Kasturba Gandhi was born on April 11, 1869, and she passed away on February 22, 1944. She was the wife of Mahatma Gandhi, the leader of the Indian independence movement. Kasturba actively participated in various aspects of the freedom struggle alongside her husband. Read More English Summaries.
Kasturba Gandhi Summary
Kasturba Gandhi Difficult Word Meanings
prosperous (प्रॉस्परस)-rich and successful समृद्ध; indigo (इंडिगो)-dark blue dye नील; campaign (कैम्पेन)-a series of planned activities that are intended to achieve a particular social, commercial or political aim अभियान; progeny (प्रोजैनी)-a person’s children सन्तान; picketing (पिकोटिंग)-the activity of standing outside the entrance to a building in order to protest about something and stop people from entering that building धरना, आन्दोलन; protest (प्रोटेस्ट)-opposition to something विरोध; detention (डिटेन्शन)-the state of being kept in a place, especially a prison and prevented from leaving कैद; austere (ऑस्टीर)-simple and plain सीधा-सादा।
Kasturba Gandhi Summary, Pronunciation & Translation
[1] Kasturba Gandhi was the daughter of a prosperous businessman of Porbander (Kathiawar). She was married at the very young age of thirteen to Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Her father was a strong believer in prevalent customs and traditions. He did not believe in educating her. After her marriage, it was her husband who taught her to read and write. In 1897, she joined her husband in South Africa and worked there till 1914. Along with her husband, she led the women’s satyagraha there for which she was imprisoned.
[2] On his return to India in 1915, Kasturba joined her husband, Gandhi in the cause of the indigo workers in Champaran, Bihar and took an active part in the No Tax Campaign in Kaira, Gujarat in 1918.
[3] Kasturba not only took part in the campaign but also delivered significant speeches wherever she went. For instance, addressing the women of Vadhtal Village on 6 April 1918; she said : “the true religion of a woman is to follow the footsteps of her husband like Sita. If she also encourages her husband to stick to the sacred pledges (of non-payment of the revenue dues) her progeny is sure to be brave and India will then win swaraj.”
[4] In the First Non-coperation Movement launched by Gandhiji, she accompanied him and went from village to village. Along with her husband, she made a special appeal to women, asking them to spin and wear khadi, boycott government schools and colleges and remove untouchability. She was arrested in 1931 and again in 1932, for picketing liquour and foreign cloth shops.
[5] In 1939, she was arrested for participating in the Rajkot Satyagraha and was released only when Mahatma Gandhi began his fast. She was again arrested in August 1942, when proceeding to address a meeting of protest against the arrest of her husband and was lodged in a detention camp along with her husband in Pune. She looked after her husband when he undertook a twenty-one day fast in February 1943. Her health gradually broke down and she died in detention on 22 February 1944. During her entire life she worked whole-heartedly for the welfare of people and the removal of untouchability. She lived a simple and austere life.