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1. Sachin Banshal & Binny Banshal [Flipkart]Once Chetan Bhagat put a comment on this companyRemember meeting shy IIT juniors at 2 States book lunch, saying sir we run a small e-bookstore. I said what’s the name? They said Flipkart. [Source]Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, Founders of Flipkart [Source]Flipkart: E-commerce (online-shopping) CompanyCompany Starting Year: 2007Education: Both Sachin Bansal & Binny Bansal – B.Tech from IIT Delhi in Computer Science & Engineering2. Pranay Chulet [Quikr]Pranay Chulet, a man covered the journey from the dusty streets of Dariba – Rajasthan’s Copper mining hub to Quikr via IIT Delhi and IIM Calcutta.Pranay Chulet, Founder of Quikr [Source]Quikr: Online and Mobile Classifieds PortalCompany Starting Year: 2008Education: B.Tech in Chemical Engineering from IIT-Delhi and MBA from IIM Calcutta3. Vijay Shekhar Sharma [Paytm]Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the force behind Paytm, graduated only to make his mother happy. [Source]Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder Paytm [Source]Paytm: E-commerce (Online Shopping and Recharge) CompanyCompany Starting Year: 2010Education: B.Tech in Electronics and Communications from Delhi College of Engineering4. Arunabh Kumar [The Viral Fever (TVF)]In one interview Arunabh Kumar said [Source]“Every sem I used to pick a career choice, in first semester I wanted to be an economist, in second sem I wanted to do an MBA, in third I thought I will be a coder and in fourth sem I thought I will join UPSC. Evey sem I used to change careers”Arunabh worked as an Assistant Director in Bollywood movie Om Shanti Om.Arunabh Kumar, Founder TVF [Source]TVF: Media & Entertainment CompanyCompany Starting Year: 2010Education: B.Tech and M.Tech in Electrical Engineering from IIT Kharagpur5. Phanindra Reddy Sama [redBus]The seed for redBus was sown when he couldn’t get a bus ticket to go back to Hyderabad during the long Diwali weekend in 2005. [Source]Phanindra Reddy Sama, Founder redBus [Source]redBus: Online Bus Ticketing ServiceCompany Starting Year: 2006Education: BE in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from BITS Pilani and Proficiency in Computer network from IISC Bangalore.Note: India's No #1 Bus Ticket Booking Company, Volvo, AC and RTC Buses - redBus.in was taken over by the ibibo group in June 2013.6. Bhavish Aggarwal & Ankit Bhati [OlaCabs]Bhavish was traveling from Bangalore to bandipur, for which he rented out a car, which ended in a very bad experience. The driver stopped the car in the middle of the journey and demanded a renegotiation of what Bhavish was paying. After being refused, he proceeded to abandon him enroute his destination. [Source]Bhavish Aggarwal & Ankit Bhati, Founder OlaCabs [Source]OlaCabs: Transport (Online Cab booking)Company Starting Year: 2010Education: Bhavish is B.Tech in Computer Science and Engineering from IIT Bombay and Ankit is B.Tech & M.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Bombay7. Kunal Bahl & Rohit Bansal [Snapdeal]Meeting Vani and starting Snapdeal [Source]Kunal Bahl & Rohit Bansal, Founder Snapdeal [Source]Snapdeal: E-commerce (online-shopping) CompanyCompany Starting Year: 2010Education: Kunal has B.Tech degree in Manufacturing System Engineering from University of Pennsylvania and MBA degree in Marketing and Operation Strategy from The Wharton School. Rohan has completed his B.Tech and M.Tech in Computer Science Engineering from IIT Delhi.8. Adhil Shetty [Bankbazaar]We were looking for a home loan in Chennai in early 2007 and found it really hard to get a good deal. [Source]Adhil Shetty, Founder Bankbazaar [Source]Bankbazaar: Online Financial Product Comparison PlatformCompany Starting Year: 2008Education: Adhil has completed his B.Tech in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering from Anna University and Masters in International Relations – International Finance & Business from Columbia University in the City of New York.9. Sumit Jain, Lalit Mangal & Vikas Malpani [Commonfloor]Lalit called me the next day saying, ‘Hey dude, I also resigned. [Source](L to R) Lalit Mangal, Sumit Jain & Vikas Malpani, Founder Commonfloor [Source]Commonfloor: Online Real-estate PortalCompany Starting Year: 2007Education: Sumit and Lalit are B.Tech in Computer Science Engineering from IIT Roorkee and Vikas is B.Tech in Computer Science and Engineering from Visvesvaraya Technological University….Source:-http://www.igniteengineers.com

