Wrapped in our centuries-old history lie micro-histories with stories that inspire; enveloped within those stories are layers of micro-stories which broaden understanding. When Gail Omvedt, undoubtedly one of modern India’s finest historians was unraveling layers of anti-caste movements, she wrote ‘Seeking Begumpura’ devoting an entire chapter of 25 pages to Jotirao Phule. It was titled ‘Remembering the Kingdom of Bali’. In it, she had only one sentence for his wife, Savitribai: “In 1849 and 1851 he founded schools for girls and untouchables with his wife Savitribai among the teachers.

A couple of schools at the beginning led to several more and to an association.” While Jotirao had identified Brahmins as the main obstacle in the way of education and development of sudras and ati shudras, it was Savitribai and her teacher-colleagues Fatima Sheikh and Sagunabai Kshirsagar who made Jotirao’s dream of establishing schools for girls’ education a reality. Jotirao, Omvedt explained, was named not after the lamp (Jyoti) but after the popular folk deity (Joti) in Maharashtra who is indeed a symbol of the peasantry: another story to light up the world of oppressed castes. In fact Phule’s anti-caste fervour, his growing number of village-level achievements even in the 1840s and 1850s overshadowed the sweat, toil and work of both Savitribai and Fatima Sheikh. It is also a pointer to the humility of the two teachers who rarely, if ever, sought to be in the public eye. By the time the stellar contributions of Savitribai became known, she was being hailed as the ‘first woman teacher’ who championed the cause of women’s education and the rights of sudras to be educated. Fatima Sheikh still remained in the background.

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If we fast track to independent India, today there were educational institutes, scholarships and awards named after Savitribai Phule and as recently as 2014, the University of Pune was named after her. Politicians from across the spectrum are quick to say: “We are the sons and daughters of Savitribai Phule.” However, thanks to painstaking research of several Marathi-Telugu-Urdu scholars, Fatima Sheikh’s collaboration and friendship with both Savitribai and Jyotirao (Joti gets morphed into Jyotirao for the English-speaking world) is now known to the world. It is Fatima’s turn to be hailed as the ‘first Muslim woman teacher’. In her book ‘Savitribai Phule ~ Her life, her relationships, her legacy’, Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta........

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