#laward?

[strawberrykidneystone]

rip miranda you would’ve loved good luck babe

[millingroundireland]

Cheviot and Bert the fire chief

Alex Efthim, Helen, Bert, and Rosi (in carriage). At the Indianapolis racetrack. Date not known.

This was chapter 14 of a family history I sent to relatives. It is revised in some respects. In order to tell more of a story, it is reprinted here. Originally posted on WordPress in September 2018.

When we last left off, RBM I had died and was buried in Spring Grove Cemetery. In order to tell the full story, it is worth having a whole chapter devoted to his adopted son Bert, RBM II. Growing up and groomed for the hotel business as mentioned in the last chapter, he wanted to make something of himself. This was clear in his letter from the Hotel Sterling on December 22, 1901, asking Santa for a magic lantern, candy, a track, and some wheels for a train. He also wished for some books and games. As noted by RBM III, Bert suffered in comparison to his natural-born brother, Stanley. A postcard since lost shows him standing behind a counter in a hotel lobby in Des Moines. At the age of 16, in 1907, when he was trying to free a corn cob caught in the machinery, he suffered an amputation, which stayed with him for the rest of his life, of 4 fingers. Even with this injury, he enlisted in the U.S. Army ten years later. He served in World War I as a sergeant in a motor pool as part of the Motor Transport Corps (1918 to 1919), a vital part of the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe by managing “the Army’s new fleet of trucks.” [1] After the war, he served as an auto mechanic in a Fort Motor Company garage on 3431 Harrison Avenue in Cheviot. This contrasted with RBM I’s aspirations that he should be a hotel manager.

By 1920, living in Cincinnati on 15 Woodburn Avenue, he had further spurned his father. [2] While his father was still a hotel manager, he was an automobile salesman, with his mother Hattie having only her “domestic” duties and his brother, effectively, Stanley, having no occupation listed. In the same house, likely another hotel, were two other families, the Kaennegler and Shoebottom families. It was around this time that he began serving as a volunteer firefighter and attending services at the 81-year-old Ebenezer Methodist church (since been torn down) in Mack, Ohio, on the corner of Bridgetown and Ebenezer Roads, not far from Cheviot. It was there that he met Miriam Esther Hirst, the daughter of the minister of the church, William Norwood Hirst. Born on June 4, 1899 on 4140 Lakeman Street in Cincinnati, Miriam went with her father and mother (Mabel Blanche Dunn) on route to Capetown, South Africa in November 1900 because William Hirst was asked to serve on a mission in Southern Africa. [3] From 1900 to June 1905, the family lived in Cape Town, then Johannesburg, and arrived in Mount. Selinda in present-day southern Zimbabwe, arriving home in November 1911. On June 25, 1921, Miriam and Bert were married at Madisonville Methodist Episcopal church by a minister named O.J. Laward, with a reception afterward at 4630 Castle Place Madisonville.

In 1918, Bert would begin working as a volunteer firefighter in Cheviot, Ohio. It would be years until he would be paid for his services as he stayed in poverty. Many years later, in 1932, he would became the fire chief of Cheviot, an occupation he held until 1954 when he suffered a stroke when he while fighting a fire. [4] The town still recognizes as him as “first Fire Chief.” He had gone a different way than his father. Meanwhile, Stanley was living at the Grand Hotel with Hattie and his father. Of those at the hotel, the average age of the four boarders was about 44 years old, while for the seven lodgers the average was about 51 years old and for the seven guests it was about 70 years old.

In 1930, the census incorrectly described Bert as an insurance agent, but correctly noted that he had two children with Miriam by that point: a five-year-old son named RBM III (Robert Byron Mills III) and eight-month-old daughter named Helen. [5] They were living on 333 Roswell Avenue and within Green Township. RBM III, called Bob in the rest of this book, was born on June 5, 1924, while his sister Helen Eileen, was born on August 5, 1929. Bert would also help found the Green Township Volunteer Fire Association and was active, as Bob notes, in promoting mutual assistance compacts with neighboring fire companies. In 1934, Stanley died unmarried at the age of 33. Little else is known about his life, other than the fact that he died of nephritis caused by enteritis. There is some talk in the family about him being a “fairy,” or homosexual, as it was termed then. If this was the case, then it would add a new dimension to his story.

