Google Doodle brings into focus Savitribai Phule, India's first woman teacher

On January 4, the much-viewed Google Doodle showed a woman holding numerous female figures around what looks like a school in her sari pallu. The woman in the picture was Savitribai Phule and the doodle perfectly depicted what she stood for — women’s education and emancipation, way back in the 19th century.

On her 186th birth anniversary on January 3, Google reminded millions of users of her biggest contribution to Indian society — fighting for women’s education, empowerment of widows, a relentless battle against sati and child marriage and for establishing the first-ever school for girls in Pune.

Two years ago, the Maharashtra government paid a rich tribute to India’s first woman teacher by naming Pune University after her.

Born in 1831 in Maharashtra’s Naigaon village, the young girl, in keeping with the local tradition of the era, was married off at the age of nine to Jyotirao Phule, the man who educated his young wife and trained her to be a teacher. Together, the couple spent their life trying to bring about reforms in a rigid society that married off uneducated girls even before they could reach their teens, forced young widows into sati and ostracised people on the basis of caste.

An accomplished poet and among the first social reformers, Phule set up the first-ever school for girls in Bhidewada in Pune in 1848, and went on to establish 18 schools during her lifetime.

Her efforts, they say, shaped the way the city gradually transformed into a learning centre where women were educated and empowered. But bringing about reform wasn’t easy and historians refer to records that say how the young poet and teacher would walk to school carrying two sets of saris. Only because villagers would pelt cow dung and mud at her for challenging norms and taking girls to school. Undeterred by these attacks, Phule would change into a fresh sari and carry on with her mission of writing and educating.

With education, Phule urged women to break free from restrictive social practices and fight for equality and empowerment. Under her tutelage, several women reformers went on to play key roles in India’s struggle for independence. She wrote extensively on discrimination and untouchability, sati and child marriage, educating people through her writings.

A major ill of the time was caste discrimination and Phule fought for the upliftment of the marginalised. With her husband, a much-respected social reformer, Phule started a home to prevent infanticide in 1863, inside their own house, probably the first such initiative in the region. They protected widows who were forced into sati or relegated to the shadows without any basic rights. Through her lifetime, Phule served as a teacher and headmistress in several schools that she started where she imparted more than just basic education; she encouraged women to fight against oppression and orthodox practices like child marriage.

In the 19th century, girls were married off as children and often went on to become widows well before they turned 18. Widows were ostracised and the Phule couple fought relentlessly against this practice. Always one to lead by example, Phule even adopted a child of a widow. The reformer’s work wasn’t restricted to women’s rights. In 1897, she opened a clinic for victims of the bubonic plague that had hit Maharashtra and personally cared for the ailing. It’s during this work that Phule contracted the disease which eventually led to her death.

Whether she is given her rightful place in history has been a matter of great debate for several decades. Some feel she has been ignored without due credit despite her efforts in ensuring equality and women’s emancipation. For the past few years, there have been demands for a Bharat Ratna to be bestowed on her for her immense contribution. The Google Doodle has brought India’s first ever woman teacher and social reformer into public focus, once again. Will modern society, reminded of her just yesterday, keep alive her teachings of social reform? Lessons on her life and more debates on her contribution will help bring this trailblazer back into the spotlight, a place where she deserves to be.   

Also read: Remembering Jyotirao Phule, an Indian hero