Book review: Manisha Chaudhary,Kasturba Gandhi: A Bio-Fiction

The life and work of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi as the architect of India’s Swaraj in the fight against colonialism has been one of the most prolific subjects of academic discourse. While his political activities have always been at the centre of scrutiny, yet aspects of his personal life were largely seen as unimpeachable by both scholars and his critics. The wealth of published material deals in detail with Gandhi’s philosophy and activism but the majority of these works do not mention the role of Kasturba Gandhi in shaping the trajectory of Gandhian politics. At the age of 13, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was married to Kasturbai Makhanji in 1883 and they were to live for 62 years as a married couple. Popularly known as Ba, Kasturba does find mention in Gandhi’s autobiography My Experiments with Truth wherein Gandhi describes their relation as marked by love and jealousy. Yet, there is hardly any literature available for a scholar willing to dig deeper into the life of this formidable woman who moved with him constantly, invested herself in the politics of Gandhi, went to jail in South Africa and India and was a devoted wife and mother in all respects. To be able to carve out an independent existence amidst the life of Gandhi was an insurmountable task but this is what Ba managed to attain.

The book by Manisha Chaudhary attempts to give voice and greater meaning to the life of Ba and does an excellent job of reconstructing her life as the one who took part in the satyagraha alongside Gandhi and gave meaning to his ideas. Due to the paucity of material available, the task of writing a book on Kasturba Gandhi turns out to be a difficult one. But Chaudhary, by adopting the method of bio-fiction, creates a narrative of pain and happiness in the hallowed imagination. In a very adept manner, Chaudhary gives voice to the life of Kasturba as a fighter both in personal life and in politics and she convinces the reader to appreciate how Kasturba was the source of inspiration for non-violence and satyagraha, the cornerstone of Gandhi’s politics. Giving voice to the feelings of Ba as a young woman, wife, mother and a freedom fighter makes the reader aware of her life which had hitherto been reduced to footnotes.

Chaudhary in the book draws the life of Kasturba from her childhood to death and in a very intrinsic manner she sheds light on the fighting spirit of Kasturba who fought for the country and her family. The book is a remarkable testimony to a great woman who came out of her familial concerns and devoted herself to be a part of larger society. The book at first glance can be seen as running parallel to Gandhi’s autobiography, but what Chaudhary does is to extrapolate the instances and give a narrative to Kasturba’s feelings which have hitherto been missing. Chaudhary traces the journey of Kasturba from being young, shy and demure, limited within the confines of the home to being seen as a leader and a national figure in her own right. The book starts by giving us a peek into the childhood days of Kasturba and Moniya (as Gandhiji was popularly known as) from their playing days of fun and banter to getting married, living together and separately and being a part of India’s quest for swaraj. The instances in the book is power packed with emotions and vivid descriptions which make the reader dwell on the life of Ba from unseen and unimaginable quarters. When Chaudhary narrates the event of Gandhi going to London to pursue his higher studies, the moment of separation between the husband and wife is laced with pain and longingness. She writes:

The two stood facing each other as if turned to stone. ‘Don’t go.’ she cried. Much as she tried, she could not conceal her tears. Hari looked from his father to his mother. Mohandas did not speak but kissed both Kasturba and Hari. He was struck dumb. He stood there for two minutes till he got a hold over himself. He kissed Kasturba again and then he left, Kasturba felt abandoned. Anguish rose like a wave. It was not just hard to conceal, it was impossible.

The soul of the book lies in Chaudhary’s ability to capture Kasturba’s dilemmas and turmoil in the various stages of her martial life. From the times when Gandhi wanted to educate her, to the moments of long separation and the nomadic life when Ba had to settle in alien territories (in India and South Africa) and create a home away from home. More than anything what the text presents is Ba’s resilience in every situation and her spirit to fight and emerge victorious against all odds. During some occasions, the changes in her husband’s life made Ba feel that they were like two people on a race track. Giving voice to Ba’s feelings Chaudhary writes, ‘Why does this happen with women that they remain in the same spot while the man sprints ahead?’ But more than anything, Chaudhary beautifully highlights how Ba was always supportive and the biggest pillar of strength in the life of Gandhi who with her firm resolve inspired Gandhi to lead the non-violent struggle. At a juncture when Gandhi’s vision was marked with hopelessness, Kasturba said to her husband, ‘Neither the court nor we can do anything. Hold on to it in your heart and bring it out when the time is right. When even raja Ravan had to go, do you think the Whites won’t?’