Putting Stanley aside, we know, thanks to Bob’s picture book, what the Mills family looked like circa 1932 or 1933 since Carol Ruth was born on October 1930:

This photograph was set before a series of photos showing a family trip to Washington, D.C. in this 1929 Graham-Paige, the car of a U.S. auto company which had been founded two years earlier by brothers Joseph A. Graham, Robert C. Graham, and Roy A. Graham. Other photographs in his picture book show the close family ties between the Hirst and Mills families, with no Packards to be found, along with other extended family members. [6] Other photos within The Packard/Mills Family History add some information, such as one showing Bob on RBM I’s favorite horse, Rocket in about 1937, and another noting how Bob learned to chin himself up from the ladders extending behind a fire truck which is shown in his family history.

A photo made available by the City of Cheviot shows the fire truck mentioned on the previous page, with Bert as the tallest person (probably over 5 ft, 9 inches) in the photo, closest to the wheel: [7]

Yellow arrow points to RBM II

By the 1940s, Bert was living in Cheviot City with his wife Miriam, son Bob, and daughters Helen and Carol. While he was a fire chief, none of the other family members had occupations. [8] In 1945, Bob visited Bert when he was home on leave from his military service. In 1954, he retired, living at 3517 Bruestle Avenue in Cheviot. The same year, Bert’s “quick work” saved someone “in the nick of time from a threatening brush fire.” On April 11, 1956, six years after his adopted father, RBM I, had died, he passed away in his sleep at the age of 64. For five years following, Miriam was troubled with increasing health problems related to diabetes. She died at the home of her youngest sister, Majorie, married to Victor Frame, in Mt. Washington (Cincinnati) on June 18, 1961. She was 62.

© 2018-2022 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

Notes

[1] Richard Killbane, “70 Years of the Transportation Corps,” U.S. Army, June 19, 2014: Draft Card of Robert Byron Mills, Cincinnati, Ohio, National Archives, NARA M1509, Family Search; The Cincinnati Enquirer, Feb. 16, 1928, p. 24; The Cincinnati Inquirer, Dec. 13, 1925, p. 24. RBM I's death was related in the North Adams Transcript in June 1950. He may have also been involved in an accident in 1947. One article seems to state that he was a “retired hotel manager” by 1939. In February 1928, when RBM I was president of the Grand Hotel, he was elected as a park commissioner. Only three years earlier he was noted as the president of the Ohio Hotels' Association. RBM II had previously served one year as a high school cadet, so he had some “military experience” you could say. RBM II’s cousin, William Norwood Hirst, also served in World War I and may have seen more action than RBM II.

[2] Mills Family and related families, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1920 U.S. Federal Census, ED 48, sheet 1B, National Archives, NARA T625, roll 1389.

[3] Hirst Family, 1900 U.S. Federal Census, Precinct F Cincinnati City Ward 25, Hamilton, Ohio, ED 216, sheet 13A, National Archives, NARA T623; Hirst Family, 1920 U.S. Federal Census, Cincinnati War 24, Hamilton, Ohio, ED 209, sheet 3B, National Archives, NARA T625, Roll 1394; Marriage of Robert B. Mills and Miriam E. Hirst, 1921, Ohio Marriages; Marriage of Robert B. Mills and Miriam E. Hirst, 1921, Ohio, County Marriages. Also see the book titled When I Was A Little Girl in Africa for more details on this journey. Mabel and William has completed 16 years as missionaries in Southern Rhodesia, where all the children except Miriam were born, returning to Cincinnati to serve various churches.

