My father, Jaya Karadi Lingu, and Jotirao were the closest of friends. I was born at the beginning of the year 1880. I recollect a few memories from when I was about six to eight years of age. In the hope that they may prove useful for Phule’s biography, I am noting them down and sending them across.
Whenever Jotirao visited Mumbai, he would call upon us. I saw him on at least four or five occasions. He was a man of considerable stature, with hair that had turned white. His eyes were luminous and keen. Every time he visited, he would summon my brother and me, fuss over us affectionately, and urge us to pursue knowledge and obey our parents’ commands. At the time, we were too young to comprehend the value of his counsel. My father loved him immensely. Being a member of the Satyashodhak Samaj, my father, upon hearing of Jotirao’s illness, departed for Pune along with several others from Mumbai to visit him. But upon his return, he brought word that Jotirao had passed away. At home, my elder brother, mother, and the rest of the household were struck with grief. I, too, felt sorrow, though at the time, I had little knowledge of his life’s work. He would often speak to us of the Brahmins, exhorting, “Children, do not remain enslaved to the Brahmins.” His arrival always brought us great joy.
Jotirao had established a boarding house at his residence. There, in 1891, my elder brother, Venkayya Karadi Jaya, along with others from Mumbai’s Kamathipura — Lingayya Sayanna Jaya, Shyamba Bhaguji Hamand, Nana Rajuji Lamge, and Sayanna S. Ili — began their studies. It was during this period that Yashwantrao and Savitribai Phule cared for us with great affection. Along with myself, Lingayya Sayanna Jaya, Bapu Karadi Jaya, and Shankar Sayanna Jaya, and other children were pursuing education. Yashwantrao took immense care in overseeing our studies. Each morning at four, he woke all the children, ensuring that we practised both our studies and our physical training in the wrestling arena. He was a good-natured and warm-hearted man, who possessed a keen intellect. He was deeply devoted to his elderly mother, never once disobeying her, even in the smallest of matters. His gentle and dignified nature had started commanding respect in the hearts of all who knew him. Around that time, he had begun earning much admiration from those around him. As for Jotirao, my recollections of him are few, for I only commenced my studies after his passing. However, I remember Yashwantrao and Savitribai vividly. I have yet to meet an elderly lady whose heart was filled with as much love and kindness as Savitribai. She cared for me more deeply than my own mother, or so I felt. In truth, she showered all of us children with more love than our own mothers, and we all held her in great affection.
(Laxman Karadi Jaya Lingu’s memory has been translated by Rucha Satoor, edited by Ninad Pawar and Rucha Satoor, and peer-reviewed by Suraj Thube.)