Family and Personal Life

Dr. Ambedkar’s public life is well known: the scholar, the lawyer, the leader, the maker of the Constitution. His private life was quieter, and often sad. He lost four of his five children and his first wife while he was still in his forties. He was ill for much of his later life.

Through it all he kept two loves: his family and his books. This chapter brings together what reliable sources say about the man at home.

Ramabai: a marriage in a market

Bhimrao married Ramabai in Bombay (now Mumbai) when he was a teenager and she was about nine years old Columbia University – Pritchett timeline. Child marriage was common at the time. Her name before marriage was Rami. She came from a poor family of Wanand village near Dapoli, where her father had worked as a porter Keer, Dr. Ambedkar: Life and Mission, pp. 20–21 PARI.

The wedding took place at night in the open shed of the Byculla fish market. The families slept in corners of the shed, used the stone platforms as benches, and left in the morning before the fish-sellers arrived Keer, p. 20. He called her “Ramu”, and she called him “Saheb” PARI. He also taught her to read and write a little Keer, p. 44.

Hard years and lost children

While Bhimrao studied in New York and London, Ramabai stayed behind in Bombay. She lived in great poverty, looked after the family of his late elder brother, and did not send him news of illness at home so that his studies would not suffer Keer, pp. 43–44. Once, staying at a friend’s boarding school where the children had gone hungry, she gave her gold jewellery so that food could be bought. The children called her “Ramai”, meaning “Mother Rama”, a name still used today PARI.

The couple had five children: Yashwant, Ramesh, Gangadhar, Indu and Rajratna. Only Yashwant, born in 1912, lived to grow up Pritchett timeline, 1910s. Ramesh, Gangadhar and their daughter Indu all died as babies Keer, pp. 44, 66.

The hardest loss was little Rajratna, who died in July 1926. Keer writes that his father would not let go of the body and for days could not enter the room where the boy had died Keer, p. 66. A few weeks later he wrote to a friend:

“We have in all buried four precious children, three sons and a daughter, all sprightly, auspicious and handsome children.”

— Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, letter to Dattoba Powar, 16 August 1926 Keer, Dr. Ambedkar: Life and Mission, p. 66 Pritchett timeline, 1920s

Ramabai’s illness and death

In her last years Ramabai was seriously ill. He took her to Dharwar for a change of air, but she did not recover Keer, p. 247. She was deeply religious and longed to visit the temple at Pandharpur. As an “untouchable” woman she would have had to stand far from the shrine. He refused to let her be humiliated, and told her they would build “another Pandharpur” through a life of service Keer, p. 248.

Ramabai died on 27 May 1935 Keer, 1954 edition Pritchett timeline, 1930s. About 10,000 people joined her funeral procession. Keer says her husband shut himself in his room and wept for a week Keer, p. 249.

Five years later, he dedicated his book Thoughts on Pakistan to her:

“Inscribed to the memory of Ramu as a token of my appreciation of her goodness of heart, her nobility of mind and her purity of character and also for the cool fortitude and readiness to suffer along with me which she showed in those friendless days of want and worries which fell to our lot.”

— Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, dedication of Thoughts on Pakistan (1940) BAWS Vol. 8, dedication page 1941 Thacker printing, Internet Archive

A house built for books

In 1931 he bought two plots of land in Dadar, Bombay, and began to build a family home Pritchett timeline, 1930s. By 1934 it was called Rajgriha, after Rajagriha, the capital of the ancient Buddhist kings of Magadha Zelliot, From Untouchable to Dalit, p. 137. His letters from March 1934 already carry the address “Rajgriha, Dadar” BAWS Vol. 17 Part I, p. 202.

His biographer Keer describes it as a house built for books. Ambedkar studied books on architecture and had parts of the building pulled down and rebuilt until the library was arranged as he wanted Keer, p. 244. The family lived on the ground floor Keer, p. 245.

A life with books

Keer describes him coming home from court with armfuls of new books and reading through the night until his dog Peter came for its morning pat Keer, pp. 472–473. He bought thousands of books, including rare ones. Keer says Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya once offered him two lakh rupees for the library, and he refused, saying that losing it would be like losing his life Keer, p. 474. He did not like lending books.

How many books did he own? Websites often say 50,000. We could not find that number in a reliable early source, so we do not repeat it as fact (see “Where sources disagree”). Part of his library is now kept at Siddharth College, Mumbai, which he founded V. Geetha, The Wire.

His health

He was not a healthy man in later life. Keer lists appendicitis, high blood pressure and, above all, diabetes Keer, p. 471. In 1947 he wrote of sleepless nights and pain in his legs, and he was taking insulin Keer, p. 403.

