#ChameliDeviJain

[alephcollective-blog]

46 – A teenaged couple’s fight for freedom

This image http://www.indianmemoryproject.com/46-2/ was photographed in Delhi, shortly after my paternal grandparents Chameli and Phool Chand, got married.

She was 14 and he was 16.

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In 1932, Gandhi called for a major nationwide satyagraha against foreign goods. It was also the year a bomb was thrown at Lord Lothian, an act in which my grandfather played a role. When he told my grandmother that he was going to jail, she said this time she would go to prison first, by taking part in theswadeshi satyagraha. The household was stunned. Ammaji’s life had revolved around ritual, the kitchen and ghoonghat. Her decision led to the following heated exchange; witnessed by my father, age 7:

Babaji: “You don’t know anything about jail.”

Ammaji: “Nor did you when you were first arrested.”

Babaji: “Who will look after the children ?”

Ammaji: “You will.”

  To read the entire story: visit - http://www.indianmemoryproject.com/46-2/

Courtesy: Indian Memory Project website

[hinge]

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