| Title | : | Ambedkar: Awakening India's Social Conscience |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 9322008350 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9789322008352 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 644 |
| Publication | : | First published April 1, 2014 |
Deviating from the conventional style of biography writing, this book focuses primarily on Dr. Ambedkar's intellectual making, evolution of his thinking and thought processes and the strategic stance that he took from time to time, over his momentous public life.
Ambedkar: Awakening India's Social Conscience Reviews
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Pratyek gava-baher ek lahan Maharwada aahe
Chauthichya pustakat matra samantecha dhada aahe
- Poet Chandrashekhar Gokhale
Translation: Outside the periphery of every village, there exists a separate settlement for the Mahars (caste considered untouchable as per the Chaturvarna system). However, there is a lesson about equality in fourth grade textbooks.
On the way back to Mumbai from Konkan, we encountered a lot of small villages. We saw this reality by our own eyes. Except, these peripheral hamlets are no longer called 'Maharwada'. Due to their conversion to Buddhism, they are now termed as 'Boudhawadi'. But the erstwhile 'untouchables' still live where their forefathers did - outside the periphery.
Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar was from these untouchables. This is a profound book; definitely not for light reading. It takes a lot out of you just to understand how abysmally were the excluded castes treated then. It shows the depth of the man who became great in extremely challenging circumstances and transformed the lives of excluded castes for ever.
This book proudly calls itself as an 'intellectual biography' of Dr. Ambedkar. It seems more like a collection of essays, speeches and articles authored by Dr. Ambedkar. There are times when Dr. Narendra Jadhav teeters on the brink of deifying the man, however he rescues himself at just the right moment.
I recommend this book for everyone who wants to understand the man who was, and is still, judged freely by many but understood by few.
Very few. -
A must read for every Indian who is not quite aware of Ambedkar's contribution to India's independence and upliftment of Dalits. Those who think he has only worked for the Dalits have been misled.
This is not a typical biography wherein you expect it to contain everything right from the person's birth, how s/he grew up, her/his career etc. This is his intellectual biography in that it recollects how Ambedkar came to be in public fora, how he started his agitations etc. This book contains original speeches and excerpts from his writings, newspaper articles which were published by the Govt. of India recently.
Nice book by Narendra Jadhav overall.
