In the center of Mahabaleshwar's main market is a statue of Babasaheb. Under the statue, as is customary, his degrees are listed in a sequence.
This unique custom is not followed for other Indian leaders, some of whom were also highly educated (though no one came close to his academic achievements). Probably because, for a dalit in pre Independence India to achieve these heights was fantastic, and his scholarly achievements still give pride to all Indians, particularly the bahujans.
One afternoon as we walked past this statue, I proudly showed it to my kids. The kids had just had a round of strawberries with cream. It was raining, they had been bought new raincoats, their tummies were full, and a bit of splashing in puddles was going on. All the good stuff that makes childhood such a joy. You could say that the kids were on a sugar high.
They were amused that someone could spend so much of their life in amassing degrees. This annoyed me. Then they noticed the bar-at-law and all started laughing. "Is there a bar in the court? Do they serve drinks?" I tried to explain that the bar-at-law referred to him being a barrister, or being "before the bar(rier)" in a courtroom - an officer of the court.
The kids didn't care for my explanations and kept laughing. I contained my annoyance within myself and walked silently. Later Nilay came and gave me a hug and apologised for making fun of someone who clearly meant a lot to me.
I don't know why the incident has stayed with me. Even recalling the incident is making me emotional. And yet, isn't this exactly the kind of idol/hero worship that Ambedkar rallied against all his life. I am sure that instead of me, if it was him walking with the kids that day, he would have joined in and made fun of himself, instead of being annoyed.
We make great people even greater by putting them on a pedestal. While we continue to stay small and petty ourselves.
This unique custom is not followed for other Indian leaders, some of whom were also highly educated (though no one came close to his academic achievements). Probably because, for a dalit in pre Independence India to achieve these heights was fantastic, and his scholarly achievements still give pride to all Indians, particularly the bahujans.
One afternoon as we walked past this statue, I proudly showed it to my kids. The kids had just had a round of strawberries with cream. It was raining, they had been bought new raincoats, their tummies were full, and a bit of splashing in puddles was going on. All the good stuff that makes childhood such a joy. You could say that the kids were on a sugar high.
They were amused that someone could spend so much of their life in amassing degrees. This annoyed me. Then they noticed the bar-at-law and all started laughing. "Is there a bar in the court? Do they serve drinks?" I tried to explain that the bar-at-law referred to him being a barrister, or being "before the bar(rier)" in a courtroom - an officer of the court.
The kids didn't care for my explanations and kept laughing. I contained my annoyance within myself and walked silently. Later Nilay came and gave me a hug and apologised for making fun of someone who clearly meant a lot to me.
I don't know why the incident has stayed with me. Even recalling the incident is making me emotional. And yet, isn't this exactly the kind of idol/hero worship that Ambedkar rallied against all his life. I am sure that instead of me, if it was him walking with the kids that day, he would have joined in and made fun of himself, instead of being annoyed.
We make great people even greater by putting them on a pedestal. While we continue to stay small and petty ourselves.