Social reformer Savitribai Phule’s 186th birthday; Google pays tribute to her with doodle

Savitribai Phule was a social reformer and poet. She was born on January 3, 1831. Many of her poems talked against discrimination and cultivated education. She has been given recognition in the list of important figures in Maharashtra’s social reform movements.

Savitribai Phule, along with her husband Jyotirao Phule, had an important role in the struggle for women’s rights in India at the time of British rule. They together established first all-women’s school at Bhide Wada in Pune in 1848. And she became first woman teacher and headmistress in country. In order to honour her, University of Pune was renamed Savitribai Phule University in 2014.

Savitribai’s husband Jyotirao Phule was a social reformer who worked against untouchability, caste system prevalent in the Hindu families at the time of British rule. He also worked in the direction of women emancipation.

It is her 186^th birthday and Google remembers her and pays tribute to her with a doodle. The doodle shows the great woman, Savitribai Phule, embracing all the women which symbolizes that they could rely on her teachings as a source of inspiration. In the doodle there is also a building which maybe a school, symbolizing the efforts she did for the betterment of women during that time.

She was born into the family of farmers in Naigaon, Maharashtra. She was married at the age of nine to 13-year-old Jyotirao Phule. She was one of the first modern Indian feminists. She stood against the act of widows shaving their heads. She also opened a care center for rape victims who got pregnant and helped deliver their children. The care center was called "Balhatya Pratibandhak Griha".

Savitribai fought for the rights of women, peasants, Dalits and backward castes. Her writings carry great value and her works are a great source of inspiration till now. Savitribai Phule died on March 10, 1897 while she was treating a patient.