[4] City of Cheviot, “The History of Cheviot,” accessed July 16, 2017; 17 F.2d 923 - Lane v. United States, Circuit Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit, Mar. 10, 1927; Residents, lodgers, guests, and borders in the Grand Hotel, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1930 Federal U.S. Census, ED 197, sheet 9B, National Archives, NARA T626, roll 1813. Of those living in the Grand Hotel, the majority were born in Ohio, Kentucky or Missouri. Others were born in U.S. states nearby but also from those farther way like Washington state, New York, and Georgia. There were few that were born in areas outside the U.S. including one from Spain and another born in the Atlantic Ocean. Also keep in mind the following definitions of guests, boarders, and lodgers from the Fourth Edition of the Webster's New World College Dictionary: Boarder: "a person who regularly gets meals, or room and means, at another's home for pay" (p. 161). Guest: "visitor...any paying customer of a hotel, restaurant, etc." (p. 631). Lodger: "a person or thing that lodges; esp. one who lives in a rented room in another's home." (p. 843). James Gerard Mc Carty, age 27, was a nephew of RBM I. He was also mentioned in a Supreme Court case (Lane v. United States) for being defrauded by someone claiming they were from a lumber company, a case which he lost. Also see here and here.

[5] Mills Family in Cheviot, ED 336, sheet 15B, National Archives, NARA T626, roll 1818; Gravestone of RBM III, courtesy of Find A Grave; Delayed Birth Certificate of RBM III, May 1, 1942, Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, no. 19824; Gravestone Stanley Sterling Mills. He was in the hotel business, serving as a hotel keeper and hotel steward. Nephritis is the “inflammation of the kidney” and enteritis is “inflammation of the small intestine.” See the photo RBM II & Stanley Sterling Mills within the Packard/Mills Family History and one of RBM II & Stanley within Bob’s photo book.

[6] This is interesting considering that the Packard/Mills Family History has a 1940 photograph of John Packard, Charles Packard, and RBM II in a location not currently known.

[7] City of Cheviot, “Historic Photos,” accessed July 16, 2017. Five feet, nine inches is the average height of a man.

[8] Mills Family, Ward 2, Cheviot City, Green Township, Hamilton, Ohio, 1940 U.S. Federal Census, ED 31-30, sheet 17A, National Archives, NARA T627, Family Search; Draft card of Robert B. Mills Jr., 1942, National Archives, World War II Draft Registration Cards, Family Search; Cincinnati Enquirer, Mar. 29, 1954, p. 3; The Cincinnati Inquirer, Apr. 12, 1956, p. 28. The obit also says that Bob was interning at Carter Memorial Hospital in Indianapolis in 1956 and that Bert died while living at 3517 Bruestle Avenue. It also notes that Bert was part of the “Firefighters Club of Cheviot and a past treasurer of the Ohio and Indiana Firemen's Association. He was a veteran of World War I and was affiliated with Schwab Post, American Legion, in Cheviot.” Bert was also a poll bearer at the funeral of Nellie Grant Rybolt in 1941, the wife of Clifford H. Hay, former mayor of Cheviot. Also see Gravestones of RBM II, and Miriam Hirst. More information can be gathered about the Mills family from Family Search, Ohio Probate Records, the Hamilton County Genealogical Society, and Hamilton County Probate Court. Bert “been in ill health for seven years” retiring three years before in 1953 after “serving the Cheviot Fire Department for 35 years, the last 21 years as chief,” meaning he became chief in 1935, and had worked with the Cheviot Fire Department since 1921!

[starwriterulia]

Thoughts from the past month and a half, I guess

TW: depression, mention of loss of adoptive father.

Disconnected flow of thoughts, read at your own discretion.

Working on my book series is cathartic not just to play with my ideas but because I have an irrational fear that no woman will ever be romantically interested in me, all because my personality disorder beats me up with my own memories. Faina Laward is literally living my dream by having Karma Brestin and Ba'al Berith as her love interests. I have my own character and love interests in the books. Faina is a physically suitable heroine, I'm not.