Genghis Khan Facts – 5 Interesting Details That May Surprise YouVery few men have ever accomplished so much in so little time. Genghis Khan had conquered an empire that spanned the Black Sea to Beijing and Russia to Tibet by the time he was 44 years old. He was born in Mongolia, circa 1162, and died in 1227. As the third-oldest son of Yesugei, leader of the Borjigin clan, Khan seemed destined for greatness. Yesugei was killed by an enemy tribe when Khan was only 9 years old, and this had a profound effect on him. The angry child would grow up to be a man who his all people feared and adulated for his immense power and ferocity. However, many details about him vanished in history. Here are 5 Genghis Khan facts that may surprise you.Genghis Khan was the ruler of the largest Empire in the world. Original source unknown.5 Genghis Khan Facts:1The Real Name of Genghis KhanTo the general public, he was known simply as Genghis Khan. Most people do not know that Genghis Khan was not his real name. Khan’s birth name was “Temujin” which means “of iron” or “blacksmith.” According to the Secret History,“Temujin” was named after the Tatar Chieftain, Temüjin-üge, whom his father had just captured.He came to be known as Genghis Khan after he became leader of the Mongols at a tribal meeting in 1206. The name “Khan” simply means ruler or leader. Historians are still unsure of what “Genghis” means. But in context it is usually translated as a “Universal Ruler.”2His Physical AppearanceDespite being such an influential and fascinating figure in history, facts about Genghis Khan’s personal life and physical appearance are scarce. It’s a grief that no portraits or sculptures of him survived for us to see how he really looked. Whatever little is known by historians is very much contradictory and irregular.Most history books describe him as tall and strong with a flowing mane of hair and a long bushy beard. The most surprising description comes from Rashid Al-Din, the 14th century Persian historian. He claimed Genghis Khan had red hair and green eyes. Since Rashid Al-Din never met Khan in person, his account of Khan’s description is rather questionable. However, these features were not unheard of among the ethnically diverse Mongols.3Cause of DeathAlthough it is well-known that he died in 1227, facts about Genghis Khan’s exact cause of death remains a mystery. Some accounts state that he fell off the horse while on a hunt and sustained heavy injuries, ultimately causing his death. Marco Polo wrote that he died from an infected arrow wound he received on the knee during his final fight. While a few others say he died of respiratory disease. Another, and probably false, account disclosed that Genghis Khan was captured and murdered when he tried to force himself on a Chinese Princess.4His Sacred Place of BurialOf all the Genghis Khan facts, perhaps his burial place is the most puzzling and enticing. Many people have attempted to find the his tomb. However, Khan had ordered that the location remain a complete secret in order to ensure that his afterlife would be peaceful and his final resting place undisturbed. According to legend, as the funeral procession traveled to the grave site, the accompanying 800 soldiers slaughtered everyone they came in contact with along the way. They then repeatedly rode horses over his grave to help conceal it and a river was diverted over Genghis Khan’s grave to make it impossible to find. To this date, Genghis Khan’s burial place remains a mystery.Genghis Khan Mausoleum in Ordos, Mongolia. His true burial place is a mystery.5He Practiced Religious ToleranceThe last of the Genghis Khan facts may be the most shocking. Khan wanted peace and was very tolerant. During the height of the Mongolian Empire, Genghis Khan controlled all of the Silk Road. He had brilliantly formed a vast military made up of men (and some women) from all areas of his reign. Additionally, he strategically placed strongholds at a number of points to ensure his empire’s strength. There were merchants of many countries, cultures and religions utilizing the Silk Road, and because Genghis Khan oversaw the flow of immense wealth, it was important to maintain peace along the route. Thus, during a time of enduring religious wars and Crusades in the west, Khan promoted tolerance of differing views and cultures.The Legacy of His MemoryAlthough we have only chosen 5 Genghis Khan facts for this article, there is much about him worthy of study. He was a most fascinating character in history who accomplished truly great things in his lifetime. His succeeding generations were unable to maintain peace amongst themselves, and their constant strife over control of the empire eventually crushed Khan’s legacy. Today, Mongolia is a fraction of what the empire used to be, however, for them he is a national hero. To the rest of the world, he will always be known as the paradoxical warrior Mongol who brought peace to the Silk Road.References:BioAsia for Educators/Columbia UniversityAcademic.mu.edu

