You could not save me, walk with me, lens-based tasks, a showcase of new media and establishments that zoom in the last 18-year months of Mahatma Gandhi’s life. The show at the Dabar Hall Art Center, a revelation for one aspect of the Mahatma that most of us will have only one familiar acquaintance because history has strengthened his unilateral perception as the ‘father of the nation’.

Using photos, videos and installations, this entrepreneur Sudhesh Yizuvath introduces us to a Gandhi that some history textbooks have told us. The show cured by Murali Cheeratha, Kerala, Kerala Lalita Kala Academy, and Jayaraj Sundarson Chronicles The Journey Sudhesh, Murali and poet PN Gopikrishnan, videographer Prasoon Suresh resumed Mahatma’s path in Nokhali. It was the time of communal riots that put Hindus and Muslims against each other and thousands of people died. Gandhi saw it as one of the biggest tests Non -violence,

“At that time also he said, ‘I am failing, Non -violence Sudhesh says, “Not failing. Gandhiji was on a mission to restore peace.

As a court hall enters the Art Center, one walls face a wall with photographs of Gandhi’s colleagues during a period of one. On the other hand there is a picture of the tricolor with a clock, two blood -stained cloths that were wearing when she was shot by Nathuram Godse and Gandhi’s ashes. A semi-automatic pistol placed below, a beretta M1934, such as used by Gods.

Also, there are pistol prints on the wooden blocks that list others who were killed with a uniform weapon – this is a serious reminder that we are still weak. Explaining the people working with Gandhi, there is another glass case of twisted rolls of Khadi yarn arranged in two lines. We move towards a map on another wall, on which Gandhi explored the route taken in Nokhali, each village has been marked and there are some photos.

Hanging in front of the door in the next hall is a length of khadi cloth, which resembles a shroud, on which bungalow phrases Amar Jiban Amar Bani (My life is my word), it is believed that Gandhi’s hand is being estimated. In the same hall, in the center, a Charkha and a few hours of glasses have a prototype – an installation that makes us aware of the passage of time. This is a reminder to correct the course before this secular, democratic country before there is irreversible damage.

For more than three months in 1946, from August to November, Calcutta, Nokhali and Bihar faced one of the largest communal riots ever. The killings of Hindus and Muslims that started in Calcutta spread to Nokhali and Bihar. On August 16, 1946, the direction action day announced by the All India Muslim League led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah was demanded for a separate Muslim country. Hindu-Muslim riots in Calcutta were the direct result of direct action day.

From the left, Murali Cheeroth, PN Gopikrishnan, Jayaraj Sundarsan and Sudhesh Yejuvath. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Even when the country was getting ready for Independence Day, Gandhi went to Nokhali (now in Bangladesh) and stayed there for four months to restore peace. He went to the village from the village, which spreads the word of peace, sees up to 110 miles. “The ways were trustworthy. Even today, it is difficult to go from one village to another. It was very difficult in those days, but he went barefoot, tolerating all kinds of difficulties for peace, ”Sudhesh says.

The exhibition is a walking journey through an unnatural chapter in the past of India and is a peep on how Gandhi did everything to immerse communal riots flames.

In three trips spread for a total of 20 days, the three people mapped the route. Nokhali photos dominate the show – some buildings remain, most are ruins. There are small, small known tidbits such as a barrister from Nokhali, Hemant Kumar Ghosh, who in 1947, donated all his assets to Gandhi to promote peace and development in the region. Sudhesh closed all the text materials from various sources to return his research in the subject. The show is practical for those interested in history or for the time we live.

“A year ago about this aspect of Gandhi, the idea of ​​tracing Gandhi’s path, speaking to PN Gopikrishnan, was with me. This increased my curiosity and I read many books on this subject, ”Sudhesh says; His research also included online sources. He found Gopikrishnan and a partner traveling in Murali. In May 2024, he went on his personal trip to search.

What he found in Nokhali was many stories about Gandhi, which were handed over and some told by those who saw him. He found that Gandhi’s legacy of peace remains on this, “We were told that there has been no communal violence in the region since 1946 and the two communities have lived in a harmonious manner since then,” they say.

In Calcutta, he was surprised by the renovation work done at Hyder Mahal alias Gandhi Bhavan, where Gandhi spent time for India to become independent at night.

Some shocking images come from Khadi Pratishthan, Sodpur, which Gandhi called his second house, where important decisions related to the country were taken. Photos show parts of a building, which is separating, “What was a spinning wheel used by Gandhi, dumped in a room with other things!” No one can help, but disregard the history of the country to chronic. A series of photographs concludes at Birla House in Delhi, where Gandhi was assassinated. Visual contains videos of people talking about the father of the nation.

Despite what he faced during his visit, Sudhesh says that it has left him with hope. “My take the point is that there is still hope and power in non -violence. Love will eventually win! We have seen worse as a country, and we have come back. ,

In 2021, Sudhesh displayed at the Durbar Hall Art Center, the pictures he clicked during his visit to the Aushwitz-Berconu State Museum in Poland. Your reason is not why the terrible reality of life was brought home in Nazi concentration camps.

Show at the end of the Darbar Hall Art Center on 18 February.