Now Ambedkar inspires a ‘Babasaheb Charit Manas’

LUCKNOW - Inspired by B.R. Ambedkar’s fight against social discrimination, a senior official in Uttar Pradesh has penned “Babasaheb Charit Manas”, a collection of poems on audio CD eulogizing the Dalit icon and architect of the Indian constitution.

“I have been deeply impressed by the great Indian thinker who spent his entire life fighting social discrimination. ‘Babasaheb Charit Manas’ is a small initiative from my side to honour Ambedkarji for all that he did for the poor and the downtrodden,” Raj Kumar Sachan, chief development officer (CDO) of Etah district, told IANS on telephone.

Sachan is not a Dalit, but that has not stopped him from launching the audio CD of his poems.

He also plans to get a book published soon. “I will definitely publish a book on my poems dedicated to Ambedkar. I believe in six months or so, the book would have around 450-500 pages,” he said.

The three-hour long CD has several songs in honour of Ambedkar. In his poems, Sachan has equated Ambedkar with the Hindu gods.

It took over three years for Sachan to write poems that cover different phases of Ambedkar’s life and family.

Asked what made him write poems on Ambedkar, he replied, “It happened three years ago while I was in Lucknow. One day when I was meditating with closed eyes, I felt Ambedkarji speaking in my ears that I should write poems on him.”

“Thereafter, I took up the writer’s job and even took leave on several occasions to write the poems. During the period, I went to Ambavade town in Maharashtra, where Ambedkar’s family lived.”

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which espouses the cause of Dalits, is in power in Uttar Pradesh. But Sachan said his compilation should not be linked to any political party nor should it be viewed as an attempt to appease any political outfit.