Kasturba Gandhi | |
|---|---|
 Kasturba in 1940 | |
| Born | Kasturba Gokuldas Kapadia (1869-04-11)11 April 1869 Porbandar,Kathiawar Agency, India |
| Died | 22 February 1944(1944-02-22) (aged 74) Pune, Bombay Presidency, India |
| Occupation | Activist |
| Spouse | |
| Children | |
Kasturba Mohandas Gandhi[a] (listenⓘ, bornKasturba Gokuldas Kapadia; 11 April 1869 – 22 February 1944) was an Indian political activist who was involved in theIndian independence movement duringBritish India. She was married to Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, commonly known asMahatma Gandhi.[1]National Safe Motherhood Day is observed in India annually on 11 April, coinciding with Kasturba's birthday.[2][3]
Kasturba was born on 11 April 1869 to Gokuladas and Vrajkunwerba Kapadia. The family belonged to theModhBania caste ofGujaratiHindu tradesmen and were based in the coastal town ofPorbandar.[1] In May 1883, 14-year-old Kasturba was married to 13-year-oldMohandas in amarriage arranged by their parents.[4]
Recalling the day of their marriage, her husband once said,"As we didn't know much about marriage, for us it meant only wearing new clothes, eating sweets and playing with relatives."[citation needed] However, as was the prevailing tradition, the adolescent bride was to spend the first few years of marriage at her parents' house, and away from her husband.[5][failed verification] Writing many years later, Mohandas described with regret the lustful feelings he felt for his young bride,"even at school I used to think of her, and the thought of nightfall and our subsequent meeting was ever haunting me."[6] At the beginning of their marriage, Mohandas was also possessive and manipulative; he wanted the ideal wife who would follow his command.[7]
Kasturba became pregnant at the age of 17. The first child was born prematurely and did not survive the first year. Although their other four sons survived to adulthood, Kasturba never fully recovered from the death of her first child.[8] Mohandas decided to go to London to study and departed in 1888, soon after their second child was born, a son namedHarilal. Kasturba remained inIndia. Mohandas returned from London in 1891, and in 1892 Kasturba gave birth to another son,Manilal. Unable to find a successful career in India, Mohandas left for South Africa in 1893, once again leaving behind Kasturba and his children. In 1896 the family joined Mohandas inSouth Africa.[citation needed]
In 1906, Mohandas took a vow of chastity, orbrahamacharya.[7] Some reports indicated that Kasturba felt that this opposed her role as a traditionalHindu wife.[7] However, Kasturba quickly defended her marriage when a woman suggested she was unhappy.[9] Kasturba's relatives also insisted that the greatest good was to remain and obey her husband, theMahatma.[7]
Ramachandra Guha's biographyGandhi Before India described the marriage, saying, "They had, in the emotional as well as sexual sense, always been true to one another. Perhaps because of their periodic, extended separations, Kasturba deeply cherished their time together."[10]
Kasturba first involved herself with politics in South Africa in 1904 when, with her husband and others, she established thePhoenix Settlement nearDurban. In 1913 she took part in protests against the ill-treatment of Indian immigrants in South Africa, for which she was arrested and sentenced to hard labour. While in prison, she led other women in prayer[11][12] and encouraged the educated women to teach the uneducated women how to read and write.[12]
The Gandhis left South Africa in July 1914 and returned to live in India. In spite of Kasturba’schronic bronchitis she continued to take part in civil actions and protests across India and often took her husband's spot when he was in prison. The majority of her time was dedicated to serving inashrams.[13] Here, Kasturba was referred to as "Ba" or Mother, because she served as mother of the ashrams in India.[14] A point of difference between Kasturba and Mohandas was the treatment of their children in their ashram. Mohandas believed that their sons did not deserve special treatment, while Kasturba felt that Mohandas neglected them.[15]
In 1917, Kasturba worked for women's welfare inChamparan,Bihar where Mohandas was working withindigo farmers. She taught women hygiene, discipline, health, reading and writing.[citation needed] In 1922, she participated in aSatyagraha (nonviolent resistance) movement inBorsad,Gujarat even though she was in poor health. She did not take part in her husband's famousSalt March in 1930, but continued to take part in many civil disobedience campaigns and marches. As a result, she was arrested and jailed on numerous occasions.[13]
In 1939, Kasturba took part in nonviolent protests against the British rule inRajkot, after the women in the city specifically asked her to advocate for them.[13] Kasturba was arrested once again, and kept insolitary confinement for a month. Her health worsened but she continued to fight for independence. In 1942, she was arrested again, along with Mohandas and other freedom fighters, for participating in theQuit India movement. She was imprisoned in theAga Khan Palace inPune. By this time her health had severely deteriorated and she died at the detention camp in Pune.[8]
Mohandas wrote of his wife in terms which showed that he expected obedience from her. "According to my earlier experience, she was very obstinate. In spite of all my pressure she would do as she wished. This led to short or long periods of estrangement between us. But as my public life expanded, my wife bloomed forth and deliberately lost herself in my work."[16]
Kasturba suffered from chronicbronchitis due to complications at birth. Her bronchitis was complicated bypneumonia.[17] In January 1908 she fasted while her husband was in prison, and she became gravely ill. She came so close to death that Mohandas apologised to her, and promised he would not remarry if she died. Kasturba would later undergo a major surgery.[18]
In January 1944, Kasturba suffered two heart attacks, after which she was confined to her bed much of the time. Even there she found no respite from pain. Spells of breathlessness interfered with her sleep at night. She asked to see anAyurvedic doctor, and after several delays, the government allowed a specialist in traditional Indian medicine to attend to her. At first she responded well, recovering enough by the second week in February to sit on the veranda in a wheelchair for short periods and talk with him. Later she suffered a relapse. Her son Devdas orderedpenicillin, but her doctors did not want to use it because the final failure of her kidneys could not be relieved by penicillin. The doctors informed the Gandhi family that the condition of Kasturba had already deteriorated enough that penicillin would not be helpful.[19][20]
She died at theAga Khan Palace inPune, at 7:35 PM local time on 22 February 1944, aged 74.[21]
The Kasturba Gandhi National Memorial Trust Fund was set up in her memory. Mohandas requested that this fund be used to help women and children in villages in India.[22]
Many institutions, roads, and cities are named after Kasturba Gandhi:
Narayan Desai wrote a play,Kasturba, based on Kasturba Gandhi. It was directed by Aditi Desai and was staged several times.[23]
In the 1982 filmGandhi, the role of Kasturba Gandhi was played byRohini Hattangadi.
Penicillin had just arrived in the verandah of the Aga Khan's Palace. The doctors had little desire to try it. Pneumonia was only a contributory factor. The final failure of the kidneys would not have been relieved by the penicillin.
doctors had told him her condition was beyond help
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