Imagine a time when a person’s shadow falling on someone from a so-called “higher caste” could lead to death. A time when marginalized people had to wear clay pots around their necks to spit, and sweep the ground behind them as they walked to erase their footprints. This was not just a nightmare — it was the grim reality of caste oppression in India. In such a world, one man dared to question the very foundations of this brutal system: Mahatma Jyotirao Phule. Born into a marginalized “Mali” caste in 1827 in Maharashtra, Phule’s personal experiences with humiliation and injustice sparked a fire within him. After facing discrimination at a Brahmin friend’s wedding, he realized that caste was not just social discrimination, but a deeply entrenched, systemic injustice.