April 14, 1891 : Ambedkar is bornOn this day, 129 years ago, Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was born in the town of Mhow. He would grow up to be the ' architect of India's Constitution' who would later publicly 'disown' his own creation. In a country being led by Gandhi's ideology, Ambedkar was a defiant pragmatist. A relentless campaigner for social equality, he also inspired the modern Buddhist movement in India. Everybody pretends toworship Ambedkar in today's India but he would have approved of none.What shaped the life and work of Ambedkar?Bhim Rao Ambedkar was born on 14 April 1891 in an ‘untouchable’ Maha' family at Mhow, near Indore in the present day Madhya Pradesh. He was the 14th child of Ramji Sakpal who was a Subedar (officer) in the British Indian Army.At the time of his birth, those born in the Mahar caste were subject to great discrimination, with limited education and employment prospects. They were not allowed to share public water provision and often suffered very low standards of living, health and poor accommodation. The Mahars are mainly found in Maharashtra today and comprise around 10 percent of the population.In 1896 his mother died, and he was raised by his paternal aunt in difficult financial circumstances. Of the 14 children in the family, only Ambedkar succeeded in graduating to High School; that one of their own could go to high school was a rare achivement for the Mahars. In 1897 he became the only ‘untouchable’ to be enrolled in Bombay High School. In 1907 he became the first ‘untouchable’ to enter an affiliated college of the University of Bombay. This achievement was celebrated by his Mahar caste with a public ceremony.Ambedkar was married to Ramabai, a nine-year old girl, when he was fourteen. With the help of a scholarship offered by Maharaja Syajirao Gaekwad of Baroda, he completed the B.A. degree in 1912. Ambedkar received a degree in economics and political science from Bombay University. As a talented scholar, in 1913 he left India to study at Columbia University, New York. There he gained an M.A., presenting a thesis on ancient Indian commerce. Ambedkar was one of the first (and one of the few) Indian leaders to be educated in the United States.After New York, in 1916 he moved to London where he enrolled at the Bar at Gray’s Inn and also at the London School of Economics. By 1923, he was called to the Bar and had completed a Master’s degree in economics (1921) and a Look, Feel, & Smell your best. in economics (1923). It seemed at that point in time that Ambedkar was destined to be a successful professional economist. In his 1923 thesis - ‘The problems of Rupee, its origins and solution’ – he studied the importance of price stability to the value of the Rupee.Back in India he assumed the office of the Military Secretary to the Maharaja. But due to the unbearable humiliation he had to suffer at the hands of upper caste Hindus, he left Baroda. For a short while he worked as a professor of political economy at the Sydenham College, Bombay. He resigned from this post to resume his economic and legal studies in London. This time the Maharaja of Kohlapur rendered him financial assistance.Ambedkar's birth in an 'untouchable' community made him undergo humiliating experiences which would shape his future life.In those days untouchability was deeply entrenched in the minds of the caste Hindus. The touch, the shadow, even the voice of the low caste people were deemed to be polluting to many caste-Hindus.At school, like every other untouchable child, Ambedkar was a victim of this caste segregation. He was asked to sit away from the upper caste boys and was forbidden from mixing with them. Some teachers refused to teach him.The story of Gandhi being thrown out of a railway compartment in South Africa is well known. Ambedkar was thrown out of a bullock cart in his own country. Once Ambedkar and his elder brother were travelling by a bullock cart. The cart man threw them out when he came to know of their 'untouchable' identity. They were asked to pay double fare and drive the cart._These dehumanized conditions of life troubled him even when he came back from America after completing his higher studies – arguably as one of the best qualified Indians of the time. _Discrimination continued at the workplace too. When he took up the post of the Military Secretary to the Maharaja of Baroda, even the peons used to throw the office files at him (to avoid touching him); he could not get drinking water