Ambedkar is historical yet contemporary; he is textual yet visual. His name has unparalleled optics. Many recent surveys have established how Gandhi might have been the most popular Indian in the nation’s memory in the twentieth century but Ambedkar is still growing as one of the tallest icons of twenty-first century India. The book under review, curated by a banker by profession to document her family history, is dedicated to her paternal grandparents, GZ Uke and Renukabai Uke who hailed from Chandrapur, and her maternal grandparents GT Meshram and Sarubai Meshram belonging to Nagpur in Maharashtra.
The author’s mother, Kamal Uke was born in a family which was both socially and politically associated with Dr Ambedkar. Similarly, the author’s father was one of the few to have been awarded a fellowship to pursue his engineering degree from England before India’s Independence when he had the opportunity of a close association with Dr Ambedkar. Hence, the title of the book. In a sense the title is a creative engagement. But the craft of the book is slightly fragmented, rather haphazard. The author has a solid base of primary sources in the form of a diary maintained by her father and oral history as recalled by her mother.
The book is divided into three parts. The first part is the richest in details and craft. Narayan G Uke, during his years in London, had the opportunity to meet stalwarts including Jawaharlal Nehru, Mohammad Ali Jinnah and BR Ambedkar. He had a special fondness and reverence for Ambedkar who he believed possessed the best oratorical skills of the three. He also met KR Narayanan who went on to become India’s President, and Barrister BD Khobragade who later became Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha (pp. 116-117).
Narayan G Uke has noted some details as for instance that his date of birth (1894) was changed by his father to 1892 so that he could write his matriculation examination. This could be a typographical error since public records mention 1891 as his year of birth (p. 128). Some of the concerns that Dr Ambedkar shared in his personal conversations are truly reflective of his honesty and integrity. For instance, once he had shared with Narayan, ‘A person who takes money cannot be honest. One thing Gandhi knew about me is that I am incorruptible. All leaders must have economic independence. Politics should not be the first profession, it should be secondary. It should be a sideway activity. I am normally a very conscious person. In that sense I am a very religious man. I am quite proud of my own record. There is not a single case where I cheated my client’
(p. 130).
Some of the reflections of Dr Ambedkar during personal chats with Narayan Uke could open up a whole new genre of research prospects on some of the most contentious questions during the years preceding Independence and Partition. Narayan records that Dr Ambedkar was not in favour of Partition and that he had changed his own idea on this question when he became a labour member. He was to repent and feel guilty, expressed in his writings on Pakistan and the Partition.
Furthermore, referring to his other writings on themes like Sudras and the Untouchables, Dr Ambedkar observed, ‘…to be enthusiastic one must be narrow minded. Many have asked me, “Why don’t you take interest in wider problems and why should you confine yourself to your community only?” I tell them that there are many who take up wide problems but no one takes up narrow and small issues, therefore I have to be narrow minded…’ (p. 132). Similarly, another diary entry of Narayan Uke dated 02.11.1946 mentions that Dr Ambedkar was busy most of the day with the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in an important meeting and how the latter praised his book What Congress and Gandhi have done to the Untouchables. Uke’s diary further informs the reader about how Dr Ambedkar motivated a delegation of students who went to meet him that day to study hard, take up strategic jobs and advised to never forget their own people even after taking important positions in public life.
The second part of the book tells us to introspect if the life of ordinary women and men is worth writing about. The author, however, has made this rightful claim by adding a tagline that runs through each page of the book…a story worth telling. The book throws ample light on an important personality who was Dr Ambedkar’s friend and associate, Raisaheb GT Meshram. Narayan Uke reminds us how personalities like Meshram achieved such prominent positions to become an estate officer and was conferred the title of ‘Raisaheb’ by the colonial regime. He wrote, ‘…the British government did not practice discrimination and did not differentiate between an upper caste Hindu, Scheduled Caste, Muslim or Christian person, everyone irrespective of caste, creed or religion got equal opportunity to get a job. People were thrown together in work places which led to friendship and intermingling…’ (p. 189).
The book provides some of the very ordinary everyday affairs of Dr Ambedkar’s life, often ignored by some of the finest biographers. Since he was an individual of the highest order of dignity and impeccable character, he would never let anyone touch his feet and would also discourage others including his acquaintances from touching anybody’s feet. He saw this as an act of servility and against self-respect. The book further informs us that he was fond of cooking and he loved mutton curry. GT Meshram’s and Ambedkar’s family members would go together to watch movies in Connaught Place enjoying wafers and ice cream sitting in the box of Regal Theatre. They would also occasionally dine out at restaurants like Gaylord, Volga or The York at Connaught Place or Moti Mahal at Daryaganj.
The third part of the book is mainly about the author’s own close family members; about her mother Kamal Uke, her father Narayan Uke and her siblings Sunil and Ujjwal. This family history may read like just another story of a well-to-do upper middle class Indian household but on closer scrutiny one is compelled to see it as the family history of a ‘Dalit middle class’ in India which is still in the making.
Arvind Kumar teaches at the Centre for the Study of Social Inclusion, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi.