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A glimpse into Bapu's life

HERITAGE SITE: Gandhi Ashram inside the Harijan Sevak Sangh campus at Kingsway Camp in Delhi

Aimed at reviving Mahatma Gandhi's legacy besides preserving a heritage site to offer a glimpse into his life and ideals, the Gandhian Ashram Reconstruction Trust -- a non-profit organisation led by veteran Gandhian and parliamentarian Nirmala Deshpande -- will re-construct the 20-acre Harijan Sevak Sangh at Kingsway Camp in Delhi into an ambitious Gandhi Global Peace Centre. Established by the Father of the Nation in 1932 to oppose untouchability and promote communal harmony, the Gandhi Ashram -- inside the Harijan Sevak Sangh campus -- is a landmark heritage site where Mahatma Gandhi stayed whenever he was in Delhi from 1932 to 1947.

"The ashram was very dear to Bapuji. Here he used to devote a fixed time for every activity. After waking up early in the morning, he would begin his day by offering prayers. He used to spend the day spinning charkha, undertake physical labour and meeting everyone right from stalwarts of the freedom movement like Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Maulana Azad down to the common man. All the leaders met him to seek his advice on the freedom movement. Even Badshah Khan (Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan) stayed here for months." said Ms. Deshpande at a seminar on "Relevance of Gandhian Values Today" here on Thursday. The need to re-construct the Gandhi Ashram into a modern, state-of-the-art centre of activity arose because the hallowed place is in a dilapidated condition right now and the school on its premises for scavenger children is badly in need of renovation. — Madhur Tankha

— Madhur Tankha

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