City historian finds the letters from Kaka Kalelkar,
at Ravivari.
In yet another instance of how glaringly negligent we are as a society and our institutions towards our heritage, young historian of Amdavad Rizwan Kadri struck gold in the Gujari market on the banks of the river Sabarmati in July and September, when he came across 58 original letters written by several leaders to Mahatma Gandhi.
Mainly among them are the original letters written by Kakasaheb Kalelkar to the father of the nation during and after the independence struggle; some are written by Maniben and Morarji Desai. Kadri first stumbled on the 38 original letters written by Kalelkar in July in scrap (pasti) at a stall in the flea market, also called the Ravivari.
He was astonished at the discovery, but got even more fortunate when in September he found 20 more original letters addressed to bapu in pasti. A voracious reader and researcher of history, Kadri believes each letter is a minefield of information that can give a new twist to history.
“The letters have the stamp of Navjivan Press. It is not clear how the letters have landed with this scrap dealer. The press could have sold it, or someone might have taken it away without their knowledge. In either case, it is gross neglect of very precious heritage,’ Kadri said.
In the first set, Kadri found 38 letters, all addressed to Gandhi, while the latter set of 20 has a mix of letters written to Maniben, Mahadevbhai Desai, Kakasaheb and Morarjibhai. Rizwan bought these, after some bargaining with the seller, for around Rs1,200, but the information in each one of them is invaluable.
Speaker in Gujarat assembly and Khadia MLA Ashok Bhatt, also a great history and heritage enthusiast, is planning to hold an exhibition of these letters at his recently reconstructed heritage house in Kameshwar ni Pol in Khadia. The exhibition is scheduled around mid-November.
“A true historian can pay a fortune to lay his hands on such information. I am glad I stumbled upon these letters. It would have been utter disaster if the scrap dealer had decided to destroy them. I shudder to think how many more such letters may have been scrapped, and the precious nuances of history the society has missed out on because of someone’s careless attitude,” Kadri exclaimed.
On Saturday,
DNA exposed the underground Gandhi memorabilia trafficking racket by German Gandhian dealer Peter Ruhe, who has been making millions from the sale of Bapu’s pictures and other personal belongings.
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