These are pages from the life of a remarkable figure from history — Kasturba, wife of Mohandas Gandhi. The narrative speaks to us from a hand-written diary that had almost fallen apart by the time it was discovered. The Lost Diary of Kastur, My Ba was found in an old trunk a few years ago, according to her great grandson and translator Tushar Gandhi, by the staff at the Gandhi Research Foundation while going through old materials at the Kasturba Ashram, Indore.
Reading these pages gives a special thrill. The diary spans only nine months, but such momentous months! Contained in the simple entries from January to September 1933, of not more than three or four lines each, we discover a story of prison sentences casually borne; an unwavering commitment to freedom and justice; and unimaginable personal sacrifice. Shining out of the simple sentences is a narrative of deep personal faith and determination to do what is right.
Kasturba Gandhi in South Africa with her nephew and sons, Manilal, Ramdas and Harilal in 1896. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
A good listener
The first strand in this homespun narrative of the freedom struggle is the sheer amount of hard work on the ground. The first entry in Kasturba’s diary, dated 22 January 1933: “I left the ashram and travelled through Borsad taluka at 8.30 in the evening. We slept at Bhadran that night.” The next day they leave Bhadran by bullock cart. The next day is at Bochasan; then Dharmaj; then Vadalaa; and so on, from village to village in rural Gujarat, interacting with girls and women, encouraging them to join the movement for freedom and for social reform.
Another element that stands out is the work of listening to people and learning from them. “Left to go to Limbasi, there met brothers and sisters and listened to their tales of happiness and woes, then returned.” There is a great lesson in this. For Kasturba, this form of listening, this attentiveness to the everyday struggles of ordinary people, is a form of love.
A studio photograph of Mohandas and Kasturba Gandhi taken in South Africa, most likely in 1914. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Within days of the first entry in the diary comes a cursory note about being arrested by the British government — along with other women — and taken into custody. “On 8-2-33, our case was conducted at Borsad. On 9 February we were sentenced and on 10 February we left in the morning and reached here in the evening.” The ‘here’ in this case was Sabarmati Jail.
In the jail, she finds that Meera Ben had also reached that same day. “So I was very happy. Both of us stayed together.”
The days go by in a regular routine of prayers, rituals, and letters to Gandhi, who was in another prison at the time, or letters from him. Reading the Gita, and then reading the newspapers. The newspapers are often Kasturba’s main source of information about the outside world and about the Independence struggle.
There is also the regular work at the charkha, spinning 350 to 450 strands every day. Kasturba was a dedicated and skilled spinner. When the daughter of a family from Kochrab Ashram comes to the prison to seek Kasturba’s blessings for her marriage, Kasturba says she will gift her two sarees. “Sitting here I could not think of anything else to give her.”
Kasturba with Sarojini Naidu. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
That Kasturba and Gandhi spent much of their married life in different prisons was just one of their many extraordinary personal sacrifices for the freedom movement. In her matter-of-fact way, Kasturba records one such instance, on the night of 31 July: “At 1.30, three cars arrived full of police. Me, Bal and Mahadev Bhai were put in one car and Bapuji was put in another and we were taken to the prison. Other sisters from the ashram had also been arrested and brought...”
And this moving detail, while in prison: “In the evening, made soup of parval for Bapuji and sent it.”
Later, in the same paragraph: “This evening at 8 o’clock, they took Bapu. We got to know about it the next day from the newspaper that Bapuji along with Mahadev Bhai has been taken to Yerwada.”
Days later, the collector gives the women a notice to leave the jail but warns them not to cross the river. Promptly, Kasturba and the other women defy the collector’s order. They are again taken before a magistrate and sent back to the prison.
Poignant entry
Perhaps the most poignant entry in the diary is that of 18 August 1933, when Kasturba is worried about Gandhi’s new fast. She reads the updates about the fast in the newspaper. “Paper arrived, learned from it that Bapuji’s fast continues... Then I sent a telegram to Bapuji on Friday morning saying, ‘I came to know from the newspaper that today is your third day of fasting. So let me know how your health is.’”
In the next day’s entry: “Received no reply.”
Each day’s entry contains a lifetime of feeling and faith.
This is the story, in her own words, of an extraordinary woman — a wife, a mother, a friend, a dedicated khadi spinner, a mentor, and a powerful and inspiring figure in the struggle for Indian Independence.
It is a story of steely determination, compassion, wisdom, and humanity. This is a voice coming to us from the pages of history. It is a soft and gentle voice, one of few and simple words, but with a powerful message of hope, faith, and love.
The Lost Diary of Kastur, My Ba; Tushar Gandhi, HarperCollins, ₹599.
The reviewer is in the IAS.
Published - August 05, 2022 02:19 pm IST
