As we remember the nation's father on his birthday. Salute the biggest strength of his life, Kasturba Gandhi.
In May 1883, 13-year-old Mohandas had tied the knot with 14-year-old Kasturba in an arranged marriage. With time the two grew up and had their first child in 1886, but sadly, the baby had died after a few days. However, in the coming years, the couple was blessed with four kids, Harilal (1888), Manilal (1892), Ramdas (1897), and Devdas (1900).
After this, Mohandas had gone to England for studying law and Kasturba had taken care of their children in India. Many years passed in a spin but Kasturba had always supported and encouraged Mohandas for going to London and South African for studies and practicing law. As all she had ever wished was the happiness of her husband and lost her self.
Luckily in the later years, she came forward and joined played a crucial part in India's freedom movement. Tenacity and courage that Kasturba Gandhi possessed proved to be the backbone for Mahatma Gandhi's fight for justice, first in South Africa and then in India. She remained the mainstay of the force that Mahatma Gandhi unleashed on the British colonial rulers till her death in 1944.
Kasturba Gandhi had invented her real-self during the revolution and was recognized as an intelligent and ferocious woman. From taking care of her kids to be the leader of many huge movements against Britishers, she was simply an unstoppable force. Gandhi Ji also proudly admitted that his wife stood above him.
He had said, "I cannot imagine life without Kasturba. If anything, she stood above me. But for her unfailing co-operation, I might have been in the abyss. She helped me to keep wide awake and true to my vows."
"There were occasions when I was engaged in a grim wrestle with death. During my Aga Khan Palace fast, I literally came out of the death’s jaws. But she shed not a tear, never lost hope or courage but prayed to God with all her soul."
Kasturba Gandhi had died on February 22, 1944, on her husband's lap at the Aga Khan Palace Detention Camp. After her death, Gandhi Ji had said, "Kasturba stood by me in all my political fights and never hesitated to take the plunge. In the current sense of the word, she was uneducated but to my mind, she was a model of true education." As we remember Mahatma Gandhi, the successful man, let us salute Kasturba - the successful woman with a successful man!
By Rishabh Naudiyal
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