Nilamben Parikh, the granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi, left this world with peace in Navsari home on April 1, 2025, at the age of 92. A writer and social activist, she gave her entire life to uplift the tribal women and keeping the spirit of Gandhian alive.
Her son, Dr. Sameer Parikh, an ophthalmologist in Navsari, said his mother was not sick but had progressively weakened from osteoporosis due to old age. “She had reduced food intake over the past few days. This morning, I sat with her, held her hand, and watched her pulse gradually slow. She passed away peacefully, without any suffering,” he said to The Indian Express.
A Life Devoted to Service
Influenced by Gandhian values, Nilamben Parikh established Dakshinapatha, a group dedicated to educating and giving livelihood skills to tribal women to make them economically independent. She worked in the field actively until her retirement about 30 years ago.
Though she was frail in health, Parikh remained impervious to the changing times and stuck to her convictions, always sporting khadi and promoting self-sufficiency. Her historian and cousin Tushar Gandhi remembered, “She was weak physically but morally strong. She was gentle yet firm in her values and spent her life teaching in tribal areas.”
Contributions to Literature
Nilamben Parikh was the daughter of Ramiben, the eldest child of Harilal Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi’s eldest son. Deeply moved after watching the Marathi play Gandhi Virudh Gandhi, which depicted Gandhi and Harilal’s strained relationship, she wrote Gandhi’s Lost Jewel, Harilal Gandhi, later adapted into the 2007 film Gandhi My Father.
She also wrote Jyan Raho Tyan Mehekta Raho, a book of letters of Mahatma Gandhi to his daughters-in-law, highlighting his lasting influence on family values.
Her death is a serious loss to India’s literary and historical heritage.