Remembering Bhimrao and Ramabai Ambedkar

A mother and daughter from Majalgaon sing songs of love and affection for the young Bhimrao Ambedkar and Ramabai, making them a part of their own household

With this ovi , Parvati Bhadarge gives us a glimpse into the lives of a young Bhimrao Ambedkar and Ramabai. The song has two meanings: first, the obvious one, of the enduring love between a young husband and wife; second, an underlying one, which hints at the many years of separation that the couple endured when Bhimrao studied abroad while Ramabai took care of their family at home.

In some of the couplets, the singers portray the prosperity of Ramji Sakpal, Bhimrao’s father. They count the many horses he owns, and sing about the tank of sweet water for the animals. Their pride in, and affection for, Babasaheb Ambedkar and Ramabai feeds their imagination, which might sometimes be a little removed from reality. How did Bhimrao and Ramabai get married? What was it really like?

They were very young when they married in 1906, as was the tradition of those times. Bhimrao was 14, having completed his matriculation exam, and the girl, Rami Valangkar, was merely 9. Ramji Sakpal chose the bride for his son. Rami came from a poor family from Vanandgaon in the Konkan region, where her father worked as a porter. After her parents passed away within a short time of each other, Rami and her younger brother and sister lived with their paternal uncle in a chawl in the Byculla vegetable market in Mumbai. The wedding ceremony of Bhimrao and Rami was held there and took place at night, when the market was empty of buyers and sellers.

Rami was renamed Ramabai after marriage. Bhimrao affectionately called her ‘Ramu’. For her, he was always ‘Saheb’, literally meaning ‘sir,’ a term that combines a wife’s affection, respect and reverence for her husband when she uses it for him. The hard life she led in her younger days revisited Rami in the years after marriage, when Bhimrao went abroad to study. They had five children, of whom four died in childhood. During Bhimrao’s absence, Ramabai faced the many losses of loved ones in the family, including their children, alone.

The 22 ovi presented here, sung by Parvati Bhadarge, from Bhimnagar hamlet in Beed district’s Majalgaon taluka , accompanied by her daughter Rangu Potbhare, start with this beautiful idea: “Your voice and mine, let it become one, like the flowing current in River Ganga”. The narrator tells her neighbour that Bhimrao and Ramabai Ambedkar are visiting her home and she is making the stuffed puranpoli sweet for them.

With a sense of pride, the women sing about the horses that Ramji Sakpal owns, and the special mare that the young Bhim rides, worth a thousand rupees, with a quilt worth three hundred. Goddess Lakshmi arrives at Bhimrao’s house after many stops on the way, the narrator says, pcituring wealth and prosperity in the household. In reality, the family was not wealthy at all. Ramji Sakpal was a retired army subedar , and the family resided in Dabak Chawl at Lower Parel in Mumbai. In the composer’s eyes, Bhim is like a rose flower. She imagines him and Ramabai wearing the traditional bashinga , a head ornament, for their marriage ceremony in Ramji’s house.

In another couplet, the singer mentions that 12 years of her youth were spent toiling at the grindmill. The work soaked her in sweat. It was Ramabai, or Ramai, she says, who was the mother who gave her strength to do the gruelling work, by giving her nutmeg with opium in her childhood to strengthen her arms.

Ramabai had earned the name of Ramai, or ‘Mother Ramabai’, for her sacrifice and self-respect during the years that Bhimrao was away. Though she faced difficult times financially, she refused to accept gifts of money from friends and well-wishers. When Ramabai once stayed with a friend who ran a residential school for children, she found that the kids had been going without food for a few days since the government’ supply of provisions had been delayed. Not willing to let them starve, she handed over her gold jewellery to be sold or pawned so that food could be bought. The children called her Rama Aai or Ramai with gratitude and affection. That endearing name continues to be used till this day.

In one ovi , the narrator imagines the infant Bhim, and the immense pleasure she will feel when she goes to her parental home and rocks his cradle. In another couplet, Bhimrao is her brother, and Ramabai the affectionate sister-in-law whose loving presence in her parental home relaxes her.

In the final ovi of this set, the narrator’s happiness spills over as she sings that her home is filled with guests and she greets Babasaheb Ambedkar with ‘Jai Bhim!’

Your voice and mine, let it become one
Like the flowing current in River Ganga

A guest has come to my house; my neighbour asks,
‘from where have they come?’
My Ambedkar Baba’s horse carts are in the street

I roll the puranpoli in haste
Bhim along with Ramabai is a guest at my house

Ramabai applies kunku [vermillion] on round-shaped wax [on the forehead]
Bhim says from the airplane, O Rama, come with me

O woman, how many people on horseback, how many on foot?
At night, my father Ramji went to see the daughter-in-law

O woman, six persons on horseback, count how many are on foot
Ramji, my father has gone to see the daughter-in-law

Who is on horseback, greeting ‘Ram! Ram!’ Who is this respected dear one?
He is Ambedkar Baba, my darling Rama’s husband

A bridegroom arrives with a gold bashinga on his head, while music plays
You know, the wedding of Bhim is taking place in his father Ramji’s house

Lakshmi has come home, taking many stops on the way
Stopping many times on the way, she asks for Bhim’s mansion

O woman, put kunku on the step of the house
Ramabai, the dear honoured one, is not at home

Call the savashin [married] women, a guest has come from far
Bring the lanterns, and go look for Bhim’s queen

O woman, the market is full, like the crowd from a thousand forts
I did not recognise my Ambedkar Baba, Bhim came with a fine shawl

The pot of ink and the pen are kept aside on the bed
Mira is asking her nephew ‘how much territory is conquered?’

O woman, I was grinding grain, filling the flour in the vessel
For my dear Ambedkar Baba, the little one who is now in Delhi

O woman, the thousand-rupee mare does not drink water from the stream
Father Ramji has provided tanks with sweet water for the horses

O woman, a thousand-rupee mare with a three-hundred-rupee quilt
My Baba Ambedkar sitting on it, like a rose flower sitting on it

When I rotate the grindmill, I have strength in my wrist
Rama, my mother, has fed me nutmeg in opium

Pulling the grindmill, it gets you exhausted
Twelve years of my youth have been wasted in grinding on the mill

O woman, I will go to my parents’ home, how charming it will be!
My friend Bhim, my favourite Bhimraja is with me,
Aunt, do sit down

O woman, I will go to my parents’ home, how will I relax there?
The baby Bhim’s cradle will be before me, I will rock it fondly

O woman, I will go to my parents’ home, my mother lives there
My favourite, Ramabai, will give me succour as my sister-in-law

There are guests at my home seated everywhere
I greet my Ambedkar Baba with ‘Jai Bhim!’

Performers/Singers : Parvati Bhadarge (mother), Rangu Potbhare (daughter)

Village : Majalgaon

Hamlet : Bhim Nagar

Taluka : Majalgaon

District : Beed

Caste : Nav Bauddha (Neo Buddhist)

Occupations : Parvati Bhadarge was a farmer and farm labourer. Rangu Potbhare worked on her family farm for some years.

Poster: Urja

Special thanks to Rajratna Salve and Vinay Potbhare from Majalgaon for their assistance.

Read about the original Grindmill Songs Project founded by Hema Rairkar and Guy Poitevin.