Book description
Kastur Kapadia was betrothed to the mighty Mahatma Gandhi, father
of modern India, when they were both just seven years old. The couple
married when they were thirteen and Kastur had five children, the
first of whom was born when she was sixteen. Though Gandhi's name has
become synonymous with asceticism, this biography reveals that he
enjoyed a sensuous, loving relationship with Kastur. Daughter of
Midnight is the result of a lifetime of research by Arun Gandhi,
grandson of Mahatma and Kastur. As well as recounting historical
events behind the birth of a nation, Daughter of Midnight is also a
love story, which ended with the terrible tragedy of Gandhi's
assassination by a Hindu extremist in New Delhi in 1948. Though
Gandhi's strength and resolution defeated all the resources of the
British Empire he was not always confident, the author reveals. When
the young Gandhi, as a barrister in Bombay, could not open his mouth
for fear during his first ever court case, Kastur consoled him and
soothed the humiliation he felt at being laughed at by his
contemporaries. The woman who shared Gandhi's sorrows, his triumphs
and his tragedies also knew the flaws and human frailities of the
great leader. Together Mahatma and Kastur laid the foundations for the
movement of nonviolence to which they devoted their lives. When
Mahatma was imprisoned, Kastur was often jailed with him. No obstacle
was too great for this extraordinary woman who gave up a life of
wealth for one of utter poverty. When Kastur died the whole nation
wept for the woman the people called simply 'Ba'...Mother.
