Savitribai Phule (SP): a thread

Disclaimer: I am not an expert. There might be some inaccuracies. The GIFs are not to offend anyone; they are for comic relief.

SP was born on January 3, 1831, in the village of Naigaon in Satara District, Maharashtra. She was the eldest daughter of Lakshmi and Khandoji Nevase Patil, both of whom belonged to the Mali Community.

When she was 9/10 yo she married Jyotirao Phule (JP) who was 12/ 13 at that time. SP’s education started after her marriage. JP took it upon himself to complete SP’s primary education at home. SP’s further education was taken care of by JP’s friends, Sakharam Yeshwant Paranjpe

and Keshav Shivram Bhavalkar. She also enrolled in two teacher's training programs. The first was at an institution run by an American missionary, Cynthia Farrar, in Ahmednagar. The second course was at a Normal School in Pune.

Given her training, SP may have been the first Indian woman teacher.

After completing her education, SP started teaching children in Pune along with JP’s mentor, Sagunabai. In 1848, the trio went on to open India’s first school for girls called Bhide Wada in Pune. The curriculum at Bhide Wada included traditional western curriculum of mathematics,

science, and social studies. By the end of 1851, SP and JP were running three different schools for girls in Pune. Combined, the three schools had approx. 150 students enrolled. Their schools gained the reputation of being better at teaching and curriculum than govt schools.

During this time the couple had to face a lot of obstacles. In 1849, JP’s father, asked the couple to leave his home because their work was considered a sin in the Brahmanical texts. The couple then moved to JP’s friend, Usman Sheikh’s house. Usman had a sister, Fatima Begum

Sheikh, who was already educated and became SP’s life-long companion. Sheikh is regarded as the first female Muslim teacher of India, and she along with SP started a school in Sheikh’s house in 1849.

Going to the girls’ school to teach was a huge ordeal for SP. She faced innumerable abuses and listened to obscenities and groups of orthodox men followed her way to work. They threw rotten eggs, cow dung, tomatoes, and stones. Because of this she started carrying an extra saree.

But one day things got out of hand. A well-built ruffian stood in her path and told her that if she did not stop educating the Mahars and Mangs, she would have to pay a heavy prize. A crowd gathered to watch the drama unfold but no one helped her. The unfazed SP slapped him hard.

The stunned man ran away and so did the onlookers. The shocking news spread like wildfire all over the city of Pune and finally brought a stop to the every-day abuse.

In the 1850s SP & JP established 2 educational trusts, entitled: the Native Female School, Pune & the Society for Promoting the Education of Mahars, Mangs, & Etc. The couple opened 18 schools in their lifetime. The schools were led by Fatima Begum after the couple’s deaths.

As a result of her experience and work, she became an ardent feminist. She established the Mahila Seva Mandal to raise awareness for issues concerning women's rights. She also called for a gathering place for women that was free of caste discrimination or differentiation of any

kind. Symbolic of this was that all the women that attended were to sit on the same mat.
SP was also an anti-infanticide activist. The couple also opened a care centre called Balhatya Pratibandhak Griha (literally, "Child-killing Prohibition Home"), where Brahmin widows and

pregnant rape victims could safely deliver their children and leave them there to be adopted if they so desired. She also campaigned against child marriage and was an advocate of widow remarriage. SP and JP strongly opposed Sati Pratha, and they started a home for widows.

The couple also organized the first-of-its-kind barbers strike after castigating them for shaving the heads of young widows.

The Phules started the Satyashodhak Samaj (Society for Truth-Seeking), through which they wanted to initiate the practice of Satyashodhak marriage, in which no dowry was taken.

As an example against the evil of untouchability, they also opened up their own water reservoir for everyone. In a letter to JP, SP told a story about a boy about to be lynched by his fellow villagers for having relations with a woman of lower caste when Savitribai intervened.

She wrote, "I came to know about their murderous plan. I rushed to the spot and scared them away, pointing out the grave consequences of killing the lovers under British law. They changed their mind after listening to me."

SP was an author and poet. She published Kavya Phule in 1854 and Bavan Kashi Subodh Ratnakar in 1892, and also a poem entitled "Go, Get Education" in which she encouraged those who are oppressed to free themselves by obtaining an education.

SP was honoured for her exemplary work by the British government. In 1852, she and her husband were felicitated with a shawl for their work in Vishrambag Wada, Pune.

SP and her adopted son, Yashwant, opened a clinic to treat those affected by the worldwide Third Pandemic of the bubonic plague when it appeared in the area around Nalasopara in 1897. It is said that she used to feed two thousand children every day during the epidemic. The clinic

was on the outskirts of Pune in an area free from the plague. However SP heard that Pandurang Babaji Gaekwad’s young son was suffering from the plague. She rushed to the boy and carried him on her back to the clinic, but caught the plague in the process and died on March 10 1897