“ God, if nothing else, is at least a source of power” and in particular “ mental power”, which is “ necessary for success”.

Babasaheb interprets the Jews’ “ reliance on God” as what American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson would have described as “ a plus condition of mind and body” which gives them the power and courage to overcome their adversaries. The point of the contrast, however, seems to be to indicate that the Jews were able to overcome the calamities which faced them. However, as the editor notes, there are some pages missing and the argument is not fully fleshed out.Īlso read: Bombay HC deplores state ’ s inability to meet demand for Ambedkar ’ s writings and speeches, registers suo motu PIL Invoking Emerson, Arnold and Shelley He mentions how the Jews survived a second calamity, namely, the Babylonian captivity. He begins to outline how the Jews overcame their captivity in Egypt at the hands of the Pharaoh and went to Canaan. They are a spent and sacrificed people.” He says that the frustration experienced by the Untouchables is “ frustration forever”, “ unrelieved by space or time”.Īccording to Babasaheb, the situation of the Untouchables stands in “ strange contrast” to that of the Jews in Biblical times. The unfinished note is a poignant reflection on the feeling of hopelessness about the situation of the ‘Untouchables.’Īs Babasaheb puts it, “ he Untouchables are the weariest, most loathed and the most miserable people that history can witness. We should take inspiration from Dr Ambedkar, the reader, as a way to both understand the world and to transform it.īURIED in Volume 12 of the collected works of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar is a fragment which, according to the editor, was in “ the handwriting of Dr Ambedkar” simply titled ‘Frustration’.

Ambedkar by Salim Yusufji