Dalit woman saves up for 15 years, installs Ambedkar's statue next to Hanuman temple

In comparison to the 216-foot ‘Statue of Equality’ in Hyderabad or the 182 metres tall ‘Statue of Unity’ at Kevadia in Narmada district, this recently inaugurated statue might be deemed minuscule.

Looking at the statue on a regular Wednesday afternoon in the peak of summer in Ahmedabad, the statue is not even striking. Covered with a thick bedsheet, so that its colour does not fade in the sun, one might even overlook it.

But it is awe-inspiring.

The statue in question is a bust of Dr B R Ambedkar dressed in a blue coat with red tie, with thick-rimmed glasses placed atop a platform at Kochrab village.

This new attraction in bustling Ahmedabad city has been installed, not by any public figure or politician or even the municipality, but a 68-year-old wood seller.

Nandaben Chauhan has put hard-earned money, that she has been saving for 15 years, to get this bust established near her home.

“I am not going to share how much money I put in to build this. But I have been saving money for the past 14-15 years to make this tribute to Baba Saheb. He has done so much for the people of my community. It has been my wish to get something made in his memory since childhood,” Chauhan tells DH while removing the sheet that covers the Ambedkar bust.

She earns her livelihood by selling wood that she buys from the municipality.

“Hamara kayda kanoon Baba Saheb ne gada hai. Juna jamana me jhaadu leke ghumte thhey hum log. (Baba Saheb drew up the laws of our country. In the old days, we used to walk around carrying brooms),” she says. Chauhan belongs to the Rohit community—one of the largest groups among the Dalits in the state—of the Scheduled Caste. Chauhan calls herself ‘Hindu Rohit’.

The location of the bust is distinctive, though. Ambedkar’s bust is place is next to a Hanuman temple. “Hanuman dada jaise hi hai Baba Saheb. Hamare liye bhagwan hain (For us, Baba Saheb is also a god just like Lord Hanuman),” Chauhan says, explaining the specific location.

Her elder son Arvind joins the conversation soon. According to the mother-son duo, the supposed controversy created regarding Ambedkar being against Hindu religion, can be blamed on a “few upper caste communities.”

“We deeply worship Hanuman Dada; it is only a few upper caste communities that create trouble,” they exclaimed.

The bust was inaugurated on April 14 with much pomp and show on Ambedkar’s birth anniversary. Several competitions for children were organized, and trophies were given as prizes to winners. Chauhan’s neighbour Narendra Parmar also mentions the importance of Baba Saheb in their lives. “We are living freely only because of Baba Saheb. This is the least we could do for him,” Parmar says.

Interestingly, Kochrab Ashram, initially known as Satyagraha Ashram, which was founded by Mahatma Gandhi after he returned from South Africa in 1915, is a stone's throw away from Chauhans’ home.

Gandhi, too, had faced opposition from the upper caste after he admitted Dalits into the ashram. In 1917, Gandhi moved his ashram to its current location on the bank of Sabarmati—now famous as Sabarmati Ashram.

Sarthak Bagchi, an assistant professor at Ahmedabad University who visited Chauhan to understand her gesture, remarks: “What really struck me is the pride that she takes in it. The temple and Baba Saheb’s religious belief is immaterial to her. The kind of empathic smile and her confidence is something that Baba Saheb gave her, and she is showing great respect to the great personality who continues to motivate the country for change.”

“The statue is some kind of remembrance...the legacy goes beyond the idea of statues being created by politicians. It is organic,” Bagchi states.