The Satyashodhak

Jotirao had printed advertisements in big type, akin to theater-play posters, to stick on the city walls. I was in possession of a few of those posters for a while. The advertisements were titled ‘kāḷe pāṇī ṭāḷṇyācā upāy’ (a way to avoid being sent across the seas), stating that women who were pregnant out of wedlock could go to Jotirao Govindrao Phule’s house to deliver their child. The advertisements also stated that the woman’s identity would be kept confidential.