1913 ka saal Bhimrao Ambedkar ke liye sirf ek nayi padhai ka nahi, balki ek nayi duniya ke darwazon ka khulna tha. Columbia University, New York ka admission letter haath mein tha aur dil mein sapno ki ek lambi suchi. Yeh pehli baar tha jab unka kadam Bharat ki seema ke bahar padne jaa raha tha. Aur us Bharat se, jahan ek achhoot ka school mein bench par baithna bhi paap mana jaata tha, woh ab us desh ki taraf badh rahe the jahan jaati ka koi arth hi nahi tha.
Bharat chhodne se pehle unhone apne parivaar se alvida liya. Ramabai ki aankhon mein aansu the, lekin unmein vishwas bhi tha. Bhimrao ne kaha tha —
“Main wapas lautunga, lekin sirf tumhare liye nahi, apne jaise laakhon ke liye.”
New York pahuchna Bhimrao ke liye kisi kalpana se kam nahi tha. Pehli baar kisi sheher mein unke jaati, unke rang, unke surname ka matlab nahi tha. Na kisi ne unhe peeche bithaya, na kisi ne paani door se pilaya. Columbia University ka campus unke liye ek vishwa ke gyaan ka kendra tha, jahan har kona naye vicharon se bhara tha.
Columbia mein unhone Political Science, Economics, History, Sociology jaise vishayon mein padhai ki. Bhimrao kisi ek classroom tak seemit nahi rahe — unka din library, lectures aur charcha mein bitata tha. Wo har ek vishay mein doob jaate, questions puchte, likhte, debate karte. Unka dhyan sirf marks tak nahi, samaj ko samajhne tak tha.
1915 mein unhone apna pehla M.A. in Economics complete kiya. Unka thesis tha — “Ancient Indian Commerce” jisme unhone prachin Bharat ke arthik vyavaharon ka vistrit adhyayan kiya. Yeh unka pehla kadam tha jahan unhone Bharat ke itihaas ko arthik drishti se samjha.
1916 mein unhone doosra M.A. thesis likha — “National Dividend of India: A Historic and Analytical Study”. Isi saal unka pehla public paper “Castes in India: Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development” aaya, jisme unhone jaati vyavastha ke mool, uske vikas aur samaj par uske prabhav ka vistrit vishleshan kiya.
Columbia mein unke sabse prabhavit karne wale professor the John Dewey — pragatisheel shikshashastri, jinse Bhimrao ne “liberty, equality, fraternity” ke mool mantra seekhe. Dewey ke vichar unke jeevan mein itne gehre utar gaye ki aage chalkar Bharat ke samvidhan mein bhi unka prabhav dikhai diya.
Library unka doosra ghar ban gayi thi. Unka jeevan ek akela ladka, ek chhoti table, aur 10–12 kitaabein hoti thi — jinmein se har ek unke mann mein ek naya vichar jagati thi. Wo samajh gaye the ki Bharat mein jaati ek dharmik vyavastha nahi, ek samajik niyantran ka tantra hai.
Columbia mein bitaye gaye teen saal unhone sirf degree ke liye nahi, samaj ke naye dhanche ko samajhne ke liye jeeye. Wo ab ek student nahi, ek vicharak ban gaye the. Unhone wahan ek aisa Bharat kalpana kiya jo badlaav chahta tha — ek aisa desh jisme samta ho, swatantrata ho, aur insaaf ho sabke liye.
1916 ke ant tak Bhimrao Columbia se nikalte waqt sirf ek scholar nahi, ek samajik vicharak ban chuke the. Unhone Bharat ko naye nazariye se samjha — uski kamzori, uska takleef, aur uska bhavishya.