A letter to Babasaheb
Dearest Babasaheb,
It’s been decades since you left us. But I’m sure you know by now, that you’re more than an icon here.There’s no way your prophetic foresight would’ve missed that. Every passing day since then, we’ve only grown stronger and been more proud of your legacy. It feels like a chapter in our socio-political history would’ve gone missing if it weren’t for you.As we are attempting to find our feet back into the mainstream, I can’t thank you enough for your contributions to our lives.You left us with points to ponder upon, aspirations to fulfill and build a better future for generations to come.
On your 129th birth anniversary, many across the world are paying respects to you.Irrespective of their politics, most people can’t deny that you’re modern India’s greatest Champion of social Justice. Mahatmas may have strode this land with their compelling urge to bind people on the basis of Social Morality and a tactful compromise of egalitarianism, but you have always believed in doing the right thing. As we search for our place in the socio-political landscape of our civilization, your thoughts have left us with a sense of purpose and direction. The unmatched relevance of your thoughts is wrongfully attributed to smash-and-grab political motives.Your views on Kashmir and article 370 have been wrongly attributed. Your views on Islam and other religions have been selectively used to fuel Islamophobia. These are only a couple of examples where you’re invoked to recruit our people into a diabolical scheme of partisan politics.
LIberty, Equality and Fraternity- the three cardinal principles of our constitutional scheme that was meant for a functionally representative democracy have been gradually scraped hollow. The masses, whom you toiled for, your entire life, have few friends in the system. When they demand for a dignified livelihood, they’re left to flee for their lives. Their wages and living is a matter of discretion for those in power. Any demand is met with an irritable contempt where the provision of meals twice in a day is presumed to be adequate for sustenance. Worse, in some cases they’re treated like subjects to the emperor who need to be disinfected and disposed of, with showers of Sodium Hypochlorite or some mild disinfectants. Dignity is still at large, for our people baba.
In these times baba, you have been embraced as a symbol of resistance. A group of women who started a protest movement in Delhi inspired many such across the nation recently. You know where you stood in that discourse? Right on top and a cut above the rest.People were seen sloganeering Jai Bhim, which was essentially a prayer and a proud proclamation by our people. You were everywhere, on the sign boards, hidden in those words of revolt and the undying spirit of those who were fighting for their political rights.
As I turn older and join many of our people to celebrate your birth anniversary, I want to tell you that there are signs of spring after a long winter.There’s a streak of resistance and assertion in everything our people do. Our women, in particular, are doing extremely well. Literature, activism and leadership,they’re contributing quite substantively.They make you proud, I’m sure.That said, years later I must say I’ve found a sense of purpose in me.I’ve grown up watching this world change from little communities of political sovereigns to a global village.All these years, I grappled with what I needed or what went missing in my life.As I connect back to the reality of my identity and the history of progress across generations, I’ve tried to fit into places and communities where I wasn’t welcome.I’ve worshiped men and women who had no conviction or courage to do the right thing.Years later, I’m convinced you’re the only inspiration I ever needed.And I’m at peace with it.
Thanks for everything.
Jai Bhim!!
