Bapu’s last 144 days spent in the home of noted industrialist and his friend GD Birla at 5 Albuquerque Road ( later known as 5,Tees January Marg for obvious reasons), it can be safely said that after coming back to India from South Africa in 1915, this was one of the longest stay of Gandhi ji at one particular place. It was here that he falls to the senseless bullets of Nathuram Godse on January 30, 1948.
The mansion where Bapu was assassinated was acquired by the Government in 1971 and opened for the public on August 15, 1973. The museum in the building houses a number of articles associated with Gandhi's life and death. Mahatma Gandhi had lived in this house from 9 September 1947 to 30 January 1948. Thus, the hallowed house treasures many memories of the last days of his epic life.
The room where Mahatma Gandhi lived and the prayer ground where he held a mass congregation every evening has not been changed at all. The building and the landscape have been preserved as they were in those days. Interestingly when Bapu was staying at Birla house, his son Devdas Gandhi, used to stay at Connaught Place. He was then the editor of Hindustan Times. At the Birla House, Abha and Manu, the two girls Mahatma Gandhi used to lean on while walking also stayed.
Bapu used to call Abha and Manu his walking sticks. Abha also served as time-keeper for Gandhi six years till his death, looking at his pocket-watch all the time so that he kept his appointments on schedule. An important job that because he was a stickler for punctuality. Almost all the top leaders of freedom movement ass well as commoners used to meet Bapu there. If you ever happen to visit Birla house despite your busy schedules, you would feel a serene and sacred atmosphere there.
Somehow one gets the impression that he would emerge from somewhere. Presently there on display are photographs, sculptures, paintings, frescos, inscriptions on rocks and relics pertaining to the years Mahatma Gandhi spent here. The humble personal effects of Gandhiji too are carefully preserved.
A larger than life statue of Mahatma Gandhi, with a boy and a girl holding a dove in their hands standing on either side, emerging out of the globe, symbolizing his universal concern for the poor and the deprived, welcomes the visitor at the main entrance of the Birla house. It is the work of the renowned sculptor Ram Sutar.
A Martyr's Column stands at the spot where the Father of the Nation was assassinated, commemorating the Martyrdom of Mahatma Gandhi as the embodiment of all the sufferings and sacrifices that characterized the long struggle for India's Freedom.
Actually, Mahatma Gandhi stayed for extended periods at three different places in Delhi-at Birla House, before that, at the Valmiki Mandir on Mandir Marg in Central Delhi, next to St. Thomas School and, much before that, at the Harijan Ashram at Kingsway Camp in North Delhi.
At the far end on the ground floor of Birla house, past the bookstore and the museum galleries are the two rooms where Gandhi spent the last 144 days of his life.
The rooms are big and spartan, preserved just as they were when Bapu lived there. There are his meager personal effects like charkha, watch, spectacles and the three monkeys can be seen. An enormous bolster rests on the mattress. The adjoining bedroom has huge windows that look out on to the lawn. Time seems to have stopped here.
Of course, unlike majestic Birla House is the small hall on the premises of the modest Valmiki temple on Mandir Marg. Dr.O.P Shukla, a senior government official whose father was taught by Bapu when he used to stay close to temple, informs that as their Valmiki community was considered “untouchables”- hence Bapu chose to stay in their basti for between 1 April 1946 and 1 June 1947.
In hall, you can still see charkha, Bapu’s writing desk, adorned with fresh marigolds and a wooden pen holder. Shukla points to the black and white photos on the walls-Gandhi and a Pandit Nehru in this very room, along with many women, all spinning the charkha; Gandhi with Sir Stafford Cripps; Lady Mountbatten and Rajkumari Amrit Kaur at the evening prayers held on the premises.
And there is a plenty of greenery in vast compound of Harijan Sewak Sangh. All together Gandhiji spent a total of 105 days here, between 1934 and 1938.
A plaque on the main wall of building reads “Ba Kutir” because; Kasturba lived on the ground floor and Gandhi on the first.
There is a stone bathtub in the unkempt front yard, half buried in the ground. This bathtub was used by Gandhiji,” says an employee of the Harijan sewak samaj.
Last but not the least, Gandhi ji first stayed at the residence of Sushil Kumar Rudra, the then Principal of St.Stephans College when he came to Delhi for the first time from 13-15 April, 1915. Sushil Kumar Rudra joined the College staff in 1886 and was the fourth Principal and the first Indian Principal from 1906 to 1923.
A photograph recording this visit of the Mahatma and Kasturba Gandhi currently hangs in the Principal's office of college. During that trip, Bapu also visited the Gali Qasim Jaan house of Hakim Ajmal Khan and also visited Qutub Minar with him.
Vivek Shukla,46,is a veteran journalist and writer, currently working for a prestigious publication house as an Editor. A Post Graduate in Political Science from venerable Hindu College, Delhi University, he has been writing on contemporary issues in major national and international newspapers and news portals. While subjects like South Asia, Indian Diaspora, Muslims, Caste, Delhi and Corporate world are very close to his heart and soul, he hardly miss any chance to read and write on other interesting subjects too. In his college days, Vivek Shukla was one of the founders of Socialist forum of DU. A die-hard Gandhian, he has been actively involved with many social and educational institutions in New Delhi since long. He can be contacted at vivek28shukla@gmail.com
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