A biography on Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, the Chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee of
independent India, authored by the eminent Indian leader, writer, former international civil servant,Dr. Shashi Tharoor.
My first time with a biography; unlike a book outlining the life of a person in a story-mode, this one
deals mainly with facts and incidents from Dr. Ambedkar’s life, not strictly adhering to the timelines
in order.
The book is divided into two parts
– life and legacy. These two parts can be considered as two separate books
because of their differences in nature. One is purely academical and comprises mostly
of points and facts and excerpts from various references; wherein the other part
is author’s very own thoughts and opinions.
The first part is Dr Ambedkar’s
life described as a series of indexed facts. His birth, living conditions, the
hardships he faced, the trauma that built him into be what he became, his
incessant love for books and knowledge, the rigor and passion of pursuing his
cause all the while standing rooted on his principals, his triumphs, his failures,
and the brilliance of being a man of words, as he was.
This is the part where the author
skims through political and social reforms Ambedkar made. Readers get a glance
of the Mahad Satyagraha, one of the first noteworthy Dalit movement for
allowing the “untouchables” access to public tanks and wells and its
implications. Readers are also taken through various other important events
such as the paths that lead to the Poona Pact which allowed for Dalit electoral
representation, and ‘Manusmrithi Dahan Din’ that originated from Ambedkar’s disbelief
in Hinduism and its clear defiance. It also talks about his education, works abroad
and various friends as well as foes he made along the way.
One another interesting reference
is to the conflicts of interest between Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Ambedkar – how
two great Indian minds, who had similar goals, but could not work together,
owing to the different paths they chose.
Towards the end, of this part,
readers get a view on how Dr. Ambedkar was nominated as the Chairman of
Constitution Drafting Committee by those who have had disagreements with him in
the past, but nevertheless, had full trust in his capability in owning that
position. There is also reference on how Dr. Ambedkar and several of his
followers, rejected Hinduism, which they believed, treated them unjustly, and
adopted Buddhism for the rest of their lives.
This part, as I mentioned before,
is more of a kind of academic textbook which can be used for reference purposes.
The second part, Legacy, comprises mainly
of author’s opinions and analysis. This is where we see some of ‘Tharoor magic’,
though not entirely hijacking the essence. Sharing his views on Dr.Ambedkar’s
broad influence, the author also boldly steps up to point out a couple of his
widely-discussed flaws as well. The author then further talks about Ambedkarism
today, and how it is far away from what the great man had in his mind.
As the chapters progress, we tend
to wonder if the politician in Dr. Shashi Tharoor tries to intervene with his own
author-self with a hidden agenda; the agenda being a remembrance of Dr.
Ambedkar’s life and ideology he followed, throwing light to the fact that, he
never was a part of any of the existing political parties, at least full-heartedly.
He had his differences with almost all the parties and major political
leaders of his era.
In short, this book, mainly its
last part and the facts stated in this stands a direct challenge against anyone
trying to appropriate Dr. Ambedkar against their political interests.
The book has a good academic value,
but a little too much dry for a biography.
One of the part that signifies Dr.Ambedkar’s
love of books that was referenced in this book and that deeply touched me is “Ambedkar’s
love of books was so intense that his
biggest fear was that he would lose his eyesight and be unable to read”