The thoughts that kept me up until 6 AM which my quetiapine now mostly quell occasionally shit on my self-esteem whenever I can’t occupy my brain with writing, videos or games. The thoughts include my high school memories, the entire holiday season of 2019, as that was when I lost my adoptive dad, and my status as a single bisexual panromantic woman who has only ever been hit on by cishet men. I have no social life because I realized that, even online, I’m not good at it, even when I push myself to meet new people, (that’s a fucking lie, see the next paragraph). I at some point in the past two months or so realized I was stressed, overstimulated and underappreciated by my two ex-boyfriends, while my LOTRO kinship friends, who I barely talk to simply because I don’t open Discord everyday, which is definitely part of why I ghost people, oops, have shown the most love to me in the past year.

I have and can be a good, attentive friend. I know it’s probably my self-isolating schedule and lifestyle, but even as an almost always online person, non-cishet men very rarely PM me when I join a new server. A couple weeks ago, a woman needed to chat with someone as she was mentally preparing to leave her cheating and neglectful husband. We talked for maybe two days. She wasn’t overwhelmed or intimidated by my many layers. I had edited my introduction post in that server twice. After the first time, a rude INTJ cishet man who I don't think actually understood that I wasn't interested in his comics, which he didn't show me so I could compliment him, nor care about his writing group which he didn't tell me about in any further detail, and how his first message questioned the critical state I was in, that day, desperately needing to talk to someone after having socially isolated for at least a month, in a way that just urked me and made me afraid and impulsively fear him as a psychopath. All because he had allowed me to be open, as I prefer to be, without offering anything in return but words akin to "I'm sorry". Fucking bullshit. As a result, him and I had a huge disagreement, insultied each other, and blocked.

Do I just have horrible luck? My brain doesn’t help me at all, or at least that's how I remember all of my friendship attempts going. I’m so miserable, I feel abandoned and unloved by the people who make me awe and remember the good parts of humanity. And I'm become afraid of talking with them because so many of them have already been hurt in social situations. All of my K-pop Twitter friends have their own groups and are dating each other. I haven’t talked to any of those people in over a year, as a result. I desperately just want non cishet men to socialize with. It shouldn’t be this hard, but it is.

It’s almost like I have ADHD going on with my autism, yee fucking haw! 

As a Virgo INFP (I probably would be INTJ if my foster parents had given a shit, thus preventing my personality disorder), things can get really sad in my brain. I do my best to just allow myself to be sad ‘cause I’m home and in my bedroom all the time, so I can just yeet myself into bed and cuddle my Zhongli body pillow and talk to whatever character my brain says will do the trick. I should totally have a Kokomi body pillow too lol. I talk, cry if my brain and the scenario I create allows for it, and work my way towards a joke, a cute platonic or romantic moment so I can get back to writing, or take a “hippo nap” if it’s day-time or my meds half an hour early if it’s ten o’clock. I've had scenarios where I roleplayed for two hours and looked at my phone wishing it was ten or 10:30. The scenarios reboot a lot, especially if I’m trying to roleplay interacting with women or queer people to comfort myself. 

Yeah. I’m used to playing by myself. Probably to my downfall. I came out as pansexual when I was fifteen, right around the time Mom was trying to help me figure out why I was so miserable. I still adore and feel attracted everyone. I just kept looking at people and realized the masculine and feminine presenting people get me the most excited, make me blush, smile, awe and rewind to examine what they looked like. God, I love fashion, it’s so great. There’s so much to learn and unpack, and I don’t even know where to start to tell you about that!

Sigh. Oh. Oh, that helped, shit. OK, well, time to take my meds. I'm gonna go lay down and think happy thoughts, imagine myself on my magic train to the North Pole filled with singing and dancing idols, and all of that fun stuff. Y'all can ask questions and talk to me if you want. Take care everyone, bye.

