THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A day with Gandhi. It would not be wrong to call the academic programme conducted by 53 young ‘women historians’ of All Saints’ College at the Gandhi Bhavan here so. For many who are accustomed to the life and times of the father of the nation through their academic knowledge, exploring Gandhiji through speech, film, exhibition and quiz was a novel experience. Students pursuing their bachelor’s degree in History were in an attempt to delve deeper into the memories of Gandhiji tucked away inside the centre where his memories still live on. The programme was conducted under the aegis of the History Association of the college along with the National Service Scheme.The introductory speech by Prof. V Ramdas, secretary of Gandhi Bhavan imparted a clear insight into the history of Gandhi Smarak Nidhi which is on its diamond jubilee celebrations. Students were seen enthusiastically jotting down points from the speech which also mentioned the pains and pangs suffered by Gandhiji during the Indian freedom struggle. The speech was followed by a film-screening which had the life and times of Gandhiji portrayed in frames. Scripted by Krishna Kripalani and B R Nanda the narrative was made by referring various biographies of Gandhiji. The narrative movie was more on the political life of Gandhiji starting from his early life and career. Yet some students felt there should have been subtitles or alternative narration in Malayalam too.The Gandhi museum, a rich reservoir of photographs, paintings and Gandhian memorabilia offered the students a reinforcement to their knowledge imbibed through the film screening. Two medallions Gandhiji received from the British Government for the dedicated ambulance service during the Boer War in 1899 and the Zulu rebellion in 1906 were looked upon with awe by many. Says Jini Anna of first year History, “definitely it is a wonder for me to see materials closely associated with Mahatmaji. Really great.” Ninety six frames reflecting both personal and political life of Gandhiji were accompanied with apt descriptions. The wall paintings highlighting the distinguishable moments in the life of Gandhiji too was a major attraction. So many incidents including the influence of the story of Raja Harishchandra, misspelling a word during his school days, stage fright, the well-known Pietermaritzburg train incident and so on got a place amid the collection. “Though we are well-versed with Gandhian life and Gandhism, the visual reinforcement we received from here is immense,” says Sruithi M B of third year history. The programme had a discussion session on ‘Women Empowerment and Gandhi’ led by the Prof. N Radhakrishnan, working chairman of Gandhi Smarak Nidhi . The team was led by Parvathy Menon, Vidya Nair assistant professors in the Department of History and Sajitha Ferry guest faculty in the Department of Politics.
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