In 1954 he was confined to bed for two months. From June to October 1956 he was mostly bedridden at his Delhi home, with failing eyesight Pritchett timeline, 1950s Keer, p. 493. He died in his sleep on 6 December 1956 Keer, p. 514 Pritchett timeline, 1950s.

A second marriage: Dr. Savita Ambedkar

Dr. Sharda Kabir was a medical doctor. She studied at Pune and earned her MBBS from Grant Medical College, Bombay, in 1937. She met Dr. Ambedkar while working with his physician, Dr. Malvankar Times of India (PTI), 2003.

After his first wife’s death he had decided not to marry again. In early 1948, very ill, he changed his mind. He wrote to a friend that he wanted an educated companion who was a doctor and could look after his health Keer, p. 403. They married on 15 April 1948 at his home, 1 Hardinge Avenue, New Delhi, in a simple civil ceremony Keer, p. 404. She took the name Savita, and followers called her “Mai” Pritchett timeline, 1940s.

She cared for him until he died, and stood beside him, dressed in a white sari, when he became a Buddhist at Nagpur on 14 October 1956 Keer, pp. 498–499. In a preface he wrote for The Buddha and His Dhamma, he thanked her:

“The successful rekindling of this dying flame is due to the medical skill of my wife and Dr. Malvankar.”

— Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, unpublished preface to The Buddha and His Dhamma (1956) Columbia University – Pritchett Keer, p. 520

Her Marathi memoir, Dr. Ambedkaranchya Sahavasat, appeared in 1990. It is now in English as Babasaheb: My Life with Dr Ambedkar Penguin. She died in Mumbai on 29 May 2003, aged 94 Times of India (PTI).

Habits and interests

Keer’s book gives a lively picture of the man at home Keer, pp. 470–474:

• Music and art. He loved music and, in his last years, took violin lessons. He also drew and painted, and enjoyed fine pictures and buildings.
• Dogs. He loved fine dogs. A 1934 family photo shows the dog Tobby Wikimedia Commons, and Keer mentions another named Peter.
• Clothes and pens. He dressed in well-cut suits and liked big fountain pens.
• Cooking. Keer says he was a skilled cook.
• Sport. He played cricket as a young man.
• No smoking or drinking. He did not smoke and never drank alcohol. A police report of a 1954 speech records him saying he “had none of the bad habits but he was fond of reading” BAWS Vol. 17 Part III, p. 505.

As a boy in Satara, he spent every coin he had on new plants for gardening Keer, p. 15.

His family after him

His son Yashwant Ambedkar (1912–1977) lit his funeral pyre in Bombay Keer, p. 516. Yashwant’s widow, Meera (Meeratai) Ambedkar, led the Buddhist Society of India, which Dr. Ambedkar registered in 1955 Indian Express, 2013. Their son Prakash Ambedkar is a politician in Maharashtra Indian Express, 2013 Zelliot, p. xi.

Where sources disagree

• Year of marriage and ages. The Pritchett timeline and PARI give 1906 Pritchett PARI. Keer places it after his 1907 matriculation and says he was about seventeen Keer, p. 20. PARI says he was 14. All agree Ramabai was about nine.
• Ramabai’s father. Keer names him Bhiku Walangkar; Pritchett names him Bhiku Dhutre Keer, p. 21 Pritchett.
• The order of the children. Keer says Ramesh was born while his father was in America and Gangadhar after he returned; Pritchett lists “Gangadhar and Ramesh” born between 1913 and 1920 Keer, p. 44 Pritchett.
• Ramabai’s death date. Keer gives 27 May 1935. The 3rd-edition scan misprints the year as “1985” Keer, p. 248. Some online articles give 26 May.
• When Thoughts on Pakistan came out. BAWS says first published December 1940 BAWS Vol. 8; a surviving printed copy is dated 1941 Internet Archive.
• Number of books. Keer gives no number, only thousands Keer, p. 474. The popular figure of 50,000 is repeated online and on Wikipedia, but the article Wikipedia cites does not give it The Wire.
• His second wife’s first name. The 1954 edition of Keer calls her “Lakshmi Kabir”; the later edition and news reports say “Sharda (Sharada) Kabir” Keer, 1954 Keer, p. 404.

Read more

• Remembering Bhimrao and Ramabai Ambedkar (PARI) — Ramabai’s life and the village songs about her.
• Dhananjay Keer, Dr. Ambedkar: Life and Mission (Internet Archive) — the classic biography; its last chapters describe his habits.
• Unpublished preface to The Buddha and His Dhamma — his own words on his health and his wife’s care.
• Unpacking a Library (V. Geetha, The Wire) — what his surviving books tell us about his mind.
• Savita Ambedkar, Babasaheb: My Life with Dr Ambedkar (Penguin) — his second wife’s memoir in English.