Before Omvedt, we have had Dhananjay Keer’s Dr Ambedkar: Life and Mission, but Keer barely dealt with Ambedkar’s personal life. An activist-theoretician of Tamil Nadu’s Dalit movement recently wrote: "What we know of Ambedkar pertains solely to his public life, his public self. How was his marital life, his relationship with his son, the friendships he had—we know little about these." Omvedt, sadly, does little to fill the gap. She documents his political and social life impassively.
Omvedt does record in passing Ambedkar’s girlfriend in London, Fanny Fitzgerald, and his American friend in Bombay, Mildred Drescher, but we gain no insight into these relationships or of those with the women he wedded, Ramabai and Savita. Nor does Omvedt mention Ambedkar’s dogs (fox terriers), his love for good clothes, his tailor, the food he liked. These are the concerns of Ambedkarites who know enough about Ambedkar’s public persona. But this book is clearly meant for those who know little or nothing about Ambedkar. For them, Omvedt successfully demonstrates why Ambedkar has to be owned by every Indian to move towards an enlightened India.
