Mahatma phule and women free essay sample

Three precious Persons are known as Mahatma in India. At First Mahatma Gandhi, Presently, Anna Hazare and Mahatma Jyotirao Phule. Mahatma Jyotirao Phule was one of the leading exponents of modem gentle, kind and caring human thought in India. Dhananjay Keer, his biographer, notes him as the father of Indian social revolution. The Public of Indian Society was Traditional, motionless and lethargic. He was the reformer who went to the cause of the problems and preached an ideology that would create a new and integrated social structure. He had the courage to be inspired by modern thought. He was one of the first Indians to forcefully introduce the values of freedom, equality and fraternity, as proclaimed by the French Revolution, into the Indian way of thinking. India had another social evil, which allowed no scope for social progress or development, and that was the caste system which determined the social standing at birth—the highest caste being the Brahmins and the lowest, the untouchables or the Mahars, Mangs, Chambhars, Dhers, etc. We will write a custom essay sample on Mahatma phule and women or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The Brahmins formed the priestly class, who imparted religious instruction with the help of religious texts known as Srutis, Smritis and Puranas. A Brahmin was considered the most holy person. The remaining castes came between the two extremes of pure and impure. According to Mahatma Jyotirao Phule, The Brahmins reigned supreme owing to the blind acceptance of their caste superiority. So deep-rooted was this belief in the caste system that a Hindu felt polluted even if the shadow of an’ untouchable’ fell on him. It was believed that one could cleanse one’s sins by giving alms to a Brahmin or by drinking the water obtained by washing the feet of a priest. The latter custom still prevails in some regions of India. The Brahmin community ensured that women remained uneducated and illiterate. He was simply thrilled at the prospect that introduction of modern education could help in bringing about an enormous social change. Mahatma Phule and Savitribai Phule He was aid in his work by his spouse, Savitribai Phule, She gave a hand to him and together they started the second school for girls in India in 1848, for which he was forced to leave his home. He initiated widow-remarriage and started a home for upper caste widows in 1854, as well as a home for new-born infants to prevent female infanticide. He tried to eliminate the stigma of social Untouchability surrounding the lower castes by opening his house and the use of his water-well to the members of the lower castes. Mahatma Phule’s Social activity Mahatma Jyotibao Phule was great activist, thinker, social reformer, writer, philosopher, theologist, scholar, editor and revolutionary from Maharashtra, India in the nineteenth century. He, after educating his wife, opened the first school for girls in India in August 1848. In eptember 1873, Jyotirao, along with his followers, formed the Satya Shodhak Samaj (Society of Seekers of Truth) with the main objective of liberating the Bahujans, Shudras and Ati-Shudras and protecting them from exploitation and atrocities. Title of Mahatma Workers Contribution. The great social reformer Jotirao Phule was bestowed with the unique title of Mahatma on 11 May 1888 by another great social reformer from Mumbai, Rao Bahadur Vithalrao Krishnaji Vandekar. As the historical point of view, Jyotirao Phule had completed 60 years of his age and 40 years of social service fighting for the rights of the bahujans. To highlight this achievement, it was decided by the bahujans and satyashodhak leaders and workers to felicitate Jotirao Phule. Rao Bahadur Vithalrao Krishnaji Vandekar, Narayan Meghaji Lokhande were in the forefront for arranging this function. Rao Bahadur Vandekar and his fellow workers decided to bestow the title of Mahatma on Jotirao Phule for his dedicated service in the cause of humanity. The same moment of Title to Mahatma Phule is memorized by author, Dr. D. L. Karad remind the moment to his comrades at the place near Collector office, Old Agra Road, Nasik and declares that now All workers had given the title of Mahatma to Anna Hazare. Mahatma Phule and Education Commision The Memorial to Hunter Commission by Jyotirao Phule is a document of immense importance in the history of educational reforms in India. A document older than a century and a quarter, it contains the seeds of the ideas like free and compulsory education to all now enshrined in the Constitution of India. It is probably the first document of its kind that speaks of creating a taste of education in the masses and making it accessible to all. It is available on blogs and public domain. Indigenous schools exist a good deal in cities, towns and some large villages, especially where there was a Brahmin population. The boys were generally taught the multiplication table by heart, a little Modi writing and reading, and to recite a few religious pieces. The teachers, as a rule, were not capable of effecting any improvements, as they were not initiated in the art of teaching. The fees charged in these schools range from 2 to 8 annas. Mahatma Phule and Women’s education Contribution of women activist in Mahatma Phule’s socialist activities. Some of Indias first modern feminists were closely associated with Phule, including his wife Savitribai Phule; Pandita Ramabai, a Brahmin woman who converted to Christianity. Panditia Ramabai who was leading advocate for the rights and welfare for the women in India; Tarabai Shinde, the non-Brahmin author of a fiery tract on gender inequality which was largely ignored at the time but has recently become well-known; and Muktabai, a fourteen-year-old pupil in Phules school, whose essay on the social oppression of the Mang and Mahar castes is also now famous. The celebration of Shiv Jayanti(Birth day of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj)for the first time in India has been attributed to him. He also discovered the Samadhi of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj on Raigad Fort which had disappeared in creepers and climbers. He wrote Shivajicha powada an epic poem. Mahatma Phule As Philosopher All scriptures describe heaven, but it is imaginary. There is no region on earth known as heaven. The ‘Nirmik’ has no need for offerings. One can earn the merit that one would have earned otherwise by being kind to pious men in their times of difficulty or by helping an invalid. Between men and women, women are the superior sex. One can repay everyone’s debt but never mat of the mother who gives birth. A home is not a home without a woman in it. A woman selflessly looks after everyone. Being the weaker sex and with man being greedy and selfish, the woman has been subjugated by the latter. Men have