Pabitra Bag
Salute to you Babasaheb…
That day you died was not the day of death
But the moment of victory over death
That every Ambedkarite wishes to live once again
That moment was not the moment of cessation but the beginning
You took birth in many forms, in multiple ways in the hearts of people
As songs, music, happiness, harmony, emotions and anger
Your death was not the death of a body
You did not live the life of one but you choose to live the aspiring lives of mankind
You are the total culmination of transcendentality of shramic tradition
You were the ocean, the ocean of it all
Salute to you Babasaheb…
That day you died as body but you remain as seeds sprouting to become trees
Things of the past became the treasure of the present
You appeared in many symbols, became the ray of hope
You replaced a total of 33 crore gods and goddesses in every Ambedkarite house
At times, the Ambedkarites imagine the wall to be alive with all five senses of you
Equality, liberty, fraternity, Wisdom and Dhamma
The wall embraced new calendars with every day of the month remembering leaders of the marginalized
And the old calendars with the names and images of Brahminical Gods and Goddesses were replaced
Salute to you Babasaheb…
That day you died was not the day of death
But the moment of victory over death
That every Ambedkarite wishes to live once again
If you were not there, the lives we are living now would not have been the same
You died but you live in people’s hearts and in their aspirations
Salute to you Babasaheb…
~~
Pabitra Bag is a Ph.D student at the Centre for the Study of Law and Governance, JNU
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