A life extraordinaire: Savitri Devi

T Savitri Devi, a freedom fighter, is 94 years old but that does not deter her to welcome the guests with a warm and lovingly smile. When asked her about her childhood and the Independence struggle her face lights up with grace and pride. Born on July 17, 1925, in Bethapudi, a small village in Repalle taluka of Guntur district, in a traditional farmer’s family, Savitri Devi recalls that she was lucky enough to be the only one from the family to study outside her village.

“I ran away from home to study in Mahila Vidya Peeth, Allahabad, where the principal was the famous poetess Mahadevi Verma. I was 13 and my brother helped me to escape and join the school. I knew only Telugu as I studied in Telugu medium school till Class VIII. At Mahila Vidya Peeth, all subjects were in Hindi and a special Pandit was assigned to me for coaching in Hindi and a lady teacher for coaching in English. I caught up with the rest in three months and the special tutoring was discontinued. My Hindi Pandit was pleased with my performance and he gifted me a book on Veer Savarkar.”

Savitri Devi says that their principal sent them as volunteers in a meeting as Mahatma Gandhi was to visit Allahabad to inaugurate the Kamala Nehru Hospital. “I recall that there was commotion in the crowd during the meeting and then Jawahar Lal Nehru had to step down from the stage and come into the crowd to control people. As I was sitting in front I was lucky enough to see him from close quarters,” she recalls and adds, “Then the next day we had to attend a meeting in Anand Bhavan, there I met Gandhi ji.”

After finishing her Matriculation, she returned to her hometown and her family. She continued her studies and was also an active part of the communist movement. “After USSR was formed communism spread rapidly. My brother joined the CPI and I followed his suite. I started Women’s Association Guntur and worked for the emancipation of women. We fought for equal pay and equal rights for women. We picketed a tobacco factory in this regard. We were arrested by the cops and I spent one week in Sub Jail in Bapatla,” she recalls.

About her wedding she says, “My husband and I were averse to get married traditionally and hence we got married at the party office, by just exchanging garlands,” she smiles. Savitri Devi states that the British banned the Communist Party and when she was taking a class as part of her adult education initiative she was arrested on the false pretext of spreading communism and was sent to six months rigorous imprisonment in Vellore jail. “I did not stop protest in jail too. Our writing instruments like chalk, pen, etc were taken away and that did not deter us to write ‘Inquilab Zindabad’ using neem leaves.”

“According to the jail manual, each inmate should be allotted with some amount of rice, dal, etc. But that was not being followed and hence we started agitation. They separated us, one lady from Tamil Nadu and I, and put us next to the cell of inmates who were sentenced with capital punishment. Only a thin wall separated us from those prisoners. We could hear their cries before they were hanged. That was frightening but did not deter us.”

After independence, Savitri Devi worked in various capacities before settling as a Hindi teacher in various coveted schools. When asked about what changes she sees as we celebrate 72nd Independence Day, she says, “Nothing has changed. The working class are still suffering as they used to suffer then. For women too, nothing much has been changed, women are still treated as second citizens of the country. Still, there is no equal pay for women in various sectors. It is high time that they should get equal pay and property rights.”