PANAJI
A new book, ‘Lost Letters and Feminist History: The Political Friendship of Mohandas K Gandhi and Sarala Devi Chaudhurani, by Geraldine Forbes is published recently with a foreword by Usha Thakkar. The paperback edition with 188 pages was first published in August 2020 by Orient Blackswan Pvt Ltd.
In the 1920s, amidst the upheaval of the Indian national movement and its sustained resistance to British rule, Mohandas K Gandhi and the prominent Indian nationalist and feminist Sarala Devi Chaudhurani developed an intense but short-lived association. For over a year, they communicated with each other via letters that were both politically charged and personally insightful. In the book ‘Lost Letters and Feminist History’, Geraldine Forbes presents this previously unexplored correspondence, placing them in the political context of their time. ...Critical of writings that tend to sensationalise Gandhi's relationships with women - among whom Sarala Devi figures prominently - Forbes' analysis instead serves to bring her into focus as an equal participant, highlighting her emergence and ascent as a political leader in her own right.
