Educate. Agitate. Organise. The three words used symbolically by Dr BR Ambedkar in his 1942 speech at the All-India Depressed Classes Conference, bear special significance for visual artist Uttam Ghosh, 57, who has spent a lifetime illustrating Dalit poetry, Ambekarite movement literature and Left-leaning journals. The words resonate today, more than ever, for the home-bound Ghosh. He has juxtaposed them in his latest design, depicting Ambedkar's bespectacled visage. "At a time when we are fighting against a virus, the importance of education and organisation can't be undermined," says Ghosh, who otherwise commemorates Ambedkar's death anniversary by mingling with artists, writers and poets gathered at Dadar's Chaityabhoomi. "For me it is a great book stall tour; also, once upon a time, the yearly ritual meant spending the night talking with friends at poet Sambhaji Bhagat's Sidharth Vihar hostel room."

This year, Ghosh's Ambedkar design has been used on T-shirts, currently sold online by a Pune-based Ambedkarite follower, who has tied up with the Roots clothing brand. The T-shirts are usually sold at Chaityabhoomi, but COVID-19 has cast a spell on congregations, even as we enter the ninth lockdown month. "Even if large-size meetings are not feasible, the visionary leader will be in our collective consciousness. The memorabilia gives us a reason to reconnect with Babasaheb's philosophy," maintains Ghosh, who at one point, was quizzed by an Ambedkarite. "How come your art draws energy from Babasaheb's values?" was the question put to him. "I am a Bengali Maharashtrian raised in Nasik, taught at Sir JJ Institute of Applied Art; [I have been] inspired by Babasaheb since my schooling years," was the savarna's answer, who believes in sketching an "approachable" Ambedkar, rather than the suited serious framed leader.