in the office.The stigma of untouchability vexed him at Sydenham College too. Here, in spite of his being the professor of political economy, he was never allowed by his colleagues to drink water from the pot in the staff room.In the Bombay High Court this brilliant lawyer was forced to confine to mohsil work as the solicitors refused to have any working relationship with him on the ground that he belonged to an 'untouchable' community.His academic laurels, high office and personal achievements could not defend him against India’s deep-rooted caste prejudice. But, unlike so many others before him, Ambedkar would not accept this daily humiliation as ‘a way of life’.Why was his struggle for the downtrodden inspiring?By the time he returned to India in April 1923, Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar had equipped himself fully to wage war against the practice of untouchability. Meanwhile, the political situation in India had undergone substantial changes and the freedom struggle in the country had made significant progress.While Bhimrao was an ardent patriot on the one hand, he was the saviour of the oppressed, women and poor on the other. He fought for the latter throughout his life. In 1923, he set up the 'Bahishkrit Hitkarini Sabha’ (Outcastes Welfare Association), which was devoted to spreading education and culture amongst the downtrodden, improving the economic status and raising matters concerning their problems in the proper forums to focus attention on them and finding solutions to the same.The problems of the downtrodden were centuries old and difficult to overcome. Their entry into temples was forbidden. They could not draw water from public wells and ponds. Their admission in schools was prohibited. In 1927, he led the Mahar March at the Chowdar Tank at Colaba, near Bombay, to give the untouchables the right to draw water from the public tank where he burnt copies of the 'Manusmriti' publicly. This marked the beginning of the anti- caste and ant-priest movements.The temple entry movement launched by Dr. Ambedkar in 1930 at Kalaram temple, Nasik, is another landmark in the struggle for human rights and social justice.In the meantime, British Prime Minister Ramsay McDonald announced the 'Communal Award' as a result of which several communities including the 'depressed classes' were given the right to have separate electorates. This was a part of the overall design of the British to divide and rule.Gandhi wanted to defeat this design and went on a fast unto death to oppose it. On 24 September 1932, Ambedkar and Gandhi reached an understanding, which became the famous Poona Pact. According to this pact, in addition to the agreement on electoral constituencies, reservations were provided for untouchables in government jobs and legislative assemblies.The provision of separate electorates was dispensed with. The pact carved out a clear and definite position for the downtrodden on the political scene of the country. It opened up opportunities in education and government service for them and also gave them a right to vote.Dr. Ambedkar attended all the three Round Table Conferences in London, and each time forcefully projected his views in the interest of the 'untouchables'.He exhorted the downtrodden sections to raise their living standards and to acquire as much political power as possible. He was of the view that there was no future for untouchables in the Hindu religion and they should change their religion if needed. In 1935, he publicly proclaimed, “I was born a Hindu because I had no control over this but I shall not die a Hindu”.Ambedkar’s ideas about patriotism were not only confined to the abolition of colonialism, but also extended to ensuring real freedom for every individual. For him freedom without equality, and equality without freedom could lead to absolute dictatorship.Note: The Laws of Manu (Manusmriti) is the text, dated to first century AD, that Dr. Ambedkar loved to hate; he and other Dalit protesters were later to burn it. It explains that in the beginning of the universe the great abstract principle of Brahman created all things, including the four Varnas or ranked caste-groups: “for the sake of the prosperity of the worlds, he caused the Brahmin, the Kshatriya, the Vaishya, and the Shudra to proceed from his mouth, his arms, his thighs, and his feet”. “But in order to protect this universe He, the most resplendent one, assigned separate (duties and) occupations to those who sprang from his mouth, arms, thighs, and feet.” At the top of this fourfold system is the Brahmin: “As the Brahmin sprang from Brahman's mouth, as he was the first-born, and as he possesses the Veda, he is by