Mahatma Gandhi and Prema Kantak: Exploring a Relationship, Exploring History

An important feminist thinker, writer, and activist, Prema Kantak’s contributions to Indian feminist thought and the nationalist movement have been largely neglected in scholarly studies. Kantak, a one-time resident of Gandhi’s ashram, forged a special, life-long bond with the Mahatma, and was hugely influenced by his thought and persona. She rose to prominence as a feminist writer with strong, radical convictions and also as a forceful proponent of Gandhian political and social ideals in Maharashtra.

This volume brings together rare Gandhi-Kantak correspondence that provides many new insights not only into this unique relationship and Kantak’s life and radical thought, but also into the complexities of Gandhi’s political and social ideas-especially his understanding of the role of women in the nationalist movement. Their correspondence, marked by loving devotion on the one hand and encouragement and nurturing on the other, is replete not only with an unusual mix of Kantak’s naivete, hero-worship, and self-doubt, but also reveals interesting facts about a much-deliberated and oft-researched topic-Gandhi’s relationship with his women followers.

Together with original translations of Kantak’s writings and a comprehensive Introduction that explores various dimensions of this deeply-personal relationship, their divergent thinking, as well as the political climate in Maharashtra during the nationalist period, this volume is a timely addition to the body of work on neglected figures in Indian feminist history as well the Gandhi corpus.