Gandhi
In
Madras
The
major
highlight
of
the
discovery
is
a
rare
half-an-hour
footage
that
has
visuals
of
a
special
train
carrying
Mahatma
Gandhi's
ashes
from
Madras
to
Rameshwaram.
The
stunning
visuals
show
thousands
of
people
thronging
to
stations
like
Chettinad,
Sivaganga,
Chidambaram,
Manamadurai
junction,
Ramnad,
Pudukkottai
junctions
in
Tamil
Nadu,
with
folded
hands
and
tears
in
eyes
to
have
a
glimpse
of
the
urn
carrying
the
Mahatma's
ashes.
The
footage
has
visuals
of
a
sea
of
humanity
present
at
what
looks
like
Marina
beach
in
the
then
Madras
city,
jostling
with
each
other
carrying
flags
and
banners
to
pay
their
last
respects
to
the
Mahatma.
The
train
stops
at
major
stations
en
route
for
people
to
pay
their
tribute
culminating
in
the
journey
at
Rameshwaram,
with
several
important
politicians
from
Tamil
Nadu
taking
part
in
the
immersion
ceremony.
Mahatma
With
Brother
Manilal
A
visual
showing
Manilal
Gandhi
seems
to
be
a
rare
one
from
the
collection.
He
was
the
second
son
of
Mahatma
Gandhi
and
served
as
the
editor
of
‘Indian
Opinion'
a
Gujarati-English
weekly
publication,
at
Phoenix,
Durban
in
South
Africa.
There
is
a
title
card
‘Mahatma
Gandhi's
Son'
while
showing
the
visuals
of
Manilal
Gandhi
at
an
airport.
Another
important
footage
shows
Mahatma's
South
India
tour
and
Harijan
Yatra
in
January-February
1946.
The
film,
by
Projection
of
India
Pictures,
shows
the
visuals
of
Gandhi
at
Manapparai
Railway
junction
and
then
proceeding
to
visit
prominent
temples
like
Sri
Meenakshi
temple
at
Madurai,
Palani
and
Kumbakonam.
The
visuals
also
show
the
Mahatma
attending
the
silver
jubilee
celebration
of
Dakshin
Bharat
Hindi
Prachar
Sabha
at
Madras
along
with
C
Rajagopalachari.
The
collection
has
a
reel
that
showcases
Mahatma
and
Kasturba
engaged
in
various
activities
at
Sevagram
Ashram
in
Wardha,
Maharashtra.
There
are
visuals
of
Mahatma
keenly
taking
part
in
tree
plantation,
serving
the
patients
and
in
ploughing
the
field
with
a
machine.
An
endearing
visual
shows
Kasturaba
feeding
a
cow
in
the
Ashram.
Another
reel
in
the
collection
has
the
entire
footage
of
the
Mahatma's
voyage
on
board
ship
S
Rajaputana
to
England
to
attend
the
Second
Round
Table
Conference.
It
has
candid
shots
of
the
Mahatma
spinning
yarn
on
the
deck,
looking
through
binocular,
shaving,
smiling,
playing
with
children
and
at
one
point
taking
control
of
the
ship
with
the
Captain
beside
him!
There
are
visuals
of
the
Mahatma's
visit
to
Ahmedabad,
Porbandar
and
Rajkot
including
raw
footage
of
his
empty
house,
the
school
he
attended
and
the
library
register
showing
his
name!
The
footage
contains
the
Mahatma
attending
the
annual
programme
of
Shri
Shivaji
College
somewhere
in
Maharashtra.
A
Fascinating
Visual
Collection
There
are
two
reels
having
only
audio
that
has
the
voice
of
Khan
Abdul
Gafar
Khan,
known
as
Frontier
Gandhi.
It
seems
some
footage
is
from
the
documentary
film
on
Gandhi
by
AK
Chettiar
that
is
unavailable
till
now.
Also,
some
footage
seems
to
have
found
a
place
in
a
long
documentary
made
by
Vitthalbhai
Jhaveri.
Some
visuals
seem
to
be
from
Kanu
Gandhi
collection.
The
condolence
meeting
at
UN
Headquarters
just
after
Mahatma's
death
is
also
part
of
this
collection.
Apart
from
representatives
of
several
nations
paying
tribute,
a
visual
of
India's
representative
at
UN
can
be
seen
in
the
footage.
"This
is
a
fascinating
visual
collection
of
the
Mahatma
and
a
real
surprise
to
find
it
in
celluloid
format
in
today's
times.
The
35
mm
footage
is
in
Master
Positive
format
and
does
not
have
sound.
We
have
made
duplicate
negative
for
long-term
preservation
and
then
copied
it
into
Release
Positive,
which
is
an
exhibition
format.
The
primary
inspection
indicates
the
material
is
in
good
condition
and
we
will
soon
plan
to
digitize
it.
We
also
plan
to
invite
scholars
and
historians
to
throw
more
light
and
get
information
for
cataloguing
the
entire
collection,"
concluded
Prakash
Magdum.