The secret diary of Kasturba - Neelima Dalmia Adhar

divey

Mahatma....the title bestowed upon a man who fought for freedom on ideals which were hard to follow even for his own son. His experiments with truth, equality, celibacy are all part of legend now. But we only see his aspect of story. What about his better half, the woman with whom he was married for more than 60 years. This is a wonderfully written book, about how Kastur or Kasturba as she was called lovingly, wife of the great Mahatma would have felt for his experiments and how it must have destroyed her simple life and family.

Whether its his carnal desires, failures, unilateral vow of celibacy or his weakness and his experiments to test limits to his self control, this book present a point of view from Kasturba's side, how she must have felt at these things, her life, fears, her conflict between being a mother and a wife. This books also touches upon story of Harilal, Mahatma Gandhi;s eldest son who couldn't live upto the high standards which his father had set for himself.

This book also makes one question the view that we have for Mahatma Gandhi as a complete hero, as he could not inspire his own son and at times was dictatorial denying his sons basics like education, relying on his ideals to work for them as lessons, adamant at not providing even doctors and putting thier lives in danger on more than one occassion. His apathy for his children and family and his desire to portray himself as being impartial was too much for them and pushed Harilal in the grip of alcohol and women. Probably he could just have remained a simple father but being a Mahatma and messiah to the masses may have made it impossible for him and this had far reaching consequences for his family and loved ones.

I would rate this book 3.5/ 5.

You can access this book here:

https://www.craxme.com/forum.php ... ary%2Bof%2Bkasturba

Enjoy!!!!

Mousetrap

I read this book last year and wondered about the same thing - why did Gandhi sideline his family so much and about his other strange obsessions even as he earned respect from outsiders.

It's intriguing how so little is known about his sons and their contributions in the independence struggle. Also why did he have to fail in a simple decision like letting his wife get treated for her illness? At any rate, Gandhi is mostly an enigma, despite so much literature and even his autobiography available.

I liked the book for providing Kasturba's point of view though I found it slightly dramatic and immature.

divey

Mousetrap 22-8-2018 03:33 PM
I read this book last year and wondered about the same thing - why did Gandhi sideline his family so ...

Same with me. There are instances in which he is almost like a dictator and a control freak and just doesnt want to let others live like they want. Also what amaze me is his reluctance to let his sons do what they want, like going to England to study or marry a non Hindu girl. I was a bit surprised when he doesnt let his second son get married to a muslim girl for he had read a lot about religion and prided himself for it but when it came to his own family it all turns out to be just plain talk.

Mousetrap

divey 23-8-2018 11:49 AM
Same with me. There are instances in which he is almost like a dictator and a control freak and ju ...

True! He is like a bag of contradictions. I guess there are many shades of him we'll never come to know.

jhsurti

I had the same questions about him. To be very frank, I don't hold him in high respect. I feel he was a selfish man to some extent. He perhaps needed to do what he did to satisfy his ego. People's praise fed that ego and so on.

divey

jhsurti 23-8-2018 01:01 PM
I had the same questions about him. To be very frank, I don't hold him in high respect. I feel he wa ...

I dont agree totally with you. His contribution to the cause of getting independance from foreign rule cant be denied. But yes he was as human as we all are with his own fears, anxieties and insecurities. Its high time that we start looking and accepting many of our heroes and ancestors with their flaws; for they worked tirelessly to achieve that elusive goal despite such flaws is what drew people to them and made them admired and listed their names in annals of history

cynic

jhsurti 23-8-2018 01:01 PM
I had the same questions about him. To be very frank, I don't hold him in high respect. I feel he wa ...

I agree. We cannot deny his contribution to the freedom struggle, but ego did get in the way of that. Particularly in case of Bhagat Singh and Bose.

BookReviews

This was an interesting read. It gave an insight to Gandhi the man rather than the Mahatma. Whether Kasturba really had such views about her husband or was she a subservient wife is a point to ponder about while reading this book.

divey

BookReviews 4-9-2018 12:11 PM
This was an interesting read. It gave an insight to Gandhi the man rather than the Mahatma. Whether  ...

From the book and what we know from other sources she looks more subservient rather than being more vocal and forthcoming in her views

cynora

thanx