The book, in giving description to Kasturba’s life, deals with two pivotal narratives—one of Ba being a satyagrahi in sync with Gandhi’s ideals and the troubled life and relation of her sons, especially her elder son Harilal Gandhi. Chaudhary talks about the pain that Ba always carried due to the differences between father and son and how that made her heart long to reunite with Harilal even in her deathbed. The uneasy relation between Gandhi and Harilal reveals to the reader the difficulties in the life of Ba while being married to Gandhi who paid little care to personal relationships but more to the idea of social justice. Giving voice to Ba’s pain as a mother, Chaudhary writes:

The biggest canker in her soul was that he had broken all relations with Bapu and there was bitterness in his heart. When relationships break, they scatter like a bundle of broken threads. She prayed that he would find peace and happiness in India. He should understand that his father does not want him to be dispirited but wants to electrify him into action.

The journey of Kasturba from a young woman who was conscious about caste and gender roles to one who begins to look at the whole country as her family thus shattering all barriers is a major theme in the book. In the ashrams of both South Africa (Tolstoy Farm and Phoenix Settlement) and India (Sabarmati and Sevagram Ashram), Ba was at the centre of all activities and took up the responsibility of managing them in accordance with the rules. Ba was highly influenced by Gandhi’s objectives, and the book tells us how she implemented them by spinning every day and urged other women in the country to spin on the charkha and weave so as to lay the foundation of a self-reliant society. Believing in the ideals of her husband, she was the first woman to go to prison in South Africa by participating in the satyagraha and that continued till the Quit India Movement, which was the last time Ba was sent to prison. In addition to participating in satyagraha, Kasturba was also highly involved in the ideas of the Constructive Programme as laid out by Gandhi. Ba was at the forefront of activism during the Champaran satyagraha, who took up the task of educating women and villagers on hygiene and cleanliness.

A thorough reading of the book makes one aware of the trials and tribulations in the life of Kasturba and her existence as a satyagrahi who contributed to India’s quest for swaraj along her husband. It gives voice to a woman whose existence more often than not has been subsumed under the great work done by Gandhi. From charting her own discourse to being the epitome of non-violence and urging women to participate in the freedom struggle, Chaudhary does an excellent job in narrating the life of Ba from a shy young woman to a national leader.

However, what I find missing from the text is how did Kasturba take to the various experiments of Gandhi and his closeness to various women such as Madeline Slade (known as Mirabehn), Sushila Nayar and Saraladevi Chowdharani (whom Gandhi referred to as his ‘spiritual wife’). Did these relationships not trouble Ba at all or did she choose to bear and absorb them like the other eccentricities of Gandhi? In addition, when Gandhi decided to take the vow of celibacy in 1906 it was merely announced to Kasturba, leaving no scope for discussion or understanding her thoughts. The book chooses to remain silent on this topic or even to consider the idea that Kasturba could have initiated Gandhi’s desire to be a celibate. Is it not important to know what Kasturba’s feelings were on the vow of celibacy and why, like other aspects of his relationship with women, does Chaudhary choose to remain silent on the issue?

The book does a great job in detailing the journey of Kasturba as a wife, mother and fighter. The book is laced with a humane touch and emotive scenes which make the reader feel the pain and happiness of Ba’s life. Chaudhary describes beautifully that Ba was the closest companion that Gandhi ever had, which made him emotionally disturbed after her death in 1944. When Ba was on her death bed at the Agha Khan Place in Poona, Gandhi was there at her bedside attending to every detail. Gandhi saw Kasturba as an indivisible part of his life and after her death she left a vacuum in his life which could never be filled. In a letter to Lord Wavell, Gandhi perhaps wrote the most touching tribute to Kasturba:

I feel the loss more than I had thought I should. We were a couple outside the ordinary. It was in 1906 that after mutual consent and after unconscious trials we definitely adopted self-restraint as a rule of life. To my great joy this knit us together as never before. We ceased to be two different entities. Without my wishing it, she chose to lose herself in me. The result was that she became truly my better half. 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. The practice began with my own family.