesis for DSc, Published 1923)''
(4) Annihilation of Caste ''(May 1936)''
(5) Which way to Emancipation? ''(May 1936)''
(6) Federation versus Freedom ''(1936)''
(7) Pakistan or the Partition of India / Thoughts on Pakistan ''(1940)''
(8) Rande, Gandhi and Jinaah ''(1943)''
(9) Mr Gandhi and the Emancipation of the Untouchables ''(Sep 1943)''
(10) What Congress and Gandhi Have Done to the Untouchables ''(June 1945)''
(11) Communal Deadlock and a Way to Solve It ''(May 1946)''
(12) Who Were the Shudras? ''(October 1946)''
(13) A critique of The Proposals of Cabinet Mission for Indian Constitution changes in so far as they affect the Scheduled Castes (Untouchable) ''(1946)''
(14) The Cabinet Mission and the Untouchables ''(1946)''
(15) States and Minorities ''(1947)''
(16) Maharashtra as a Linguist Province ''(1948)''
(17) The Untouchables: Who Were They are Why The Become Untouchables ''(October 1948)''
(18) Thoughts on Linguistic States: A critique of the Report of the States Reorganization Commission ''(Published 1955)''
(19) The Buddha and His Dhamma ''(1957)''
(20) Riddle's in Hinduism
(21) Dictionary of Pali Language (Pali-English)
(22) The Pali Grammar
(23) Waiting for a Visa ''(Autobiography) (1935-1936)''
(24) A people at Bay
(25) Untouchables or the Children of India's Ghetto
(26) Can I be a Hindu?
(27) What the Brahmins Have Done to the Hindus
(28) Essays of Bhagwat Gita
(29) India and Communism
(30) Revolution and Counter-revolution in Ancient India
(31) The Buddha or Karl Marx
(32) Constitution and Constitutionalism

 [II] Memoranda, Evidence and Statement's

(33) On Franchise and Framing Constituencies ''(1919)''
(34) Statement of Evidence to the Royal Commission of Indian Currency ''(1926)''
(35) Protection of the Interests of the Depressed Classes ''(May 29, 1928)''
(36) State of Education of the Depressed Classes in the Bombay Presidency ''(1928)''
(37) Constitution of the Government of Bombay Presidency ''(May 17, 1929)''
(38) A Scheme of Political Safeguards for the protection of the Depressed in the Future Constitution of a Self- governing India ''(1930)''
(39) The Claims of the Depressed Classes for Special Representation ''(1931)''
(40) Franchise and Tests of Untouchability ''(1932)''
(41) The Cripps Proposals on Constitutional Advancement ''(July 18, 1942)''
(42) Grievances of the Schedule Castes ''(Oct 29, 1942)''

[III]  Research Papers, Articles and Books Reviews

(43) Castes in India: Their Genius, Mechanism and Development ''(1918)''
(44) Mr Russel and the Reconstruction of Society ''(1918)''
(45) Small Holding In India and Their Remedies ''(1918)''
(46) Currency and Exchanges ''(1925)''
(47) The Present Problem of Indian Currency ''(Apr 1925)''
(48) Report of Taxation Enquiry Committee ''(1926)''
(49) Thoughts on the Reform of Legal Education in the Bombay Presidency ''(1936)''
(50) The Rise and Fall of Hindu Women ''(1950)''
(51) Need for checks and Balances ''(Apr 23, 1953)''
(52) Buddha Pooja Path ''(Marathi) (Nov 1956)''
 

[IV]  Preface and Forewords

(53) Forward to Untouchable Workers of Bombay City ''(1938)''
(54) Forward to commodity Exchange ''(1947)''
(55) Preface to the Essence of Buddhism ''(1948)''
(56) Forward to Social Insurance and India ''(1948)''
(57) Preface to Rashtra Rakshake Vaidik Sadhan ''(1948)''
(Note: 23 - 32 books are incompleted)

(Source:– Marathi Book: बोल महामानवाचे (Bol Mahamanvache), Author: Dr. Narendra Jadav

A few lesser-known facts about him:

1. Indian Constitution:

The draft of the Indian constitution was presented in a record time of 2 years 10 months and 17 days. With minor changes, the draft was accepted in the assembly  Why do I call it a record time because, Pakistan, which also got independence along with us but took 25 years to form the constitution.

There are a total of 117,369 words in the English version of the Constitution of India 

2  Women Empowerment:

 He played a vital role in women's Right to work, Right to Equality and Right to Inheritance. He also brought the maternity 

3.Working hours: 

The working hours of Indian labour were reduced from 12 to 14 hours a day to 8 hours.

4. Right to vote: 

We should be thankful to Babasaheb for fighting for this right. Only a few selected were allowed to vote. He fought with the Simon Commission for Right to vote for all citizens.

5. Columbia University: 

There is a book "Waiting for a visa" which is still taught at Columbia University. It is a 20-page book.

6. Colleges formed by Babasaheb: 

He formed two colleges in Mumbai namely Siddharth College and Ambedkar College.

7. Entrepreneurship: 

In 1917, Babasaheb started his own consultancy but failed after a few months when people came to know that he belongs to Mahar, the untouchables. The clients stopped approaching him and he has to close his company.

8. Water and Electricity commission: 

Dr BR Ambedkar played a vital role in forming the Central water commission in India.t

Reference: http://cwc.gov.in/sites/default/files/ambedkars-book_1.pdf

9. Formation of RBI: 

Babasaheb played a crucial role in the formation of RBI which was proposed in 1935 based on his writings from the book "The Problem of the Rupee – Its Origin and Its Solution".

10. Labour laws: 

\He played a vital role in introducing dearness allowance, leave benefit, employee insurance, medical leave, equal pay equal work, minimum wages and timely revision of scale of pay for labours and working class.

What can we learn from Dr BR Ambedkar:

Apart from fighting for rights of the backward caste. He was a great visionary, He envisioned that the nation should progress and that could only happen when everyone is treated equally irrespective of caste, religion, gender and colour. He was not against the Upper caste Hindus but the differences created by them in the society.

I would end this article by saying that every citizen of India should be thankful to him for his contribution to our lives on such a large scale. He was definitely ahead of his times and his knowledge is praiseworthy. Salute to the Father of Indian Constitution.

I am leaving you with a few links where you can find Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar's work:

1.) Writings & Speeches of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar2.) Books written by Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar (Available Free in Play Store)
3.) Constitution of India

4.)1946 - Dr B. R. Ambedkar's Constituent Assembly Speech on Dec 17 (on YouTube)

5. Ambedkar House in Mumbai Rajgruha

Please do leave a comment if you liked this article.

Share on Whatsapp