right the lord of this whole creation”.When did he play a larger national role?Dr. Ambedkar organised the Independent Labour Party, participated in the provincial elections and was elected to the Bombay Legislative Assembly. During these days he stressed the need for abolition of the 'Jagirdari' system, pleaded for workers’ right to strike and addressed a large number of meetings and conferences in Bombay Presidency.In 1939, during the Second World War, he called upon Indians to join the British Indian Army in large numbers to defeat Nazism, which he said, was another name for Fascism.In 1947, when India became independent, the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru invited Dr. Ambedkar, who had been elected as a Member of the Constituent Assembly from Bengal, to join his Cabinet as the Law Minister. Ambedkar soon developed differences of opinion with the Government over the Hindu Code Bill, which led to his resignation as Law Minister.The Constituent Assembly entrusted the job of drafting the Constitution to a committee and Dr. Ambedkar was elected as Chairman of this Drafting Committee. While he was busy with drafting the Constitution, India faced several crises. The country was partitioned and Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated.In the beginning of 1948, Dr. Ambedkar completed the draft of the Constitution and presented it in the Constituent Assembly. In November 1949, this draft was adopted with very few amendments. Many provisions were made in the Constitution to ensure social justice for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and backward classes.Dr. Ambedkar was of the opinion that traditional religious values should be given up and new ideas adopted. He laid special emphasis on dignity, unity, freedom and rights for all citizens as enshrined in the Constitution. With the right balance of flexibility and rigidity, this ‘lengthiest Constitution in the world’ has stood the test of time. This was Ambedkar’s greatest gift to the nation.And then Ambedkar rejected the Constitution himself. In fact he once said he would not hesitate to burn it if it remains only a piece of paper. His powerful words still ring true for his country:“It is by placating the sentiments of smaller communities and smaller people who are afraid that the majority may do wrong, that the British Parliament works. Sir, my friends tell me that I have made the Constitution. But I am quite prepared to say that I shall be the first person to burn it out. I do not want it. It does not suit anybody.But whatever that may be, if our people want to carry on, they must not forget that there are majorities and there are minorities, and they simply cannot ignore the minorities by saying, “Oh, no. To recognise you is to harm democracy.” I should say that the greatest harm will come by injuring the minorities.”Where was the importance of Buddhism in Ambedkar’s life?It was on December 6, six decades ago, that one of the greatest crusaders of the country’s marginalized communities, Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar passed away.But it was two months prior to his passing away that Baba Saheb took a pivotal step that would shape the course of the life of millions. This was the time when he converted to Buddhism.Baba Saheb’s conversion not only marked the beginning of Ambedkar(ite) Buddhism that continues to gather more followers every year, but also gave millions of Dalits suffering under India’s oppressive caste system a new lens to view their identity from, and redefine their place in the country.Speaking about the necessity of conversion, Ambedkar had in a speech in 1935 said, “After giving deep thought to the problem, everybody will have to admit that conversion is necessary to the Untouchables as self-government is to India. The ultimate object of both is the same. There is not the slightest difference in their ultimate goal. This ultimate aim is to attain freedom. And if the freedom is necessary for the life of mankind, conversion of Untouchables which brings them complete freedom cannot be called worthless by any stretch of imagination.”On October 14, 1956, the leader of the downtrodden adopted Buddhism, along with thousands of his followers in a simple, traditional ceremony at Deekshabhoomi, Nagpur.The event was as historic as it was unique. Episodes of mass conversion are well known through time, yet this was probably the only one in the India’s recent history where thousands of people decided to convert from Hinduism to Buddhism not facing threat or for material gain, but because of their unswerving faith in a leader.Ambedkar’s conversion to Buddhism was not impulsive. It was as much an