#JaiBhim
Today, we have a thread (🧵) on the genius that is Dr. B.R. Ambedkar
As a member in the viceroy’s council from 1942 to 1946, Dr Ambedkar was instrumental in bringing about several labour reforms.
He changed working hours from 12 to 8 in 1942.
He also introduced DA, medical leaves & periodic revision of pay.
📸 @ROUNDTABLEIND
Babasaheb studied for two PhDs in his career in addition to his qualification as a lawyer 🤯
His PhD dissertation in Economics at @LSEnews was titled ‘The Indian Rupee’.
A few years ago, @stefeich unearthed a first edition of this work with Ambedkar’s original dedication!
The good archivists @LSEnews have maintained a copy of Babasaheb's application to the school from 1916!
Between 1920-23, Ambedkar's academic achievements are nothing short of EXTRAORDINARY. - - MSc & DSc in Econ from London
- Published books on monetary policy & fiscal policy.
- Completed the book that gave him his PhD @Columbia
- Was admitted to the bar ... (contd)
When he was in @Columbia he took 60 courses in 3 years!!! 29-econ, 11-history, 6-sociology, 5-philosophy, 4-anthropology, 3-politics, 1 each in elementary French & German! Goto columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pri…… to see the full list
When asked about the the reason for such determination, Babasaheb reportedly said "poverty and want of time required him to finish his studies as early as possible and hence the dogged and ceaseless persistence" 🫡🫡🫡
Another fascinating and a painful story in all of this is that Dr. Ambedkar lost a manuscript of his original thesis due to the ship being torpedoed when it was returning to India!
So, he prepared a fresh draft! 👇👇
Babasaheb was a prolific scholar (Duh!).
His complete works are collected into 40 volumes, yes 40 volumes!! You can find ALL of it here: 👇drambedkarwritings.gov.in/content/index.…
Throughout his writings he quoted several people in the epigraph (or otherwise). Here is a selection of some these quotes.
"Know Truth as Truth and Untruth as Untruth” - Buddha (Writings & Speeches Vol. 1, pp.23)
“He that WILL NOT reason is a bigot
He that CANNOT reason is a fool
He that DARE NOT reason is a slave”
-- H. Drummond (Writings & Speeches Vol. 1, pp.23. "Annihilation of Caste with Reply to Mahatma Gandhi")
"The distance you have gone is less important than
the direction in which you are going today.”
— Tolstoy
(Writings & Speeches Vol. 1, pp.279, "Federation versus Freedom, Kale Memorial Lecture")
“More brain, O Lord, more brain! or we shall mar, Utterly this fair garden we might win”
(Writings & Speeches Vol. 8, From the title page of “Thoughts on Pakistan”)
“It may be your interest to be our
masters, but how can it be ours to be
your slaves ?”
— Thucydides
(Writings & Speeches Vol. 9, From the title page of " What Congress and Gandhi Have Done to The Untouchables")
(Writings & Speeches Vol. 9, pp. 433)
Babasaheb's was a fierce opponent of the caste system. In fact, he converted to Buddhism in 1956 & did so in Nagpur at a place now called Deekshabhoomi.
The city of Nagpur commemorated this event by unveiling a stupa in 2001.
The train connecting Nagpur to Gaya (where Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment) is hence called the Deekshabhoomi Express.
Babasaheb's fiery work "Annihilation of Caste" was written for a 1936 meeting of "Jat Pat Todak Mandal" a group Hindu caste-reformers.
However, the group withdrew their invitation after seeing the contents of this work! Consequently, Ambedkar published the work himself!
Babasaheb represented social reformer Raghunath Dhondo Karve when the latter was accused of obscenity.
Obscenity charges were based on the fact that his monthly magazine Samaj Swasthya covered topics such as sex education
This is what Babasaheb had to say about an ideal society in the Annihilation of Caste👇👇👇
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A school-going kid once visited the Congress party office, where Tamil lyricist Kavirajar Kannadasan asked, "Would you like to work in films, child?" The kid said, "Ask my father."
This child was destined to become one of India's greatest superstars!
A thread on Sridevi! 🧵
It is said that when Sridevi was born, there was a bright red mark on her forehead, and hence people started that a devi had born in the house.
Thus she was named Shree Amma Yanger Ayyapan.
Before ruling the box office as a leading star, Sridevi was a phenomenally accomplished child artist.
Here she is, sharing the screen with MG Ramachandran, playing his nephew in a film that also starred J. Jayalalitha!
This film, starring Supriya Pathak & Hugh Grant, is based on a novel by Mircea Eliade.
Its the story of a 23-year-old Mircea who came to Calcutta to study under philosopher Surendranath Dasgupta.
There, he fell in love with Maitreyi - teacher's daughter.
Sounds familiar? A 🧵
In this novel, Mircea fictionalizes how his love story was cut short because Surendranath Dasgupta was unhappy about the relationship. The relationship was "exposed" by Maitreyi Devi's sister.
The novel was published in 1933, a couple of years after Mircea's time in Calcutta.
For some additional context, Maitreyi was a savant! Maitreyi was mentored by Rabindranath Tagore, and she even wrote a book Mongpute Rabindranath (Tagore by The Fire Side) about the time spent with the great poet.
20 years ago, we were reminded that good films need not make money, & films that make good money need not be great!
On June 18, 2004, Lakshya was released, telling the story of an aimless rich youngster who joins the Indian Army & discovers his true goal.
A thread🧵
Lakshya was written by @Javedakhtarjadu: He was told by senior army officers about the declining enrollments to the Indian army each year, prompting him to promise to write a film addressing the issue!
The script marked Akthar's comeback as a scriptwriter after ages!
Lakshya was a departure from the kinds of war movies made at the time like Border, LOC Kargil etc.
In fact, director @FarOutAkhtar's goal was to tell a story about a boy who finds himself in the backdrop of Kargil War.
On June 15, 2001, the world saw the release of a monumental film in scale & vision, with its main plot revolving around a cricket match between India & the British Empire!
A thread 🧵on Lagaan, the film that convinced Aamir Khan to pursue the kind of films he believed in.
After two failed attempts at films, @AshGowariker's confidence was low.
He then conceived a story where a key battle is resolved by a cricket match. He pitched this to Aamir in 4 lines, who told him not to waste time on this.
Lagaan was @AshGowariker’s third foray into direction after his earlier two movies – Pehla Nasha and Baazi.
Baazi is famous for the “Item number” by Aamir Khan. Pehla Nasha had Aamir and SRK in the same movie with some cringe worthy puns
This is freedom fighter Raj Narain, who achieved the greatest electoral upset in India's history.
In the 1977 elections held after the lifting of the Emergency, Raj Narain defeated Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
A thread 🧵
The story begins with the 1971 election.
Originally scheduled for 1972, Indira Gandhi called for early elections, catching opposition by surprise.
The opposition quickly recovered and nominated Raj Narain to contest against Mrs. Gandhi in Rae Bareli.
📸 @htTweets
Indira Gandhi was probably displeased with the nomination.
At a campaign rally she said, "Mr. Narain had been chosen by the opposition parties to contest from Rae Bareli because he was a well-known Nehru hater and baiter."