Kasturba Gandhi

• 1. A Girl From Porbandar

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  Kasturba Gokuldas Kapadia entered the world on the 11th of April 1869 in the coastal town of Porbandar. Her family belonged to the Modh Bania caste, a group of Gujarati Hindu tradesmen who lived along the western coast of India. In May 1883, when she was only fourteen years old, her parents arranged her marriage to thirteen-year-old Mohandas Gandhi. The young couple did not understand the weight of their union at that time. Mohandas later recalled the day as merely wearing new clothes and eating sweets while playing with relatives. Tradition dictated that the bride spend her first few years living at her parents' home rather than with her husband. This separation created distance between them during their earliest years together. Mohandas described feeling lustful thoughts about his young wife even while he attended school. He admitted that nightfall brought haunting expectations for their future meetings. Their early relationship involved possessiveness from Mohandas, who wanted an ideal wife who would follow every command.

• 2. The Phoenix Settlement And Protests

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  Political engagement began for Kasturba in South Africa in 1904 when she helped establish the Phoenix Settlement near Durban. She worked alongside her husband and other activists to build a community based on shared labor and principles. By 1913, she joined protests against the mistreatment of Indian immigrants under British rule. Authorities arrested her and sentenced her to hard labour for her participation in these demonstrations. While imprisoned, she led fellow women in prayer sessions throughout the facility. She encouraged educated inmates to teach reading and writing skills to those who could not read. The Gandhis left South Africa in July 1914 after returning to India. Her chronic bronchitis did not stop her from continuing civil actions across the subcontinent. She often took her husband's place when he was incarcerated by colonial authorities. Kasturba dedicated most of her time to serving within ashrams where she earned the title Ba or Mother. This name reflected her role as the mother figure for all residents of the ashrams.

• 3. Leadership In Ashrams And Campaigns

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  Kasturba worked for women's welfare in Champaran, Bihar during 1917 while Mohandas supported indigo farmers. She taught local women about hygiene, discipline, health practices, reading, and writing skills. Her approach differed from her husband regarding their own children living in the ashram. Mohandas believed his sons deserved no special treatment, but Kasturba felt they were neglected. In 1922, she participated in a Satyagraha movement in Borsad, Gujarat despite suffering from poor health. She did not join the famous Salt March in 1930 but continued participating in many other civil disobedience campaigns. Authorities arrested and jailed her on numerous occasions throughout these years. In 1939, she led nonviolent protests against British rule in Rajkot after city women specifically requested her advocacy. Police kept her in solitary confinement for one month following that arrest. Her physical condition worsened significantly yet she persisted in fighting for independence. By 1942, she was arrested again along with Mohandas and other freedom fighters for joining the Quit India movement.

• 4. Final Illness And Death

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  Chronic bronchitis plagued Kasturba due to complications present at birth and later complicated by pneumonia. In January 1908 she fasted while her husband was imprisoned and became gravely ill herself. She came so close to death that Mohandas apologized and promised never to remarry if she died. A major surgery followed this near-fatal episode. In January 1944, Kasturba suffered two heart attacks which confined her to bed for much of the time. Spells of breathlessness interfered with her sleep every night during those final weeks. She requested an Ayurvedic doctor and received permission from the government for a specialist in traditional Indian medicine to attend to her. Initial treatment showed promise as she recovered enough by the second week of February to sit on the veranda in a wheelchair. Later she experienced a severe relapse. Her son Devdas ordered penicillin but doctors refused because kidney failure could not be relieved by the drug. The medical team informed the family that her condition had deteriorated too far for penicillin to help. Kasturba died at the Aga Khan Palace in Pune at 7:35 PM local time on the 22nd of February 1944.

• 5. Honors And Institutions

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  The Kasturba Gandhi National Memorial Trust Fund was established in her memory shortly after her passing. Mohandas requested that this fund support women and children living in villages across India. Many institutions, roads, and cities now bear her name globally. Kasturba Gandhi College for Women operates under her name today. A hospital named Kasturba Hospital exists in Wardha while another Kasturba Vaidyakiya Rahat Mandal serves Valsad in Gujarat since 1944. Kasturba Medical College functions in Manipal and Kasturba Nagar railway station serves travelers. Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya provides education for girls. Kasturba Nagar forms part of the Delhi Assembly constituency and appears as neighborhoods in Chennai, Puducherry, Kochi, and Bhopal. Kasturba Road runs through major Indian cities including New Delhi where Kasturba Gandhi Marg also exists. A primary school bearing her name stands in Durban, South Africa. Narayan Desai wrote a play titled Kasturba which Aditi Desai directed and staged multiple times. Rohini Hattangadi portrayed Kasturba in the 1982 film Gandhi. The Indian government recognized April 11th as National Safe Motherhood Day starting in 2003.