endorsement of a new way of life for the country’s Dalit community, as it was a total rejection of Hinduism and the oppression it came to characterize for people of the so-called ‘lower castes’.He decided to convert to Buddhism in 1956, convinced that “Buddha’s dhamma is the best” and that Buddhism was the “most scientific religion”. He was also convinced that Buddhism could improve the social status of the country’s oppressed classes. In the hymns of the Rig Veda, Ambedkar said, “we see man’s thoughts turned outwards, away from himself, to the world of the gods.” Buddhism, he said, “directed man’s search inwards to the potentiality hidden within himself”. Whereas the Vedas are full of “prayer, praise and worship” of the gods, Buddhism aims at “training of the mind to make it act righteously”.Within two months after the conversion ceremony, Ambedkar passed away. But the religious movement that he set in motion has thrived, and it now includes around four million Buddhists.Who influenced Ambedkar?Ambedkar as an individual and as a leader of the Dalit movement was shaped by not a single personality, rather by many individuals and ideals - both Indian and western.While he was studying at a school in Satara, a Brahmin teacher, Mahadev Ambedkar, developed sympathy for the young Bhimrao. The teacher used to give his favorite student food and water in those dreadful days of untouchability. It was this teacher who changed Bhimrao's surname from Ambavadekar to Ambedkar. This was the first instance in his life that Ambedkar experienced affection at the hands of an upper caste Hindu. The fact that Ambedkar did not rename himself Ambavadekar speaks a lot about the affection the student too felt for his favorite teacher.The person who turned around his life was the Maharaja of Baroda, Syajirao Gaikwad (1863-1939). It was due to this Maharaja's magnanimity and generous financial assistance in the form of state scholarship that the young, talented but financially poor Ambedkar could reach America for his higher studies.The other royal who shared his feelings and helped him to continue his studies abroad was Maharaja Chhatrapati Shahu of Kolhapur. He was an enlightened prince who had acted as early as 1919 for the abolition of untouchability in schools, offices and places such as public wells and government offices in his state.At the Columbia University, Professor John Dewey, the eminent philosopher and educationist, was Ambedkar's teacher. Ambedkar owes much to Dewey in the shaping of his later philosophical and sociological standings.Another academic who influenced Ambedkar's student career at Columbia University was Professor Edwin Robert Anderson Seligman who was his teacher of Public Finance. Seligman was appreciative of Ambedkar's impartial analysis in his doctoral thesis on The Evolution of Provincial Finance in British India.In the London School of Economics and Political Science, Professor Edwin Cannan guided Ambedkar on the working of his doctoral thesis on the valuation of the rupee. Another professor who influenced Ambedkar in this institute was Professor Harold Laski. When Ambedkar read his paper on "Responsibilities of a Responsible Government in India" before the student's union in 1923, Prof. Laski opined that the thoughts expressed in the paper were of a revolutionary nature.Ambedkar even had an intellectual encounter with Bertrand Russell, arguably the greatest philosopher of the 20th century. Ambedkar had reviewed Russell’s 'Principles of Social Reconstruction.' Russell desired elimination of war by encouragement of impulses promoting human progress. But Ambedkar's concern was primarily the annihilation of the caste system and the abolition of untouchability.The works of Karl Marx had also made a profound impact on Ambedkar's approach to social problems. A testimony to Marx’s influence on him is his work "Buddha and Karl Marx". He found that both Buddha and Marx urged for the abolition of private property, but the means they recommended were diametrically opposite. By converting to Buddhism, he made it clear that he did not believe in the communist atheism.The social reformers in India who influenced Ambedkar deeply were Jyotiba Phule (1827-1890) and Phule's wife Savitribai (1831-1897). This couple dedicated their lives for the upliftment of the downtrodden people, the untouchables, the exploited peasants, women, widows and orphans.The ideals of French Revolution shaped his humanist and liberal ideology.How misunderstood is Ambedkar’s legacy today?The legacy of Dr. Ambedkar has had many claimants. Idealistic students, the depressed classes, protest movement leaders, intellectuals and scholars, politicians, political