User:Bhidewada/sandbox

On January 1, 1848, Savitribai Phule, with assistance from her husband, Jyotiba Phule, established the first girls’ school in Tatya Saheb Bhide’s wada in Pune’s Budhwar Peth. The wada that housed the school is one of many traditional houses that continue to stand in Pune’s old quarters. These structures were built in the 18th century, when Pune was the capital of the Peshwas.

Most typical wadas were two storeys tall, and followed a rectangular layout, with eight rooms surrounding two central courtyards, a well, and common toilet facilities. They housed many members of an extended family, and even close friends. Wadas were used as homes for members of the Peshwa ruling class, upper-class citizenry, and even functioned as offices. The common courtyards, such as the one in Bhide Wada, facilitated the beginning of several social movements as they acted as suitable meeting spaces for like-minded men and women. Savitribai Phule, who founded the school in Bhide Wada, was married to Jyotirao Phule when she was nine and he was 13. She belonged to the Mali caste, which is today classified as an Other Backward Caste (OBC), or a caste that is socially or educationally disadvantaged. Thus, at the time, she was denied formal education not only because of her gender but also because of her caste. After receiving primary education from her husband, who taught her at home, and completing two teacher’s training programmes, she became possibly the first Indian woman to become a teacher and headmistress.

Opening the school, which was known as Indigenous Library or Bhide School, was revolutionary in many senses. It challenged the social order of the time, which had largely limited both the receiving of education and the opening of schools to the Brahmin caste. It refused to adhere to the curriculum followed by Brahmin teachers, and replaced the teaching of religious texts such as the Vedas and Shastras with scientific subjects like mathematics, science, and social science.

The teaching methods of the Phules became so popular that it is believed that the number of girls enrolled in the schools they started outnumbered the boys enrolled in government schools at the time. However, the couple was also ostracised for their work by family and society. Savtribai Phule used to carry an extra sari to school because people hurled stones and dung at her when she left home. In 1849, the young couple was thrown out of their home by their in-laws for attempting to educate the ‘lower’ castes. Fatima Sheikh and her brother Usman welcomed the Phules into their home. Later remembered as the first Muslim woman teacher of the 19th century, Fatima Sheikh also aided Savitribai in her quest to educate women. Today, Bhide Wada is in the midst of battles over tenancy rights and lies in a dilapidated state. It was mortgaged to the Pune Merchants Cooperative Bank in the 1990s and eventually sold to Mantru Kishor Associates in 2000. A massive demonstration was held the same year outside the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) office by around 500 Anganwadi teachers who demanded that the school be given national heritage status. In 2017, over 300 people formed a human chain demanding the wada be declared a national monument. The Dagadusheth Halwai Ganapati Trust has also proposed to make a library at the location and to build a memorial to Savitribai Phule. Additionally, the Bhide Wada Bachav Mohim (BWBM) has also started the ‘Save Bhide Wada’ campaign and appealed to the government to make it a national memorial.

The PMC, however, has continued to neglect the site despite promising to restore it year after year. A blue board with two photographs of the Phules and a brief description of the importance of the building are the only visible markers of the legacy of the building. thumb