Neelima Dalmia Adhar (below) says that the book stemmed from the need to tell the story of Kasturba, who despite being the wife of Mahatma Gandhi, never got her due place in history. COURTESY/WESTLAND/TRANQUEBAR VIA GETTY IMAGES

The year is 1908. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, who is serving a two-month jail term in Johannesburg after refusing to pay a token fine for protesting the newly introduced Immigrant Act, receives a letter from his close associate Albert West, notifying him about the deteriorating condition of his wife, Kasturba. West urges him to pay the stipulated fine and rush back to his wife in Phoenix.