parties, administrators and managers of the institutions he had started, and the Ambedkar family. The current Prime Minister of India too swears by Ambedkar in launching his government’s social initiatives.Ambedkar’s response to inequality in India went against the norms of the society at the time. In a country full of idealists like Jawaharlal Nehru and Mohandas Gandhi, this made him stand apart. Ambedkar was a self-made man in the profoundest sense of the term.It was he who forced India to confront the reality of discrimination by facing up to the reality of caste oppression. And he did so bluntly, in a manner which youngsters today would call “in your face”. He was prepared to rage against the injustice of social discrimination, and to do so in every forum available to him. It was an attitude that Indian society was not prepared for. However, at a time when Indians were fighting for their freedom from foreign rule, it was both appropriate and necessary that Indians should fight equally against domestic oppression.Ambedkar saw in the institutions of Indian democracy that he was helping to create, the best guarantee for the future development and welfare of his own people, the oppressed and marginalized of India. He fought hard to introduce into the Constitution fundamental protections and guarantees of civil liberties for individual citizens.Ambedkar also convinced the Constituent Assembly that it was not enough to abolish untouchability: what was needed to undo millennia of discrimination and exploitation was a system of affirmative action to uplift the oppressed, including reservations of jobs in the civil services, schools and universities. This gave India the world’s oldest and farthest-reaching affirmative action program, which guarantees not only equality of opportunity but also of outcome, with seats reserved for Dalits in government jobs and universities.His deconstruction of the Hindu philosophy and social order, though annoying to the orthodox Hindu minds, was committed to the reconstruction of the Indian society on the basis of the human values – equality, liberty, justice, and universal brotherhood. Looking at the current social scenario – the poverty deaths in the tribal belts, the atrocities on women, cruelty to the Dalits and minorities and discrimination based on caste and gender – one won’t be at a loss to think that the dream of Ambedkar is still only a dream.Meanwhile, it is amusing that he has been adopted by every political party, new and old, ruling and opposing. The man who fought all his life against ideologies has become an ideological symbol of religion and caste. Even those who claim to follow him have but scant understanding of what he stood for.How must one NOT celebrate Ambedkar?When two months after Gandhi’s death, Ambedkar married Sharada Kabir, a Brahmin doctor, (his first wife, Ramabai had died in 1935), Vallabhbhai Patel rote to him, “I am sure if Bapu were alive he would have given you his blessings.” Ambedkar replied, “I agree that Bapu, if he had been alive, would have blessed it.” Many who celebrate Amedkar love to hate Gandhi. But liking Ambedkar does not mean hating Gandhi.It is sad that Ambedkarism as a school of thought often caricatures Gandhi and reduces him to a conspirator or a casteist. The fact is that Gandhi evolved continually. True, despite his sharp critique of untouchability as a ‘sin’, there was a time when he romanticised the four divisions of varna as ‘fundamental, natural and essential’. He was not favourable to inter-dining, inter-drinking and intermarrying.However, the ‘experimental’ Gandhi did not remain static in his view on caste. In an article in the Harijan in 1935, he seemed to be rather clear. He implied that caste has to go. He publicly affirmed his acceptance of inter-dining and inter-marriage. In fact, just before Independence, he said that he would give his blessings for a wedding between a Dalit and a non-Dalit.As Avijit Pathak, a professor of sociology at JNU, put it in an article in The Wire, “Gandhi’s conscience and Ambedkar’s critique, Gandhi’s urge to humanise the caste Hindus and Ambedkar’s communion with the Dalits, Gandhi’s Bhagavad Gita and Ambedkar’s Buddhism, Ambedkar’s modernist sensibilities and Gandhi’s sarvadoya. Ambedkar without Gandhi, I fear, would remain ghettoised – merely a ‘Dalit icon’.”Ambedkar, his followers should realise, deserves more.Footnotes :-1946 - Dr. B. R. Ambedkar's Constituent Assembly …: 1946 - Dr. B. R. Ambedkar's Constituent Assembly Speech on Dec 171947 original video clip of dr.ambedkar: 1947 original video clip of dr.ambedkarSpecial documentary on Dr. B.R Ambedkar: Special documentary on Dr. B.R Ambedkar