Siddavva Metri, who served tea and breakfast to Ambedkar during his visit to Belagavi in 1939, died on Friday. She was 95. She died of age-related complications.
Siddavva was a chirpy girl of 14 years when the eminent lawyer from Mumbai stayed at her parents’ house. The Belagavi Bar Association had invited him to speak at its meeting in the district court, eight years before Independence.
Dr. Ambedkar stayed at her home for nearly a week when he attended a court case in Chikkodi and met some friends in Belagavi. He also spoke at the Bar Association. He left for Mumbai by train at the end of a week.
She was the girl who would run from the kitchen to the chair near the front door in her modest house in Kangralli galli in the old city. He spoke to her and other girls in the chawl in the evening and asked them to go to school and study upto college.
“Dr. Ambedkar’s words inspired the family to send Siddavva to school. She went to school for the first time at the age of 14. She studied up to 7th Standard and dropped out after marriage at the age of 17,’’ recalls Malleshi Chougule, her nephew and Dalit Sangharsha Samiti leader.
Siddavva’s marriage was ill fated. Her husband, who was just two years older than her, died of a disease. The couple had no children. She decided to become a community organiser and spent the remainder of her life helping other women in the area and members of her community live a life of dignity.
“Sometime in the 1960s, the government took over fallow lands that belonged to some Dalit families in Chikkodi. She fought with the Tahsildar, Deputy Commissioner and other officers to help Dalits get their lands back. Her struggle must have helped 60-70 families,’’ said Mr. Chougule.
The district administration honoured her as an eminent citizen on Republic Day. Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, former Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwar and other leaders have met her in the past, he said.
She was buried in the Sadashiva Nagar cemetery on Friday. Her family and community members walked in silence from her house to the burial ground. Her body was decked with a blue flag. A Buddha Vandana prayer was conducted as part of the final rites.
