Kasturba Gandhi

Kasturba Mohandas Gandhi
Born	(1869-04-11)11 April 1869 Porbandar, Kathiawar Presidency, British India
Died	22 February 1944(1944-02-22) (aged 74) Aga Khan Palace, Poona, Bombay Province, British India
Other names	Baa
Known for	Wife of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
Religion	Hinduism

Kasturba Mohandas Gandhi  listen  (born Kastur Kapadia; 11 April 1869 – 22 February 1944) was the wife of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, marrying him in an arranged marriage.

Early life and background

Born to Gokuladas and Vrajkunwerba Kapadia of Porbandar, little is known of her early life. Kasturba was married to Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi in an arranged marriage in 1882.

When Gandhi left to study in London in 1888, she remained in India to raise their newborn son Harilal Gandhi. She had three more sons: Manilal Gandhi, Ramdas Gandhi, and Devdas Gandhi.

Political career

Working closely with her husband, Kasturba Gandhi became a political activist fighting for civil rights and Indian independence from the British. After Gandhi moved to South Africa to practice law, she traveled to South Africa in 1897 to be with her husband. From 1904 to 1914, she was active in the Phoenix Settlement near Durban. During the 1913 protest against working conditions for Indians in South Africa, Kasturba was arrested and sentenced to three months in a hard labour prison. Later, in India, she sometimes took her husband's place when he was under arrest. In 1915, when Gandhi returned to India to support indigo planters, Kasturba accompanied him. She taught hygiene, discipline, health, reading, and writing.

Health and death

Kasturba Gandhi with Mohandas Gandhi in the 1930s.

Kasturba Gandhi and her husband Mohandas Gandhi (1902)

Kasturba Gandhi Memorial Stone (One on the right) with the memorial stone of Mahadev Desai in Aga Khan Palace, Pune where she died.

Kasturba suffered from chronic bronchitis due to complications at birth. While her husband could move his mind from one thing to another, she would sometimes brood over troubles. Stress from the Quit India Movement's arrests and hard life at Sabarmati Ashram caused her to fall ill. Kasturbai fell ill with bronchitis which was subsequently complicated by pneumonia.

In January 1944, Kasturba suffered two heart attacks. 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. Yearning for familiar ministrations, Kasturba asked to see an Ayurvedic doctor. After several delays(which Gandhi felt were unconscionable), the government allowed a specialist in traditional Indian medicine to treat her and prescribe treatments. At first she responded—recovering enough by the second week in February to sit on the verandah in a wheel chair for a short periods, and chat then came a relapse. The doctor said Ayurvedic medicine could do no more for her.

To those who tried to bolster her sagging morale saying "You will get better soon," Kasturba would respond, "No, my time is up." Even though she had a simple illness. Shortly after seven that evening, Devdas took Gandhi and the doctors aside. The doctors pleaded fiercely that Ba be given the life saving medicine, though Gandhi refused. It was Gandhi, after learning that the penicillin had to be administered by injection every four to six hours, who finally persuaded his youngest son to give up the idea. Gandhi didn't believe in modern medicine. After a short while, Kasturba stopped breathing. She died in Gandhi's arms while both were still in prison, in Poona (now Pune).