Kolhapur: The life of a prolific writer, reformer and the father of our Indian Constitution, Babasaheb Ambedkar's life is been portrayed through rare photographs and letters at an exhibition in Shahu Smarak Bhavan.This rare exhibition has been organised by close friends of Ranjit Sangaonkar. Sangaonkar was a ardent followed of Ambedkar. He died two months ago leaving behind a vast collection of photographs and letters written by him.The major attraction of the exhibition was a rare letter that Ambedkar had written to Shahu Maharaj in 1921 seeking financial help so that he can continue with his studies in London. Ambedkar had high regards for Shahu Maharaj. After his death, Ambedkar wrote a letter to Rajaram Maharaj to offer his condolences.A history lover and a visitor at the exhibition, Vishwas Shinde said, " One of the most fascinating letters i came across was Ambedkar's letter to the principal of Elphinston College demanding one year study-leave to improve in Mathematics. Later, he excelled in Mathematics along with other subjects like law.""Another interesting artefact was a ballot paper of 1937 election where Ambedkar had contested for election. His party Majoor Paksh had an interesting symbol,of a man," he added.Another visitor said, "The rare collection of photographs had an attendance sheet of Satara School where Ambedkar had completed his primary eduction. The attendance sheet shows Ambedkar's signature in Marathi while rest of the students had signed in English. That does not defy the fact that he excelled in English language exams in his school."An organiser of the event, Rohan Sarnaik said, "The young generation does not know much about the lives of their fore-fathers. Therefore, we have decided to take the initiative forward and organise an exhibitions across the state. We have collected over 275 rare photographs and 250 letters of Babasaheb.""The newspapers cuttings of Bahishkrut Bharat, Mooknayak, Samata are preserved with us. The rare photo of Gautam Buddha drawn by Babasaheb is also on display. Buddha's image is that of a person meditating with close eyes. However, the portrait drawn by Babasaheb shows Buddha with open eyes,"he added.

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