Travelling
into time when today, nations most spoken Bride, Anoushka, was spread all
across media, parallel to that we went for a tete-a-tete on the book about wife of Father of the Nation... Mrs. Kasturba Gandhi.
Neelima
Dalmia Adhar, author of ‘The Secret Diary of Kasturba’ shared her experiences
as a daughter, mother, woman and author in an interactive session for which she traveled down to Ahmedabad to share her thoughts about the book with select
audience.
Neelima herself
being brought up in a difficult and challenging environment, in a male
dominated, hypocrite household and a completely dysfunctional family, surrounded
by six siblings, step mothers, a difficult father, sexist mother... her
understanding about reading the psyche of people probably grew there
transforming into an innate ability.. over and above that; being a psychology
student, she loves to observe people, understand thought patterns which helps
her in her writings as well.
The flip
side or the positive aspect of the love and hate relation with her father was the
induction she got in the environment, turned her to be a default writer as it
runs in her genes and above all literature is her first religion. Though she started
off quite late.. Namita Gokhale, her friend motivated and convinced her to take
the plunge. In 1999 she decided to write a book on her father wherein her
mother had already written three books on him. She just took off, soared into
the world of thoughts and filtered them down with a pen and a notebook. In
nine months she finished the book.. the book which unveiled the environs of a marvari family. Being a rebel, she had
the courage to candidly expose the truths and express her observations, the
plight of her mother as the youngest wife of her dad, not accepted well in the
family. Her father being into several relations yet not satisfied, seeking for solace,
which still left him empty!! Her angst got released through the medium of pen which
in it’s own process liberated her.
Neelima
also has her interests and inclination towards alternate world and write about it. Her favorite author is Mahatma
Gandhi; so she got compelled to know about Kasturba who unlike the wives of
famous public figures, very little has been written about her. So she
feels the other way round, “the story found me”. So it wasn’t just about a biography
but Neelima got sort of connected to her to become the voice of Kasturba. Though it was a
challenge as only one book has been written on her by Arun Gandhi.
The process : Neelima just
tuned into it, started delving, feeling the character and could relate to Gandhi
cause of their similar backgrounds. She could feel Kasturba Gandhi’s story as a
parallel story of her mother. Being the only and pampered daughter of her father who
after child marriage in her early teens undergoes trials first at earlier stage
facing insecurities of an overprotective and obsessive man and later as a
freedom fighter, Father of Nation, Mahatma Gandhi...
The diary
throws light on a literate woman who is extremely strong, resilient and
tolerant; the three primarily distinct qualities a woman possesses. While
writing Neelima felt as if, she is being guided; witnessing some surreal
experiences. In the walkthrough of Kasturbas life, Neelima beautifully blends
fact and fiction, weaving it into an autobiography of a woman who has stood
behind the Mahatma with her incessant sacrifices...
The
response she got from readers after the book launch is....
"we now
wish to see Kasturba on currency than Mahatma!!!"
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