Times Of India coverage

Article on Amazing Ambedkar initiative in Times Of India newspaper. Please read the text of the article below.

Remembering Doctor
Standard issue editorials and freshly garlanded iconography will do their temporary bit to remind the populace of Dr Babasahed Ambedkar’s death anniversay on December 6.

But on the sidelines of such tokenism, a groundswell is gearing to make Mahanirvan Day more relevant to te public. Playwright Ramu Ramanathan and a small contingent of young stage hands have, for the past month and half, been directing friends and foes to their evengelist online effort called Amazing Ambedkar (amazing ambedkar.wordpress.com).

All they expect people to do is read any of Ambedkar’s texts (provided through links) for 15 minutes on December 6.

http://drambedkarbooks.wordpress.com/about/

http://drambedkarbooks.wordpress.com/dr-b-r-ambedkar-books/

http://drambedkarbooks.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/waiting-for-a-visa.doc

http://drambedkarbooks.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/annihilation-of-caste.doc

http://drambedkarbooks.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/notes-on-parliamentary-procedure.doc

http://drambedkarbooks.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/who-were-the-shudras.doc

http://drambedkarbooks.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/preservation-of-social-order.doc

http://drambedkarbooks.wordpress.com/other-important-books/

http://drambedkarbooks.wordpress.com/other-important-videos/

The idea is to shepherd people to Ambedkar’s ideology and prescriptions, which still resonate in a country whose social map is the same old, with new coordinates of injustice.

“There has emerged a culture of maligning historical figures like Gandhi, Ambedkar and Nehru, although very littile is actually known about them or their works,” points Ramanathan. “What better to correct this anamoly than to encourage people to read these men’s historical legacies and make their own judgements.”

Amazing Ambedkar is the first of a sustained initiative that hopes to stimulate a climate of intellectuall action and reinstate reduced ‘heroes’.

Fifteen minutes is all it takes.

By Joeanna Rebello. Principal Correspondent at The Times of India. Bombay Area.