Not just empty tributes, Babasaheb’s devotees follow his passion for books as well

It is a unique sight every year. Hundreds of thousands of Ambedkar devotees make a beeline to offer their tributes to the icon on December 6, waiting for hours in a queue and once done, they turn to the book stalls that exist just for two days. What must be a record of sorts, these very temporary and very short span stalls sell, hold your breath, books worth estimated Rs 10 crores.
As many as 300 book stalls around Chaityabhoomi in Dadar, the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar memorial site, see the Ambedkar followers in large numbers not just curiously browing books, but also buying them. After all, ‘Educate, Unite, Agitate’ was the mantra given by Dr Ambedkar who was also known for his love and massive collection of the books that he bought in his lifetime. Most of books sold at these stalls are about social reformers like Dr Ambedkar, Periyar and Kanshiram.

A founder of the famous Dalit Panther movement and one of the stall owners J V Pawar is one of those who started this a few years ago. “The basic idea is that the people should go back with something and not just  coming here and paying their respects to the great man. Books were important to Babasaheb, so instead of empty souvenirs, why not books,” says Pawar. 

"I come here every year with my spouse, I pay homage to my hero, and make sure to take at least one book home. I do it because it guides me to live my life on the path shown by Babasaheb. His writings have so many lessons. Every time, I come here I see new books by Dalit writers or on the Dalit movement. This adds to my knowledge," said Kushali Kakade, a resident of Badlapur.

This year, an estimated one million Ambedkar followers seem to have turned up to offer their tributes to Babasaheb on his 67th death anniversary. “The line of the followers seems to have stretched up to Podar Hospital in Worli which is about three km from here,” says Ramesh Jadhav, a member of Chaityabhoomi Managing Committee.

A Short History Of Book Stalls At Shivaji Park

The book stalls on Mahaparinirvan Din generating huge revenue have a long history, which started at Dadar Chowpatti. Between 1956 (the year Babasaheb passed away) and 1966, there was no memorial and this area was known as Bheem Chowpatti. In 1966, the memorial was erected by common folks. According to JV Pawar, one of the founder members of the Dalit Panther movement, people used to just come and go. Pawar’s colleague Raja Dhale and he thought of selling books, but it was not possible to do that on Chowpatti. "We spoke to the only book-seller Nimji Bhai at that time. We convinced him that profit margins were low, but volumes would be great. Later we spoke to the municipal corporation requesting them to rent us the place for two days, and in return generate the revenue. That is how it all started, with just one book stall and today we have thousands of them,” says Pawar.