Kasturba Gandhi: The better half of the Mahatma

Ahmedabad: ‘She was a woman always of very strong will, which, in our early days, I used to mistake for obstinacy. But that strong will enabled her to become, quite unwittingly, my teacher in the art and practice of non-violent non-cooperation’ – thus Mahatma Gandhi described Kasturba, his wife of 61 years, to the then Governor-General of India Lord Archibald Wavell, in response to his letter condoling the death of Kasturba in 1944.
As the world is celebrating Mahatma-150, April 11 marked 150 years of Kasturba – his wife – who accompanied her husband through thick and thin while moulding herself through his various experiments with life.

On her 150th birth anniversary, veteran Gandhian and Sabarmati Ashram Trust secretary, Amrut Modi, said that her contribution will always be remembered as the backbone of the Mahatma’s struggles.

“She is often described as courageous, outspoken and an efficient manager of Mahatma’s ashram with gut feeling. In his later life, even the Mahatma had started calling her ‘Ba’ as the entire ashram used to call her so. It is due to this affection that she became ‘Ba’ to the entire nation,” said Modi.

From Ganga Kapadia to Kasturba

Two biographies – ‘Kasturba: A Life’ by Arun Gandhi and ‘Kasturba: Wife of Gandhi’ by Sushila Nayyar – provide a peek into the fascinating tale of Ganga Kapadia from Porbandar who matched the steps of her freedom-fighter husband at every turn – from South Africa to India.

- The Mahatma over the decades tried to educate Kasturba right from Gujarati to general knowledge. Initially, Kasturba despised the ordeal, but later in life she even tried to learn English formally during her Ashram days. A stickler for routine, she used to oversee the kitchens of all ashrams. At Sabarmati Ashram, she would always devote some time to spinning the wheel to make khadi.

- During skirmishes between husband and wife at length. Kasturba never minced words while expressing her displeasure over her husband’s various experiments. One of the better documented incidents by Mahatma involved cleaning a guest’s chamber pot in South Africa which she loathed and what followed was a heated discussion that became a lifelong lesson for Gandhi.

- She always tried to be the bridge between the ‘good but stickler’ father and four sons. While Mahatma was busy in his public life, she held the fort at home front, ensuring that the kids don’t wither in looming shadow of the freedom fighter. In one incident when Gandhi was gifted goods worth over 1,000 UK Pounds 1,000 in South Africa, Kasturba wanted the funds for the weddings of her children, the Mahatma had already given it away for betterment of Indians in SA.

- Like her husband and kids, Kasturba also spent time in prisons, both in India and South Africa on the call of the Mahatma from 1913 to 1944. After a theft in Sabarmati Ashram, her personal belongings never exceeded two pairs of clothes and her glass bangles. During the call to shun foreign goods, she threw her only silk sari – gifted by Mahatma’s political guru Gopal Krishna Gokhale – into a bonfire.

- She also overcame a number of prejudices – right from following religion in foreign shores to staying with a Dalit family back home. At Kochrab Ashram in Ahmedabad, after initial protests, she was the one to embrace the family. Likewise, she also raised a cadre of women volunteers who would help her in activities such as spreading the message of cleanliness and Swadeshi.

- According to biographers, she also loved to play carrom during her last imprisonment at Aga Khan Palace in Pune. Her health steadily deteriorated with bronchitis and two heart attacks in her later age. The union of 61 years came to an end when she breathed her last at the palace at the age of 74 years in 1944.