By Eshwar

“I went in there mentally prepared to die,” said Anand Teltumbde, sitting beside his collection of books in his apartment in Rajgriha — the former residence of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar in Mumbai’s Hindu Colony.

An undertrial in the Bhima Koregaon case for over seven years, Teltumbde has been charged under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). He recently chronicled his two-year-long experience of imprisonment in Maharashtra’s Taloja Jail in his book The Cell and the Soul.

There’s a quiet intensity when Dr Anand Teltumbde speaks — the kind that comes from having lived through the stories one writes. “Those defending the republic’s founding principles are branded ‘anti-national’, and those eroding them are deemed its ‘guardians’,” he said.

From ‘urban Naxal’ to ‘anti-national’, Teltumbde has been given many labels since his incarceration. Yet few know of his direct familial ties to Dr Ambedkar himself — through his marriage to Rama, the granddaughter of the architect of the Indian Constitution. Why then does he choose not to publicise those ties? Why did he not use the influence of the Ambedkar family name to rally support after his arrest?

On the landmark 50th episode of Badi Badi Baatein, Teltumbde revisits the years that tested his faith in the justice system, recalls the silences of prison nights, the impact on his family, the fleeting warmth of letters from home — and the unshakeable spirit of Father Stan Swamy, who became a symbol of moral courage.

We are speaking to you at the residence of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar…

Imagine, Hindu Colony was a typical upper-middle-class Brahmin locality. Babasaheb Ambedkar acquired two plots here in Hindu Colony: one was this corner plot, where Rajgruha stands now, and the other was in the Third Street. So, he had to face a lot of opposition; all the Brahmins in the neighbourhood opposed it—the entry of a Dalit in their midst. Vitthalrao Gadgil was also living in the same colony. He was a minister in the Nehru Cabinet. He supported him and helped him acquire this land in 1930. Ambedkar then constructed it. It is said that the entire structure was designed by him. He constructed the bungalow with all that imagination. The first floor was entirely for his library.

His personal library has over 50,000 books. 

It is one of the biggest personal libraries; that is for certain. He was a bibliophile, and he collected books right from his student days in America and England. So, there is no doubt about it. The entire first floor was occupied by his library, and there is a small place you can see upstairs: a small room where, whenever he would get tired, he would go and rest. After a few years, a rule came from Bombay University that every college had to have a hostel. Ambedkar had started Siddharth College then, so he was looking for a suitable place to house students, to call it a hostel. But he couldn’t find any. So, he decided to vacate Rajgruha; he vacated the library, donated most of the books to People’s Education Society, his own society, and the books now lie scattered in different colleges in Aurangabad and Bombay. Rajgruha was practically emptied.

This place actually symbolizes something like a living, a testimony for the struggle, for dignity and equality.

This story was originally published in thequint.com. Read the full story here.