It was 45 degree Celsius, a very cruel afternoon that went on to shatter all my assumptions of finding Gandhi Smriti Museum bereft of people. Even in that unrelenting heat, there were visitors in the museum, a sight that evoked relief and disbelief at the same time.
And no there weren't only foreigners, there were Indians, youngsters and families with kids. It was as if the peace the museum stands for had rubbed off on Chhattisgarh-based Santosh Kumar Soni’s family, his three kids studying in 7th, 4th and 3rd standard. I would often bump into the family at the museum and it was remarkable how these three young boys conducted themselves going through each and every exhibit at the museum.
Gandhi Smriti formerly known as Birla Bhawan, is where Mahatma Gandhi spent the last 144 days of his life and on January 30, 1948, he was killed while on his way to evening prayers. “He was a little late that day because of a meeting. So he used this door to go to the spot,” tells a young volunteer stationed in the section that reconstructs his lifestyle. At every crucial point, one finds these young volunteers dressed in crispy white kurta pyjama, eager enough to share information with you.
Gandhi Smriti commenced as a museum in 1971 making it younger to the National Gandhi Museum on Rajghat — the site where Gandhi was cremated — which opened to the public on January 30, 1961.
“According to me there are three kind of people who come to Gandhi Smriti — Gandhi’s followers, who come to pay their respect at the martyr’s column in the lawns, those who are keen on understanding his philosophy and third, school kids,” says Ashok Kumar, a museum official.
And the museum attempts to cater to these three segments with sincerity. Through photographs, descriptive panels on landmark events of his life, panels reproducing his favourite bhajans, standies displaying his famous words, bookstore, museums and the two rooms reconstructing his last 144 days at Birla House, the museum relates the story of the Mahatma.
The panels need a lot of time and one wishes it had provisions for audio guides. I believe in the reported integrated conservation and museum development plans by the India National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, the need for audio guides does figure. To that list I would add proper signages too.
So there are panels galore sprinkled with interesting details. My eyes fall on the panel related to Henri Cartier-Bresson, the last photographer to have shot Mahatma Gandhi, just an hour before he was shot dead. He was to shoot Mahatma breaking his fast too but he was killed before that. The iconic photographer then went on to document Mahatma’s death.
Upstairs is where you would probably find kids absolutely thrilled. Ranjit Makkuni’s designed Eternal Gandhi Multimedia Museum — a digital multimedia museum that came up in 2005 makes one rediscover Bapu in such a fun way.
So if you start the engine of the E-Train, it will proceed to the destinations Gandhi travelled to after returning from South Africa and what all did he do there. Elsewhere you just lift the crystal salt and the fascinating narrative of salt satyagraha gets projected on to the screen. There is a harp which plays a different Indian freedom movement song on striking each string, an installation of charkhas suggesting the power of collective action and hyper instruments where whatever you speak will be heard as “Vaishnav jan to tene kahiye je” An E-clock replays memories and events from the life of Gandhi from 1869-1948 with its hand showing the exact time of the event. Popular symbols of his life — charkha, crystal salt, etc -- then engage with his life and philosophy through tactile objects. Do take out a day from your kid’s ongoing summer vacations to enrich his/her knowledge of our history. It will be a different experience.
(Gandhi Smriti is located on 5, Tees January Lane, Birla House, New Delhi. It is open from Tuesday through Sunday. Timing: 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. No entry fee)
