Kasturba Gandhi

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Claim for fame:

Wife of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

Date of birth:

April 11, 1869

Place of birth:

Porbandar, Bombay Presidency, British India

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Kastürbā Gāndhi (11 April 1869 – 22 February 1944) was the wife of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, marrying him in a arranged child marriage i... (more)

Kastürbā Gāndhi (11 April 1869 – 22 February 1944) was the wife of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, marrying him in a arranged child marriage in 1883. Early life and background Born to wealthy businessman Gokuladas Kapadia of Porbandar, Kasturba married Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi through arrangement. Gandhi was thirteen and Kasturba was fourteen when they married. When Gandhi left to study in London in 1888, she remained in India to raise their newborn son Harilal. She had three more sons: Manilal (1892), Ramdas (1897), and Devdas (1900). Political career Kasturba Gandhi joined her husband in political protests. She traveled to South Africa in 1897 to be with her husband. From 1904 to 1914, she was active in the Phoenix Settlement near Durban. During the 1913 protest against working conditions for Indians in South Africa, Kasturbai was arrested and sentenced to three months in a hard labor prison. Later, in India, she sometimes took her husband's place when he was under arrest. In 1915, when Gandhi returned to India to support indigo planters, Kasturba accompanied him. She taught hygiene, discipline, reading and writing to women and children. Personal thumb|right|Kasturba Gandhi with Mohandas Gandhi in the 1930's. Kasturba suffered from chronic bronchitis due to complications at birth. While her husband could move his mind from one thing to another, she would sometimes brood over troubles. Stress from the Quit India Movement's arrests and hard life at Sabarmati Ashram caused her to fall ill. Kasturbai fell ill with bronchitis which was subsequently complicated by pneumonia. In January 1944, Kasturba suffered two heart attacks. She was confined to her bed much of the time. Even there she found no respite from pain. Spells of breathlessness interfered with her sleep at night. Yearning for familiar ministrations, Kasturba asked to see an Ayurvedic doctor. After several delays (which Gandhi felt were unconscionable), the government allowed a specialist in traditional Indian medicine to treat her and prescribe treatments. At first she responded—recovering enough by the second week in February to sit on the verandah in a wheel chair for a short periods, and chat… then came a relapse. The doctor said Ayurvedic medicine could do no more for her. To those who tried to bolster her sagging morale saying "You will get better soon, " Kasturba would respond, "No, my time is up." Shortly after seven that evening, Devdas took Mohandas and the doctors aside. In what he would later describe as "the sweetest of all wrangles I ever had with my father, " he pleaded fiercely that Ba be given the life saving medicine, even though the doctors told him her condition was beyond help. It was Mohandas, after learning that the penicillin had to be administered by injection every four to six hours, who finally persuaded his youngest son to give up the idea. "Why do you want to prolong your mother's agonies after all the suffering she has been through?" Gandhi asked. Then he said, "You can't cure her now, no matter what miracle drug you may muster. But if you insist, I will not stand in your way." After a short while, Kasturba stopped breathing. She died in Gandhi's arms while both were still in prison, in Poona (now Pune). thumb|right|Kasturba Gandhi Memorial Stone (One on the right) with the memorial stone of Mahadev Desai in Aga Khan Palace, Pune where she died. References  Category:1869 births Category:1944 deaths Category:Indian pacifists Category:Indian independence activists Category:Gujarati people Category:Indian women freedom fighters Category:Hindu pacifists Category:Family of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi Category:Gandhians ca:Kasturba Gandhi de:Kasturba Gandhi es:Kasturba Gandhi fr:Kasturba Gandhi gu:કસ્તુરબા hi:कस्तूरबा गांधी it:Kasturba Gandhi kn:ಕಸ್ತೂರಬಾ ಗಾಂಧಿ ml:കസ്തൂർബാ ഗാന്ധി mr:कस्तुरबा गांधी ne:कस्तूरबा गान्धी pt:Kasturba Gandhi te:కస్తూరిబాయి గాంధీ  (less)

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