[humanthatexistsrn]

Everyone who’s shipping Lalo/Howard now is right okay Lacho is dead in the water but since Laward(?) are buried together it’s viable okay they’re gravemates

[sbh-md]

who: @sbh-md & @mvsonfox​ when: early evening where: humboldt cider co. taproom

It was true that Stephanie Byrne-Hill enjoyed a cider every now and again. The three drinks she enjoyed in order went: white wine, lager, and cider. After especially long and traumatic days, Steph stopped at the taproom before heading home to a usually empty house. Even after her conversation with Wyatt, there were many nights where she found herself popping popcorn and watching old seasons of Scandal on Netflix. She couldn’t help herself, Olivia Pope was her idol. No matter how much bullshit that woman put herself through, she still ended up on top, every single time. It was admirable in every way possible. It was no wonder that Steph found herself emulating strong women in her daily life, every aspect of man hating and togetherness appealing to her. If only Steph knew how to give up the terrible aspects of her life that revolved solely around one Wyatt Hill. 

Smiling at herself as her phone began ringing as she sat at the bar, Wy flashing on the screen, Steph stepped outside so she wasn’t that person having a whole conversation in the middle of the bar. “Hey there,” she spoke, her words like honey as she shoved her other hand in the pocket of her scrubs. Steph had the option every day to wear dress clothes to Bayview, but it didn’t feel right. Scrubs fit her entire lifestyle and what she wanted to exude, why dress up medicine when it was dirty and messy. “Yeah, I’m just grabbing a case of cider before heading home. Do you want––,” pausing for a moment, Steph’s eyes had to have been deceiving her. Mason. Just as her jaw happened to hit the ground, she heard Wyatt’s voice asking what she was trying to mutter out before she stopped speaking. “Just...text me if you want me to pick you something up on the way home. Love you,” the words were hushed as she pressed the end button on the glass screen. Crossing her arms over her chest, Stephanie thought that maybe she was hallucinating or maybe the one glass of cider had tipped her over the edge for the day...but no...

“Mason Fox...what the hell are you doing in Eureka?”

[jointac]

The contrast of the bolts and nuts is often used

When installing, the load depth symbol is loaded on the journal according to the scale of the coupling to prevent excessive loading. Note: When the semi-hexaver is installed, it is necessary to fit the rules of the equipment skill file or the construction inspection standard, and stick to a certain end gap, but the rigid flanged coupling end face does not allow a gap.

After the coupling is installed, the two semi-couplings are started with adjustment of the horn, so that the two axes center is substantially correct, and the end surface of the two semi-couplings is turned parallel, then put the bolt, prepare the coaxial Dance adjustment.When the start is loaded, the coupling end face and the axis of the shaft are vertical, and then the hammer or press it to prevent a distortion.

When heating is heated with oil, the oil is absolutely drained by DUI to prevent the fire, and the heating address should have no flammable items. These processes are necessary during the process of using the universal axis, and the purpose is to avoid the various problems in the operation process. Bolts are not easy to assemble and unpack the bolt. For the wheel disassembly process, it can be opened with tripartic lawards or four-legged horse.

After using the universal axis, the process is more difficult to remove the hub from the shaft. For existing rust or more bolts, the contrast of the bolts and nuts is often used, so that the solvent is soaked in the thread to alleviate the time of removal. 

Be sure to ensure the smoothness of the process in accordance with the correct China CV Joint part manufacturers way while making a universal axis removal lubrication. There are some symbols common to each other, and the universal axis of the high rotation machine is connected to the bolt. The selected Rama should match the shape of the hub, and choose the right angle hook of each pin of Rama and the side of the hub. 

[news24fresh]

SARS-CoV-2 may have come to India via Europe, Middle East: IISc. study

SARS-CoV-2 may have come to India via Europe, Middle East: IISc. study

[ad_1]

The probable source of origin of Indian SARS-CoV-2 viruses is countries from Europe and Oceania regions, besides Middle East and South Asian regions, says a research article published in Current Science.

