“The marriage of Gandhians Jegannathan and Krishnammal easily overrode many barriers of that time. First of all, it was an inter-caste marriage. Even today, it is unthinkable in India for a high caste man to marry a Harijan girl. That it happened fifty years ago is truly a great revolution. They both married out of their own free will.
None of their relatives came to their wedding. Soundrammal and a few friends who took the lead were the only attendees. It was conducted by an American friend named Raleigh Caithon. No dowry, no gold jewellery, no silk saris, why so much… There were no garlands. The marriage ended with a hand-spun khadi garland tied around her neck. They did not even register their marriage. The marriage of two truly revolutionary men was revolutionary.
Within two days of marriage, Jegannathan left Krishnammal alone. Mother knew that father would go that way. Since then, Mom and Dad haven’t seen each other for more than a year. It is an undeniable fact that he has gone to wipe the tears of some human being…”
These are the lines mentioned by Laura Koppa in the book ‘The Colour of Freedom’, a biography of Krishnammal and Jegannathan. Laura Coppa’s hard work lies behind the emotional and aesthetic rendering of such moments of life.
Laura Elisabetta Coppo is a former researcher at a Peace Research Centre, associated with the University of Turin, Italy, specialising in Gandhian thought and issues related to environmental and social justice, with a focus on India. She has worked for numerous years in the field of Environmental Education, through programs aimed at helping children and adults find their deep connection with the natural world. She is the author of ‘Colour of Freedom,’ an oral biography of internationally acclaimed Indian activists and visionaries S. Jagannathan and Krishnammal Jagannathan. She currently works as a translator of environmental books, and she also runs an eco-friendly B&B in the Italian countryside.
She travelled from Italy and met Krishnammal and Jegannathan at the Gandhigram office in Dindigul, Tamil Nadu, recorded what they said on her tape recorder, transcribed them as notes and made them into a book in the Italian language. Subsequently, the book was translated into English.
Lara Coppo was the first to document the life history of Krishnammal and Jegannathan. Laura Coppo is the main reason for the history of the sacrifices of the two great Gandhians, still remaining alive in the language.
Laura Coppo shared her experiences during the Cuckoo Conversations Live Chat. It is a great deed that she gave us the document that has made both of them known worldwide today.