Man is the architect of his own destiny

Behind the success of every individual is his or her thinking, perception, and the society around. The world recognizes the greatness of the person through great contributions and deeds. The person becomes eternal in history through education, culture, practices, the scientific approach and attitude.

April 14th is Bhim Jayanti, celebrating the birth of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar, ‘’Father of the Indian Constitution’’. It is also Equality Day.

Ambedkar is not a brand or a banner being used by politicians very freely. His legacy goes beyond politics-he is a philosophy, a set of principles, and a symbol of struggle and success. His name represents passion meeting purpose. He lived by his words: “Life should be great rather than long”.

A fighter in the cause of annihilation of caste, he was born in a low caste Mahar family. His life was one of struggles as his radical proposals to deal with the caste system met with stiff hostility from upper castes. He suffered bitter caste humiliation and finally succeeded by making the downtrodden politically aware of their situation. What he said to Dalits then bears immense importance even today– “educate, agitate, and organize”.

He believed that education is more important than temple entry for the downtrodden because God whom we consider the most powerful is omnipresent. He believed that education is a tool to empower every citizen to build an egalitarian society. This tool he believed would break the social shackles and discriminatory social practices. He faced humiliation in school and college and at all levels and even after he joined Baroda Public service. But that did not deter him from pursuing his goal. He turned to legal practice and teaching. He soon established his leadership among Dalits, founded several journals on their behalf and succeeded in obtaining special representation for them in the legislative councils of the government.

Babasaheb said, “I measure the progress of a community by the degree of progress which women have achieved”. He was the lonely man standing for women’s rights those days. He passed a Hindu Code Bill Law for women and all the committee members rejected as they considered women as zero, but later it was successfully passed in 1955, 56 and women now equally stand with the men because of Ambedkar. He was not a man for Dalits, he was a man for women’s rights. He said that in politics, Bhakti or hero worship is a sure road to degradation and to eventual dictatorship. We are Indians firstly and lastly.

Babasaheb strongly desired to have Sanskrit as the national language, keeping in mind the ancient and historical greatness of the language. Unfortunately, due to the disapproval of other members, Sanskrit could not be recognized as our national language, a distinction that was accorded to Hindi, much to his disappointment.

For him destiny is not a matter of chance but of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for; it is a thing to be achieved. By destiny he meant our future. In other words, our future does not come about by chance and is not something that merely happens to us. A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it.

Ambedkar was first man in Asia to get 32 degrees. He believed that it is not in the stars to hold our destiny but within us. With all odds stacked against him he achieved a great deal. His knowledge was deep as an ocean and wide as sky. He was dedicated in his life to seeking knowledge and enlightenment. Columbia University made a list of the world’s top 100 scholars in 2004 and the first name in that list was Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar.

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved. It is in the most trying times that our real character is shaped and revealed. Success is not measured by what you accomplish but by the opposition you have encountered and the courage with which you have maintained the struggle against overwhelming odds. A dream does not become reality through magic; it takes sweat, toil and determination.

Dr Ambedkar even surpassed Ashoka the Great in his greatness. Samrat Ashoka had all the access to bring positive changes in his kingdom being an emperor, but Ambedkar only had his personal qualities to rely upon and the most fantastic dream of equality, liberty, fraternity and justice for all.

“Man becomes great by deeds not by birth. Cultivation of mind should be the ultimate aim of human existence”.