The article by Mainak Mondal, Ankita Lawarde and Kumaravel Somasundaram from the Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, titled ‘Genomics of…

[smiling-face-withface]

LAWARDS THEN CURVING UPW BEETLE

[lejournaltunisien]

TOPNET obtient l’Award de la meilleure connexion Data fixe en Tunisie #topnet #obtient #laward #meilleure #connexion #data #fixe #tunisie https://t.co/2ydFWCzjeh

[bossyitaly]

The awards season is back, with nominations, critiques and the Kevin Hart situation

[tmnotizie]

SAN BENEDETTO – In occasione del Congresso Mondiale di Flebologia svoltosi a Melbourne dal 2 all’8 Febbraio, si è svolta la cerimonia di premiazione della Unione Internazionale di Flebologia (la società che racchiude i medici che si occupano delle malattie delle vene) rivolta ai medici che negli ultimi 20 anni si sono distinti per il loro contributo professionale a livello mondiale.

Una commissione medica scientifica internazionale ha selezionato tra migliaia di candidati provenienti da tutti il mondo tre medici particolarmente distintisi a livello scientifico-educazionale ed ha infine prescelto quale vincitore il dr. Attilio Cavezzi, chirurgo vascolare e sambenedettese DOC operante presso l’Eurocenter Venalinfa nella nostra città. Gli è stato così conferito l’Award of Excellence for International Collaboration in Phlebology (medaglia d’oro di eccellenza per la Collaborazione Internazionale in Flebologia).

Si tratta di un riconoscimento prestigioso che premia un nostro concittadino, già vicepresidente mondiale della stessa Unione Internazionale di flebologia, dopo decenni di attività da lui svolta in vari continenti mirata alla educazione di migliaia di medici in questa disciplina. Una soddisfazione umana e scientifica che si vuole condividere con tutto il nostro territorio ove esistono molti altri esempi di professionisti e scienziati di altissimo valore internazionale

The post San Benedetto, al dott. Attilio Cavezzi l’Award of Excellence for International Collaboration in Phlebology appeared first on TM notizie - ultime notizie di OGGI, cronaca, sport.

[wionews]

Opinion: Ambedkar lives on in rural women's songs

"My house is being rebuilt, so we are living in my mother’s home," says Lilabai Shinde of Lawarde village in Mulshi taluka, Pune district, when we visit her in April 2017. She is the only daughter of Jai Sakhale, a singer from the grindmill songs database, who had lived next door to her. After showing us her mother’s framed photograph, Lilabai wraps it neatly in a newspaper and puts it in a tall tin box used to store grain. Seeing our puzzled faces, she explains: "There are no nails on the walls of this house."

On our visits to meet the singers whose work is in the database, we realise that many are related by birth or marriage. Some are mothers and daughters, others are sisters or sisters-in-law, and still, others are mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law. Lilabai’s mother, who passed away in 2012, left behind ovi that were featured in The farmer and the rain song in May 2017.

Lilabai and her mother both contributed couplets to the grindmill songs database (Others)

×

The original grindmill songs team had handwritten seven ovi by Lilabai, but they had not been recorded on audiotapes. So during our visit, we requested that she sing for our camera. Though reluctant at first, she eventually agreed. She took us to the grindmill in the roofed courtyard outside her home and sat down before it. She held the bamboo stick that turns the mill’s wheel and sang 11 ovi in praise of Babasaheb Ambedkar.

Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was born on April 14, 1891, in Mhow, a cantonment town in what were then the Central Provinces (today’s Madhya Pradesh). A social reformer, political leader, jurist and the architect of India’s Constitution, he died on December 6, 1956, in Delhi at the age of 65.

