THE LAST HOURS OF MAHATMA
“If I’m to die by the bullet of a mad man, I must do so smiling. God must be in my heart and on my lips. And if anything happens, you are not to shed a single tear.”— Gandhiji,
QOn January 30, a prominent person’s wife visited Gandhiji, who came in at 6 am. She was scheduled to leave for the USA in the afternoon. At her request, Gandhiji gave her an autographed photograph with the message, ‘As a representative of a poor nation, you should lead a simple and frugal life while you are there’. The person belonged to the Indian Civil Services and was a cousin of Jawaharlal Nehru. He was one of India’s most successful ambassadors to China. Who was he?
QShe was one of the century’s most intrepid chroniclers of conflict. She was the first female war correspondent credentialed to work in combat zones during World War II. Her iconic photo of Gandhi and His Spinning Wheel is well known. It is reportedly said that Gandhiji met her at 2 pm and made the statement ‘I do not wish to live in this darkness anymore’ when she had asked him whether he was still willing to live up to 125 years. Who is she?
QThere were rumours of a noticeable rift that was developing between Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Deputy Prime Minister Vallabhbhai Patel. To discuss about it, the Mahatma also met with one of his most trusted emissary who had mentioned about an apparent campaign in the British press to highlight this rift. As per the Viceroy’s request, he was the man who was chosen by Gandhiji to be the local guide of Parliamentary delegation of Prime Minister Clement Atlee when they visited India in 1945. Identify this person.
QOn the previous day, Gandhiji had written a correspondence to this person about a tentative plan to soon leave Delhi and go to Sevagram. The letter was readied but had been mislaid by Manu, and not posted. Manu justified by saying that on February 2, they would be seeing him anyway, to which Gandhi sarcastically said, “Who knows about the future?” He was one of the most thoughtful writers from Gandhian era of Gujarati Literature. He remained Editor of HARIJAN for about eight years. Who are we talking about?