Kasturba Gandhi, the Empowered Woman: What You Didn't Know

(11th April 1869 - 22nd February 1944)

History has often presented Kasturba Gandhi as the subsidiary shadow of her husband, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. While the ‘Father of the Nation’ is revered for being on the front-lines of the freedom struggle, Kasturba has left an indelible mark on Indian history with her significant, albeit under-recognised contributions, to the struggle for independence.

She wasn’t taught to read or write, but at a young and confusing age, she was asked to make a conscious decision to relieve herself of a ‘traditional’ family life and dedicate it to fighting for the freedom of her country instead.

And she did.

On 22 February, her 74th death anniversary, here are a few facts about the woman who was bound in silent resilience and unexpressed ambition, a side-lined leader whose identity went far and beyond that of her husband.

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Some lesser-known facts on 'Kasturba'

Some lesser-known facts on 'Ba'

(April 11, 1869 - February 22, 1944)

Kasturba Mohandas Gandhi married Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi when she was only 13 years old and Gandhi was 14 years old. She fought along with Gandhi for civil rights and Indian independence against the British. She was born on April 11, 1869 and died on February 22, 1944.

• Kasturba Gandhi was born as Kastur Kapadia in the year 1869. Not much is known of her early life

• In May 1883, at the age of 13, in an arranged marriage, she married Mahatma Gandhi who was 14 years old at that time

• As been said by Gandhi "...for us marriage meant only wearing new clothes, eating sweets and playing with relatives."

• Kasturba was an absolute illiterate. Gandhi taught her the alphabets and how to read and write

• She could not learn much because she had too many domestic responsibilities. It was also revealed that she did not have much enthusiasm for education and so, was least interested in learning

• When Mahatma Gandhi left for London to study law, she remained in India for upbringing their newly born son Harilal

• She had three more sons with Mahatma Gandhi: Manilal Gandhi, Ramdas Gandhi, and Devdas Gandhi

• In the year 1906, Gandhi started practicing Brahmacharya and took the oath of celibacy and chastity. Kasturba supported her husband's decisions even though she did not support some of his ideas

• She worked closely with Gandhi and became a political activist, fighting for civil rights and Indian independence from the British

• From the year 1904 to 1914, she was active in the Phoenix Settlement near Durban, South Africa

• Kasturba encouraged women volunteers to take part in the Indian freedom struggle and even took Gandhi's position when he was in jail

• She was even arrested and sentenced to three months in jail for protesting against working conditions for Indians in South Africa

• In 1915, when Gandhi returned to India to support indigo planters, Kasturba accompanied him. She taught hygiene, discipline, health, reading, and writing

• In January 1944, Kasturba suffered two heart attacks, after which she was confined to her bed. She died on February 22, the same year.

Courtesy: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/education/story/kasturba-gandhi/1/601151.html

Kasturba Gandhi, the larger than life shadow of Mahatma Gandhi

Kasturba Gandhi, the larger than life shadow of Mahatma Gandhi

(April 11,  1869 - February 22, 1944)

Mohan Das Karamchand Gandhi's evolution from a lawyer, to becoming the face of India's non-violent struggle for independence as the Mahatma has been written about at great length. In this journey of a man who is regarded as the father of the nation, an integral companion was his wife, Kasturba Gandhi.

Kasturba Gandhi's name is often lost in the face of Gandhi's leadership but she was his pillar of support, the first individual who was a part of him like none other. If he could convince her to give up her notions of caste and untouchability, he could convince others of the same. She was perhaps the only person who could disagree with him and point out to him his mistakes. She was his companion, his wife, his caretaker and later in life his representative too.

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Gandhi Journal Article-III (February 2016) : The woman behind the Mahatma

Gandhi Journal Article-III (February 2016)

The woman behind the Mahatma

By Shail Raghuvanshi 

Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation needs no introduction. That he worked hard to transform himself from Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi to the Mahatma, everyone knows. That he fought hard to help India and its citizens to get their deserved freedom is also well known. Though, how much of it is appreciated today I am not very sure. What few know or even bother to remember is the person behind the Mahatma's success. Yes, indeed. I am referring to Kasturba Gandhi, the simple, unassuming wife of the Mahatma.
Born Kastur Kapadia in Porbabdar, she became Kastur Ba after marrying Gandhiji. She bore him four sons - Harilal, Manilal, Ramdas, and Devdas. History offers proof of the sacrifices that this woman made to enable the Mahatma to work towards procuring freedom for India. Adjusting to a new way of life, giving up the little pleasures that every married woman desires, letting go of dreams that any girl has of wedded life - this and a lot more did Kasturba do, just to let her husband lay a foundation for the task that lay ahead of him. Kasturba let the revolution that ushered in independence usurp her dreams and desires. Not an easy thing to do. Understanding the power of sacrifice for a noble cause is something that requires a lot of self-introspection which most people do not have. But do we remember Kasturba for all that she did?

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Gandhi Journal Article - I

The woman behind the Mahatma

By Shail Raghuvanshi

Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation needs no introduction. That he worked hard to transform himself from Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi to the Mahatma, everyone knows. That he fought hard to help India and its citizens to get their deserved freedom is also well known. Though, how much of it is appreciated today I am not very sure. What few know or even bother to remember is the person behind the Mahatma's success. Yes, indeed. I am referring to Kasturba Gandhi, the simple, unassuming wife of the Mahatma.

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Life Sketch of Kasturba

Life Sketch of Kasturba

Kasturba was born in Porbandar in April 1869, a few months before Gandhiji and in the same town. Her father, Gokuldas Makanji, was a merchant and a friend of Gandhiji's father, Karamchand or 'Kaba' Gandhi. Both the parents decided to knit their families closer together by marrying their two children. At that time early marriage was a common custom in Saurashtra, as in many other parts of India. So, the betrothal of the two children, Mohandas and Kasturbai, took place in their seventh year. The actual wedding, however, was celebrated in 1882, when the two began to live together as husband and wife at the early age of thirteen. Referring to his marriage Gandhiji later observed in his Autobiography as follows-"I do not think it meant to me anything more than the prospect of good clothes to wear, drum-beating, marriage processions, rich dinners and a strange girl to Play with..........Little did I dream that one day I should severely criticize my father for having married me as a child. Everything on that day seemed to me right and proper and pleasing. There was also my own eagerness to get married ".

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Newsletter: WOMEN EXTRAORDINAIRE

WOMEN EXTRAORDINAIRE

The Mahatma - and the Indian Independence movement - lost two determined and courageous women on February 22: Valliamma in 1913 and Kasturba in 1944

‘How can I forget her?’

Mohandas K Gandhi has not said that of any woman. ‘Woman’? ‘Girl’, really, from a Tamil family of indentured labourers working in the Transvaal, South Africa, where MKG had turned, with the turn of the 19th century, from lawyer to protester for the rights of the Indian community, from a barrister clutching a rail ticket no one around honoured to a statesman no one could ignore.

Let me give the reader Gandhi’s own description of the woman he was writing about: “Valliamma R Munuswami Mudaliar was a young girl of Johannesburg only 16 years of age. She was confined to bed when I saw her. As she was a tall girl, her emaciated body was a terrible thing to behold. ‘Valliamma, you do not repent of your having gone to jail?’ I asked. ‘Repent? I am even now ready to go to jail again, if I am arrested’, said Valliamma. ‘But what if it results in your death?’, I pursued. ‘I do not mind it. Who would not love to die for one’s motherland?’ was the reply.”

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