Babasaheb Ambedkar fought lifelong for the rights of the oppressed. The essay The Annihilation of Caste (1936), widely considered his magnum opus, was an integral part of his crusade to bring justice to the underprivileged castes and to affirm the values of liberty, equality and fraternity. ‘Educate, agitate, organise!’ was his message to his followers.

Babasaheb Ambedkar brought much-needed hope to Dalits by showing them the path of education and embracing Buddhism. It was a way out of the oppression of caste-based Hindu society, which branded them ‘outcastes’ and ‘impure’.

On our visits to meet the singers whose work is in the database, we realise that many are related by birth or marriage. Some are mothers and daughters, others are sisters or sisters-in-law, and still, others are mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law. Lilabai’s mother, who passed away in 2012, left behind ovi that were featured in The farmer and the rain song in May 2017.

The grindmill songs of Lilabai Shinde

Watch video: Lilabai Shinde and her neighbour sing that Bhim has now become the king of Indrasabha, the council of gods in heaven

  ×

These ovi express the reverence and gratitude that many Dalits, especially women, have for Dr Ambedkar. But they do so in a very personal way – he is affectionately called Bhim, Bhimbaba, Bhimraya or Babasaheb. They also express pride in Dr Ambedkar’s achievements, and the desire to be treated with respect and to be seen as equals. 

Bhim is my gurubhau [teacher and brother],” sings Lilabai of Dr Ambedkar. For her, he is a guide, a confidant, a brother. (People of different sexes or castes nurture such relationships without the fear of societal opposition. If the man is a gurubhau, the woman is a gurubahin, that is, a teacher and sister.) Lilabai sings that she feels so blessed, her pestle may as well be made of gold. Taking Bhim’s name, she says, brings sweetness to her mouth; she feels “purified” (and no longer "untouchable") just thinking of him.

The temple of Buddha has a golden door, says Lilabai in the fourth couplet, and that her son is very devoted to the Buddha. The singer’s mother, we learn, hurriedly wore a white sari to take diksha from Babasaheb, to embrace Buddhism.

Lilabai at the grindmill just outside her home (Others)

×

In the fifth couplet, the singer asks: “Who calls us outsiders?” She means: Who calls us "outcasts"? Bhim, she reminds us, has made all Brahmins his brothers-in-law. (This is a reference to the fact that Dr Ambedkar’s second wife Savita was a Brahmin.)

In the sixth ovi, Lilabai, who wants to buy jasmines to decorate Bhim’s turban, asks a woman gardener, “What do you have in your basket?” In the seventh, she says that on the train that’s arriving (a symbol of progress) are stalks of tur (a legume), which symbolise honour and prosperity, while the “Marathi people” dispose of animal carcasses. In this ovi, she vents the anger many Dalits have towards the upper castes – generations were compelled to clean up and remove animal carcasses and many are forced to do so even today. The train with stalks of tur signals progress and a future of respect for Dalits while the “Marathi people” refers to the upper castes who have forced Dalits to do menial, degrading work.

In the last three ovi, the singer laments the loss of Dr Ambedkar. He may be no more, she says, but he is the king of Indrasabha, the council of gods in heaven governed by Lord Indra in Hindu mythology. She offers rice to God, feeling thankful that the precious Bhimrao of the Dalits, their gold, is now in heaven.

The final ovi tells us that after his death, Bhimbaba’s body was taken away in a car and as the vehicle moved, people walked behind it. This also symbolises the path chosen by many Dalit followers of Dr Ambedkar. Like him, they left the Hindu fold and embraced Buddhism. And following in his footsteps chose to educate themselves so they may live free of oppression.

