“I didn’t hear Gandhi say ‘Hey Ram’”

BENGALURU: On January 30, 1948, Gandhi ascended the steps leading to the prayer platform in the lawn of Birla house. After walking hardly a few paces, he was assassinated — shots were fired at point-blank range by Nathuram Godse. I was just six inches behind him when the shots were fired,” recalls 96-year-old V Kalyanam, Mahatma Gandhi’s personal secretary, possibly the only living witness to the assassination that shook the nation 70 years ago.

The door to his house in Teynampet, Chennai, is partially open, has a picture of ‘Bapu’ plastered on it, and reads: ‘V Kalyanam – Personal Secretary to Mahatma Gandhi’.Every inch of the house is caked with historic photographs — a cabinet in the corner of the house is a treasure trove of old newspaper clippings and photocopies of numerous mails that Gandhi received, all curated and well-archived by Kalyanam.

In his garden

Standing amid a time capsule of sorts, we step back and take a peek at the nonagenarian’s meticulously well-maintained garden. “Until last year, I used to garden for eight hours every day. Now, I spend only about 30 minutes owing to my age and health,” he says.

Kalyanam was seven years old when he started nurturing plants. “I used to wake up at 4 am and garden till 12 pm every day. I think it was the British influence…back then, every house had a garden,” he says.  
In 1944, when he joined Sevagram, he says he was surprised that all the produce were grown in-house. “We were self-sufficient. When I first joined, I was in awe of the simple life that Gandhi led. That shaped me…in the last 70 years; I have never bought vegetables outside. I grow my own vegetables. I take care of my own needs. These were virtues that I learned and imbibed from Gandhi.”

A home for history

In a house filled with possessions from the past, it is hard not to stumble upon interesting pieces of history. He picks an archived mail and hands it to us. “All the mails/letters that came to Gandhi usually went through me. My job was to type letters for him…he would dictate them to me. Then, he would make corrections if any, with a pencil. One day, we received this,” he says pointing to the cover. ‘Note to the postmaster of Delhi: It should be given in the hand of Gandhi ji, not in the hand of his private secretary,’ reads the cover. Kalyanam laughs, and shares, “It ultimately came to me! There was a reason Gandhi needed a secretary. He used to get numerous mails… I have tried to archive them,” he says.

An old newspaper clipping dated January 28, 1948, talks about Gandhi’s prayer address on January 26 at New Delhi. ‘This day, 26th January is Independence Day. This observance was quite appropriate when we were fighting for independence we had not seen not handled. Now we have handled it and seem to be disillusioned. At least I am, even if you are not. Let us not defer the hope and make the heart sick. Yet what are the strikes and a variety of lawlessness but a deferring of the hope… [SIC]’, it reads.  

Kalyanam is visibly disappointed. He shuffles a few clippings, doesn’t mince his words, and says, “Where is the country going to? Is this why Gandhi struggled?” he asks. “Gandhi swept the streets, not for publicity; he did it with all his heart, to spread a message of equality. These days, sweeping the road and holding a broom seems to be just a photo opportunity — for leaders and the public,” he avers.

Several debates and controversies still shroud the final moments of Gandhi and the last words he uttered. Earlier last year, Kalyanam came out saying that “he didn’t hear him say ‘Hey Ram’”. “It’s widely claimed that those were his last words. But, I was there. I didn’t hear him say it,” he says.