Those who had the chance to live with Ambedkar, make it amply clear through their written reminiscences that Ambedkar’s personal life was never expunged from his public life. Kartar Singh ‘Polonius’ quotes Ambedkar’s views on his own life: “In public life, I will not do a thing which I cannot defend publicly” (Yusufji 102). Or was it the fact that he hardly imagined any distinction between his personal and public life–unlike his contemporaries? But an autobiography doesn’t seem to have been too high in his list of literary priorities, because he never wrote it. In fact, the editors of his Writings and Speeches claim in Volume Three that he had an intention to pen down the life of Mahatma Phule and the history of the Indian Army beside, his own life account. Or was it a deliberate choice on his part to miss it? However, there are shreds of evidence that he wanted to write his autobiography, in English. The question, however, is what did Ambedkar himself think about his life? In an era where it was both fashionable and normative for public figures to write their autobiographies, he seems to have missed the bus. Further, by alluding to a crucial Buddhist belief of Mahaparinirvana, and ascribing it to the day, Babasaheb’s followers concede that he was as blessed and enlightened as Buddha himself was and did not leave behind any karmic debt-–thanks to his hugely meaningful life of sacrifice, devotion, compassion and empathy for the subjugated, among others. On the contrary, they usually see it as the occasion to celebrate the greatness of his life and not the lack of its longevity. To his followers, the day is hardly a reminder of his death. Ambedkar, affectionately called Babasaheb by his followers. Today is December 6: the death anniversary of Dr B.R.

Ambedkar by Salim Yusufji