Ramabai Ambedkar Death Anniversary: Do You Know These Facts About Dr BR Ambedkar’s Wife?

Death Anniversary of Ramabai Ambedkar: Dr. BR Ambedkar’s wife Ramabai Bhimrao Ambedkar is fondly remembered as Ramai or Mother Rama. Ramabai was known for her humility, resilience and compassion. Many people do not know that Baba Sahib Ambedkar’s life was greatly influenced by him. Ramabai helped the father of the Indian Constitution to pursue higher education abroad and supported his efforts for social justice.

On Ramabai’s death anniversary, here are some lesser-known facts about him:

1. Ramabai was born in 1898 in a poor Dalit family. She was the second daughter of Bheko Datere Walangkar, a labourer. From the port of Dabhol, his father used to carry baskets of fish to the market.
2. Ramabai lost both his parents early in life. He and his three siblings were raised by his maternal uncle in Mumbai.
3. In 1906, she married Baba Sahib Ambedkar in Byculla. Ramabai was nine years old when she married Baba Sahib who was then 15 years old. While Ramabai used to call her husband ‘Sir’, her husband used to call her ‘Ramu’.
4. Ramabai supported BR Ambedkar’s ambitions and even encouraged him to pursue higher education abroad.
5. While Ambedkar was abroad for his studies, Ramabai faced difficulties, but this did not stop him from motivating him to achieve his goal. Ramabai used to make cakes out of cow dung and carry it on her head, to use it as cheap household fuel.
6. Babasaheb Ambedkar and Ramabai had a daughter, Indu, and four sons – Yashwant, Gangadhar, Ramesh and Raj Ratan. Yashwant was the only child who survived to adulthood.
7. Ramabai breathed his last in 1935 after a long illness.
8. BR Ambedkar acknowledged his influence on his life through his book Thoughts on Pakistan. Of his beloved wife, he recalled her “goodness of heart, nobility of mind and purity of character and coolness and readiness to suffer.”