भीम भीम म्हणू भीम माझा गुरुभाऊ        bhīma bhīma mhaṇū bhīma mājhā gurubhā'ū सोन्याच्या सळयी देते तांदळाला घावू       sōn'yācyā saḷayī dētē tāndaḷālā ghāvū

भीम भीम म्हणू भीम साखरचा खडा         bhīma bhīma mhaṇū bhīma sākharacā khaḍā ध्यान येता मनी गोड झाल्यात दातदाढा    dhyāna yētā manī gōḍa jhālyāta dātadāḍhā

बुद्धाच्या मंदिराला सोन्याची कवाड           bud'dhācyā mandirālā sōn'yācī kavāḍa  माझ्याही बाळाला लई बुद्धाची आवड         mājhyāhī bāḷālā la'ī bud'dhācī āvaḍa

पांढऱ्या साडीला नेसते गं घाई घाई            pāṇḍhaṟyā sāḍīlā nēsatē gaṁ ghā'ī ghā'ī  बाबा साहेबाची दिक्षा घेती माझी आई        bābā sāhēbācī dikṣā ghētī mājhī ā'ī

आमच्या लोकाला कोणं म्हणे वाले वाले     āmacyā lōkālā kōṇaṁ mhaṇē vālē vālē  आमच्या भीमानी बाह्मण गं केलं साले      āmacyā bhīmānī bāhmaṇa gaṁ kēlaṁ sālē

माळीण बाई तुझ्या टोपलीत काई              māḷīṇa bā'ī tujhyā ṭōpalīta kā'ī  भीमाच्या तुर्याला इकत घेते जाई               bhīmācyā turyālā ikata ghētē jā'ī

आली आगीणगाडी गाडीला तुरकाठी           ālī āgīṇagāḍī gāḍīlā turakāṭhī  माझ्या भीमाच्या राज्यात ढोर वढाती मराठी mājhyā bhīmācyā rājyāta ḍhōra vaḍhātī marāṭhī

मेले भीम बाबा कोणं म्हणे मेले मेले           mēlē bhīma bābā kōṇaṁ mhaṇē mēlē mēlē  स्वार्ग्यात गेले इंद्रसभेचे राजे झाले             svārgyāta gēlē indrasabhēcē rājē jhālē

स्वर्गीच्या देवा तुला तांदळाचं वाण             vargīcyā dēvā tulā tāndaḷācaṁ vāṇa  मेले भीम बाबा स्वर्गी आहे आमचं सोनं       mēlē bhīma bābā svargī āhē āmacaṁ sōnaṁ

मेले भीम बाबा यांचं गाडीत मैत                bhīmarāyāca āla gāḍīta maita   पुढे चालती गाडी मागं चाललं ��हित           mhōra cālala maita māga cālala rahita

Bhim, Bhim, I say, Bhim is my gurubhau [teacher-brother] I pound the rice with a pestle of gold

Bhim, Bhim, I say, Bhim is like a chunk of sugar  I think of him and my teeth are sweetened

Bhim, Bhim, I say, Bhim is like a packet of sugar  By taking Bhim’s name my body is purified

The Buddha’s temple has a gold door My son is very devoted to the Buddha

She wears the white saree hurriedly –   My mother takes diksha from Babasaheb

Who says to our people 'Outsiders! Outsiders!' My Bhim has made all Brahmins his brothers-in-law

O gardener woman, what [flowers] do you have in your basket? I want to buy jasmines to decorate Bhim’s turban

Here comes the train, which has stalks of tur  In my Bhim’s kingdom, the Marathi people dispose of the carcasses

Bhimbaba died – but who says he is dead? He has gone to heaven and become the king of Lord Indra’s council

God of heaven, an offering of rice to you  Bhimbaba is dead, our gold is in the heaven

Bhimbaba is dead, his body is in the car The car goes ahead, people follow behind

Performer/Singer: Lilabai Shinde

Village: Lawarde

Taluka: Mulshi

District: Pune

Caste: Nav Bauddha (Neo-Buddhist)

Age: 60

Children: Three sons and a daughter

Occupation: Rice farmer

These songs were recorded on April 30, 2017.

This article was originally published on 05/12/2017 on the People's Archive of Rural India.

Image Credit: Samyukta Shastri

(Disclaimer: The author writes here in a personal capacity).

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