Savita Ambedkar

Ambedkar was born Sharada Krishnarao Kabir on 27 January 1909 in Bombay in a Saraswat Brahmin family. Her mother's name was Janaki and her father's name was Krishnarao Vinayak Kabir. Her family hailed from the Dorle village, located in Ratnagiri Tehasil of Ratnagiri district, Maharashtra. Later, her father migrated from Ratnagiri to Bombay. On the Sir Rao Bahadur S. K. Bole Road, near the "Kabootarkhana" (pigeon house) in Dadar West, the Kabir family had rented a house in Sahru's house in Matruchaya. Savita's early education was in Pune. In 1937, she completed her MBBS degree from Grant Medical College, Bombay. When her studies were completed, she was appointed as a first-class medical officer in a hospital in Gujarat. However, after some months of illness, she left her job and returned home. Six of her eight siblings had inter-caste marriages. At that time, it was against the societal norms of India. Savita said, "Our family did not oppose inter-caste marriages, because the whole family was educated and progressive." ==Career and meeting with Ambedkar ==

Sharada Kabir was introduced to B. R. Ambedkar through S. M. Rao, a doctor who lived in Bombay's Vile Parle and had close links with B. R. Ambedkar. B.R. Ambedkar was then the Labor Minister in the Viceroy's Executive Council. They talked about the empowerment of women and Buddhist philosophy. ==Marriage==

On 15 April 1948 Sharda Kabir married Ambedkar, as a Civil Marriage. She was 39 and he was 57. After their marriage, she was called "Mai" (mother) by his followers. After marriage Sharda adopted the name 'Savita', but Ambedkar used to call her "Shārū", a form of "Shāradā". Some of the public and Ambedkar's family were angry about the marriage. After marriage, Ambedkar's health continued to get worse. Savita Ambedkar continued looking after him until his death. Ambedkar mentioned the help he received from her in The Buddha and His Dhamma. In this preface, he says that Savita Ambedkar increased his life by 8–10 years. After Ambedkar's death, his associates and followers removed this passage. The Bengali Buddhist author Bhagwan Das published the preface as a "rare preface". ==Conversion to Buddhism==

from Mahasthavir Chandramani on 14 October 1956. In the photograph (from right to left): Savita Ambedkar, B. R. Ambedkar, Wali Sinha and Bhikkhu Chandramani. On Ashok Vijaya Dashami (the day on which Buddhism was accepted by Emperor Ashoka the Great), 14 October 1956, Ambedkar accepted Buddhism along with her husband in Deekshabhoomi, Nagpur. She was given the initiation of Buddha's Dhamma by the Burmese Bhikkhu Mahastavir Chandramani giving Three Jewels and Five precepts. After this, B. R. Ambedkar himself initiated Buddhism by giving 500,000 followers of Three Jewels, Five precepts and twenty-two pledges. Ambedkar became the first woman to accept Buddhism in this conversion movement. ==Allegations and contradictions ==

Many people from Delhi came to meet B. R. Ambedkar at 26 Alipur Road, where the couple lived. Only a few managed to see him during his sickness. Savita Ambedkar had dual obligations while taking care of him, in addition to being a doctor. After the death of Babasaheb Ambedkar in December 1956, some Ambedkarites blamed Savita Ambedkar for killing him. They separated her from the Ambedkarite movement by describing her as a Brahmin. She moved to his farmhouse in Mehrauli in Delhi, and remained in Delhi until 1972. The then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru formed a committee to investigate the matter, and that committee released her from the charges after investigation. == Repatriation with the Dalit movement ==

, Republican Party of India leader Ramdas Athavale and Gangadhar Gade brought her back to the mainstream Ambedkarite movement. The young activists of Dalit Panthers movement treated Savita Ambedkar with respect and called her Mai, "mother". She played an important role in the controversy about Ambedkar's book Riddles in Hinduism. This earned her respect and resolved the misunderstanding of Dalits. Later on, she was separated from him as she grew older. Babasaheb Ambedkar was given the 'Bharat Ratna', the highest civilian award, and it was accepted by Savita Ambedkar from the then President Ramaswamy Venkataraman on 14 April 1990, the centenary of his birth. ==Death==

Savita Ambedkar lived alone after her husband's death. Later on, she joined the Dalit Buddhist movement. She died on 29 May 2003 at the age of 94 at J.J. Hospital in Mumbai. == Writings ==

She wrote an autobiography in Marathi, titled "Dr. Ambedkaranchya Sahwasat" (English: In companionship with Dr. Ambedkar). She also contributed to the film Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, and was played in it by Mrinal Kulkarni. == See also ==