Well, so Ambedkar Jayanti was 'observed'..
That means -- a holiday was declared.
Ambedkar -- I have not read him enough, just the Annihilation of Caste, which i read once i was visiting home.
I always knew him as the one mark GK question, where he is the answer to --
'Who was the chairman of the drafting committee of the Constitution?'
Apart from some statues where i had seen him as an ordinary looking, mid-aged man with spectacles -- hardly had i known who he is.
but -- Annihilation of Caste -- was a discovery.
Read this one comment of his --
" Caste does not result in economic efficiency. Caste cannot and has not
improved the race. Caste has however done one thing. It has completely
disorganized and demoralized the Hindus. The first and foremost thing that must be recognized is that Hindu Society is a myth. The name Hindu is itself a foreign name. It was given by the
Mohammedans to the natives for the purpose of distinguishing themselves. It does not occur in any Sanskrit work prior to the Mohammedan invasion. They did not feel the necessity of a common name because they had no conception of their having constituted a community. Hindu society as such does not exist. It is only a collection of castes. Each caste is conscious of its existence. Its survival is
the be all and and all of its existence. Castes do not even form a federation. A caste has no feeling that it is affiliated to other castes except when there is a Hindu-Muslim riot. On all other occasions each caste endeavours to segregate itself and to distinguish itself from other castes. Each caste not only dines among itself and marries among itself but each caste prescribes its own distinctive
dress. What other explanation can there be of the innumerable styles of dress worn by the men and women of India which so amuse the tourists ? Indeed the ideal Hindu must be like a rat living in his own hole refusing to have any contact with others. There is an utter lack among the Hindus of what the sociologists call " consciousness of kind ". There is no Hindu consciousness of kind. In every
Hindu the consciousness that exists is the consciousness of his caste. That is the reason why the Hindus cannot be said to form a society or a nation. There are however many Indians whose patriotism does not permit them to admit that Indians are not a nation, that they are only an amorphous mass of people. They have insisted that underlying the apparent diversity there is a fundamental unity which marks the life of the Hindus in as much as there is a similarity of habits and
customs, beliefs and thoughts which obtain all over the continent of India. Similarity in habits and customs, beliefs and thoughts there is. But one cannot accept the conclusion that therefore, the Hindus constitute a society. "
(you can find full text and other writings here
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B5gR958uDQFKQkdDbUhOVVBqbFU)
Its a different issue to agree or disagree with him. In a world where our opinions are made of facebook feeds, twitter characters, and opinionated opinions on everyone -- do we really know the original people.
Hardly -- i guess.
The question, therefore is -- who Ambedkar really was?
Not the suited-booted lawyer who drafted the constitution - but the radical -- or both?
Or are they the same?
What is clear -- is -- Its definitely very hard to know, who Ambedkar really is.
Take for example -- this Jayanti we celebrate.
As politicians raced and fought to declare themselves the only and true followers of Ambedkar, how many times did we hear -- even one of his ideas/speeches shared?
(see the cartoon here -- http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/cartoon/article8476409.ece)
Do you remember even a single quote due to Ambedkar?
Well, we have -- as always -- made the man -- a God, and we have forgotten what he stood for.
The irony of the situation is --
As Ambedkar Jayanti was being celebrated, and all professors took a holiday, office staff did not turn up, and students also took a free day -- well, parveen amma (who cleans up our office) and all other cleaning staff -- washed the whole department. While, in the messes -- students got specially made food for the occasion -- and the mess workers took no leave.
Yes, we celebrated Ambedkar Jayanti -- not Ambedkar.
That means -- a holiday was declared.
Ambedkar -- I have not read him enough, just the Annihilation of Caste, which i read once i was visiting home.
I always knew him as the one mark GK question, where he is the answer to --
'Who was the chairman of the drafting committee of the Constitution?'
Apart from some statues where i had seen him as an ordinary looking, mid-aged man with spectacles -- hardly had i known who he is.
but -- Annihilation of Caste -- was a discovery.
Read this one comment of his --
" Caste does not result in economic efficiency. Caste cannot and has not
improved the race. Caste has however done one thing. It has completely
disorganized and demoralized the Hindus. The first and foremost thing that must be recognized is that Hindu Society is a myth. The name Hindu is itself a foreign name. It was given by the
Mohammedans to the natives for the purpose of distinguishing themselves. It does not occur in any Sanskrit work prior to the Mohammedan invasion. They did not feel the necessity of a common name because they had no conception of their having constituted a community. Hindu society as such does not exist. It is only a collection of castes. Each caste is conscious of its existence. Its survival is
the be all and and all of its existence. Castes do not even form a federation. A caste has no feeling that it is affiliated to other castes except when there is a Hindu-Muslim riot. On all other occasions each caste endeavours to segregate itself and to distinguish itself from other castes. Each caste not only dines among itself and marries among itself but each caste prescribes its own distinctive
dress. What other explanation can there be of the innumerable styles of dress worn by the men and women of India which so amuse the tourists ? Indeed the ideal Hindu must be like a rat living in his own hole refusing to have any contact with others. There is an utter lack among the Hindus of what the sociologists call " consciousness of kind ". There is no Hindu consciousness of kind. In every
Hindu the consciousness that exists is the consciousness of his caste. That is the reason why the Hindus cannot be said to form a society or a nation. There are however many Indians whose patriotism does not permit them to admit that Indians are not a nation, that they are only an amorphous mass of people. They have insisted that underlying the apparent diversity there is a fundamental unity which marks the life of the Hindus in as much as there is a similarity of habits and
customs, beliefs and thoughts which obtain all over the continent of India. Similarity in habits and customs, beliefs and thoughts there is. But one cannot accept the conclusion that therefore, the Hindus constitute a society. "
(you can find full text and other writings here
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B5gR958uDQFKQkdDbUhOVVBqbFU)
Its a different issue to agree or disagree with him. In a world where our opinions are made of facebook feeds, twitter characters, and opinionated opinions on everyone -- do we really know the original people.
Hardly -- i guess.
The question, therefore is -- who Ambedkar really was?
Not the suited-booted lawyer who drafted the constitution - but the radical -- or both?
Or are they the same?
What is clear -- is -- Its definitely very hard to know, who Ambedkar really is.
Take for example -- this Jayanti we celebrate.
As politicians raced and fought to declare themselves the only and true followers of Ambedkar, how many times did we hear -- even one of his ideas/speeches shared?
(see the cartoon here -- http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/cartoon/article8476409.ece)
Do you remember even a single quote due to Ambedkar?
Well, we have -- as always -- made the man -- a God, and we have forgotten what he stood for.
The irony of the situation is --
As Ambedkar Jayanti was being celebrated, and all professors took a holiday, office staff did not turn up, and students also took a free day -- well, parveen amma (who cleans up our office) and all other cleaning staff -- washed the whole department. While, in the messes -- students got specially made food for the occasion -- and the mess workers took no leave.
Yes, we celebrated Ambedkar Jayanti -- not Ambedkar.
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