Kasturbai Gandhi

Hello! My name is Kasturbai, but many people called me 'Ba,' which means mother. I was born on April 11th, 1869, in a town in India called Porbandar. When I was a girl, I loved playing and helping my family. When I was just a teenager, I married a young man named Mohandas Gandhi. We didn't know it then, but we would spend our lives together, working to make the world a fairer place for everyone. We promised to be best friends and partners in everything we did.

In 1897, my husband and I moved far away to a country called South Africa. It was very different from India. We soon learned that there were many unfair rules for people who came from India. The leaders there made laws that treated us badly. One day in 1913, they made a new rule that said marriages like mine and Mohandas’s weren't real. This was not right. I knew I had to do something. I decided to lead a peaceful protest. I was arrested and put in jail for three months, but I wasn't scared. I knew I was standing up for what was right.

After many years, we returned to India in 1915. Our country was ruled by Great Britain, and we dreamed of a day when India could be free to make its own choices. My husband and I traveled all over, teaching people how to work together peacefully. I helped start schools and taught women and children about staying healthy and clean. I also learned to spin my own thread to make cloth, which we called 'khadi.' This was our quiet way of showing that we could take care of ourselves. Whenever Mohandas was put in jail for his protests, I would take his place and speak to the crowds, encouraging them to be brave and peaceful.

Fighting for freedom was hard work, and I was sent to jail many times for my beliefs. My final arrest was in 1942. I lived to be 74 years old and passed away while still in custody on February 22nd, 1944. Even though my life ended, my story didn't. People in India remember me as 'Ba,' a mother to the nation who showed that courage and kindness are powerful tools for changing the world.