The book ‘The Lost Diary of Kastur, My Ba’ is being authored by her great-grandson Tushar Gandhi.
While her husband Mahatma Gandhi is quite well-known, there’s very little information about Kasturba Gandhi in history. But now, you can catch a glimpse of this amazing person through her great-grandson Tushar Gandhi’s new book titled ‘The Lost Diary of Kastur, My Ba’,which will be released in June 2022.
Kasturba Gandhi’s rare diary has been recreated in ‘The Lost Diary of Kastur, My Ba.’ It was discovered a few years ago when Gandhi Research Foundation staff in Jalgaon discovered a damaged diary at the Kasturba Ashram in Indore.
The book includes a transcription of what she wrote in Gujarati and an English translation by Tushar Gandhi. Kasturba Gandhi had written and maintained a 135-page diary from January to September 1933.
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Kasturba had been labelled as an uneducated woman her entire life. When Tushar Gandhi first mentioned the diary to family members, they refused to believe it existed, with the common argument being: “She couldn’t read or write. She was illiterate.”
This assumption was quashed as Tushar Gandhi read Kasturba’s diary. It revealed who she was as a person – a companion and a Satyagrahi in her own right.
She was a woman witnessing history being made, observing and comprehending the process while also participating in it. It also tells of her two imprisonments that year, not because she was Bapu’s wife, but because she was herself was involved in satyagraha.
“She couldn’t write. Kasturba was always dismissed as uneducated and unable to comprehend the written word throughout her life and post her death. The majority of her writing comes from her time as a satyagrahi imprisoned by the colonial government for her individual acts of defiance, showing us that she wasn’t just Gandhi’s shadow”, Tushar stated.
The new book provides a rare glimpse into Kasturba Gandhi’s life in her own words, including her daily activities and what it was like to be married to Mahatma Gandhi. It also includes photographs of Kasturba and Mahatma Gandhi.
Swati Chopra, Executive Editor, Harper Collins India (the book is being published by Harper Collins India), stated, “Kasturba Gandhi has always been recognised as the Mahatma’s wife, the wife of a man who towered over the history of modern India. Though we have heard stories about Mahatma Gandhi, we have never heard her speak in her own voice. Given that it is based on a diary she wrote, possibly the only one she ever wrote, this book may be the only opportunity we will ever have.”
“Tushar Gandhi, her great-grandson, discovered it by chance after it was lost for years. The diary pages, written in her own hand, are included in the book, along with the original Gujarati text and an English translation and contextualization. It contains rare photographs of Kasturba and Mahatma Gandhi and is sure to delight readers worldwide,” Chopra added.
