Kasturba

Book excerpt: ‘I LEARNED THE LESSON OF NONVIOLENCE FROM MY WIFE. HER DETERMINED RESISTANCE TO MY WILL ON THE ONE HAND, AND HER QUIET SUBMISSION IN THE SUFFERING MY STUPIDITY INVOLVED ON THE OTHER HAND, ULTIMATELY MADE ME ASHAMED OF MYSELF AND CURED ME OF MY STUPIDITY’ —GANDHI Kastur Kapadia was betrothed to Mohandas Gandhi when they were both just seven years old. The couple married when they were thirteen and Kastur had five children, the first of whom was born when she was sixteen. Together Gandhi and Kastur laid the foundations for the movement of nonviolence to which they devoted their lives. When Gandhi was imprisoned, Kastur was often jailed with him. No obstacle was too great for this extraordinary woman who gave up a life of comfort for one of utter poverty. When Kastur died, the whole nation wept for the woman the people called simply ’Ba’ ... Mother. Kasturba: A Life is the result of a lifetime of research by Arun Gandhi, grandson of the Mahatma and Kasturba. As well as recounting historical events behind the birth of a nation, it is also a love story, which ended with the terrible tragedy of Gandhi’s assassination in New Delhi in 1948. Until now, Gandhi’s biographers have dwelled upon his legend. This biography is the powerful story of two human beings, triumphing together against overwhelming odds.