even forbidden her learning so that she would not know her rights. The practice of polygamy is evil. The male’s greed creates envy and hatred of all kinds. Men of vice betray their wives by making it with many women and in the process of satisfying their lust for them, succumb to various kinds of venereal diseases which then spread rapidly elsewhere. If an intoxicated man has intercourse with a woman in menstruation leprosy occurs, which also spreads to the offspring’s. Widowers, who marry beautiful, inexperienced girls, ruin their lives. But if these girls are widowed, they are not allowed to remarry. They have to resort to abortion and infanticide. Mahatma Phule and Women’s Empowerment Jyotirao set himself to the task of seeking educational reforms. He was convinced that both the women and the Sudras from the Hindu community should avail themselves of modern education. At the time, even the Brahmins were opposed to educating their women. He decided to open a school for girls, for, if a woman were educated, the home could become a school where the educated mother could teach her children. Meanwhile his friend, Sadashivrao Govande took him to Ahmednagar, the centre of education run by Christian missionaries. They visited the mission school of Madame Farrar, who too lamented that education of women had been sadly neglected in India. She felt that each Indian male should take to educating his wife who could then help him in the spread of education. Accordingly, when Jotirao returned to Pune, he persuaded his wife to get educated; She did so and later started a school for girls belonging to the lower castes. The school began functioning in August 1848 at Bhide Wada in Budhwar Peth. Joti’s associates, Paranjape, Hate and Govande, gave him financial assistance to help run the school. This school was open to girls from the untouchable castes such as Mahars, Mangsand Chamars. This was the time when Pune in particular was the bastion of ultraconservative Hindu leaders, who looked upon an institution which imparted education to Sudra and Ati-Sudra women as an offence against God, and against the Shastras, religion and society. According to these leaders, Hindu religion prohibited women and Sudras from learning, when in reality; it is only the Vedas which are prohibited to the women and Sudras, and not education. However, learning had been denied to women by leaders of various castes. The Brahmins and the caste leaders feared that the social edifice of the caste structure would receive a severe jolt if women became educated. They felt that a woman, if educated, could go astray and destroy family happiness. Those were the days when women were not allowed to use footwear or umbrellas or speak to their husbands in the presence of others; a newly-married couple could not converse with each other in the presence of elders; a woman could not sit down to a meal with her husband. Educating women was considered as bad as playing with fire, as it could lead women to cross the boundaries of family decorum and make elders lose their authority. The curriculum comprised of reading, grammar, arithmetic, geography, history, map reading, etc. Major Candy, supervisor of the school, said in a report: â€Å"I am happy to note the intelligence and progress of the girls. † On 17 February 1852 Jotirao’s school was publicly inspected, following which there was a speech by Bhansaheb Mande. â€Å"It is a pity that the citizens of our country are not yet convinced of the need to educate women,† he said. A judge named Brown was present on this occasion. In his speech he quoted Milton and said, â€Å"Educating women will strengthen family happiness and utility of the institution of the family. † A fourteen-year old girl from one of Jotirao’s schools for untouchables wrote an essay in which she said, â€Å"The Brahmins say that other castes should not read the Vedas; this leaves us without a scripture. Thus, are we without religion? Oh God, please tell us, what is our religion? God, by Your Grace, you sent us the kindly British government. This has brought relief and welfare. Before the British came the Mahars and Mangs were beheaded when they committed an offence against the people of higher castes. Earlier we were not allowed to move about freely in the bazaar of Sultekadi; now we can. † Such was the freedom given to girls in schools run by Jyotiba. Dadoba Pandurang Tarkhadkar was the supervisor of the local government schools. The movement to educate women began to spread to other regions of the country. He was certain that British rule would prove useful in introducing social reforms. In later years, another social reformer, Gopal Ganesh Agarkar said as much the same. The establishment of schools for women was the first step towards upliftment of the deprived and downtrodden. Reflection of the Name Mahatma Phule. The full length statue inaugurated at the premises of Vidhan Bhavan (Assembly Building of Maharasthra State), by the auspicious hands of then the Chief Minister and other dignitaries. The Crawford Market in Mumbai is officially named after him and is known as Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Mandai. Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth in Rahuri, Ahmednagar District, Maharastra. Mandai (Pune) officially known as Mahathma Phule Mandai is the biggest vegetable market in Pune City, India. The wholesale vegetable market in Nagpur, Maharashtra (India) is also named after him. Subharti College of Physiotherapy was formerly named after him Jyotirao Phule physiotherapy college. Noted playwright G. P. Deshpande’s biographical play Satyashodhak (The Truth Seeker)was first performed by Jan Natya Manch in 1992 Conclusion Bring to a close with; we can say that he was the first Indian socialist, educationist and thinker whose realistic views on education were honoured by British rule in India. In spite of the fact that he was a great critic of the system of education laid down by Lord Macaulay. He was the most practical man with profound philosophical background. The Indian educationists of his period and after his period were greatly impressed by the richness and originality of his thoughts. But some contemporary leaders and reformers in education could not appreciate him in his times as they were in the grip of traditionalism. His educational ideas and principles especially in the field of women education and universal, free and compulsory primary education are most welcome in the modern Indian society as elsewhere. His ideas to empower women and develop family are a historical part in India. There is no gain saying the fact that the history of woman education in India will be just incomplete without reference to the contribution of Mahatma Jotiba Phule. He is correctly called Mahatma. For his great contribution, he is regarded as â€Å" The father of Indian social revolution. † Refrences: