A reader’s review
Do you know when Mahatma Gandhi first visited Delhi? How many visits did, he made in all those years & how long he stayed there? On his first visit, he reached the Kashmiri gate by Tonga. His friend Hakim Ajmal Khan’s Sharif Manzil offered generous hospitality.
For all these answers & narratives do read Gandhi’s Delhi. An account that narrates all the lesser know connections of Gandhi Ji with Delhi from his first visit made on April 12, 1915, till January 30, 1948, when he was shot down at Birla House by Godse. Research & compilation by veteran Journalist Vivek Shukla & published by Anuuyga books in 2018. The book started from the first visit of Gandhiji & continued sequentially covering fine details, narratives & rare events of his seven hundred twenty days of stay in all those years. In between, he cited the interviews & narratives of the resource persons whom he explores & interviewed for this research. The first four chapters of the book provide in-depth insights into Bapu’s connection with Hakim Ajmal Khan, role in the building of Jamia & Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce. A succinct chapter articulates on Dr. Ansari as a champion of Hindu Muslim unity & one of the great admirers of Gandhi Ji in Delhi.
The book covered in detail event happened during his last 144 days stay in Delhi. It was during these days his presence played an important when the city was burning with communal riots. The tactics of Bapu’s always worked as one-man army. In the cold days of Delhi’s winter, the emissary of peace paid a visit to the shrine of Qutub Sahab that was surrounded by the small villages in those days. This was with an intent to console the Muslim families who were harassed due to recent demographic shifts following the partition. Viveks account talk in detail of his last fast, & visit to All India Radio, an attempt to quell the wave of Delhi’s communal heat. Heart-wrenching last hours & journey to the next world was discussed in detail by the author’s journalistic style of writing. A moment when the apostle of peace was laid down by the forebearers of hatred.
The concluding chapters provide a description of Gandhi Museum & dotting his murals in India’s capital. A glossary at the end gave a brief description of all personalities that came up in the book “Gandhi’s Delhi”