A slice of India’s history restored at Mahatma Gandhi’s Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad: Long before it became a place of quiet reflection, Sabarmati Ashram was a crucible of ideas that shaped India's freedom struggle. One of its silent witnesses was Nandini, a modest guesthouse that hosted some of India's most influential minds in the 1920s. Within its walls, the austerity of simple living met the fire of intense debate, shared by a spectrum of poets, politicians, and pacifists including Rabindranath Tagore, Motilal Nehru, Charles ‘Deenbandhu' Andrews, Sarojini Naidu and Dr Rajendra Prasad. After a careful nine-month restoration, Nandini — the seven-room guesthouse constructed in 1920 to the right of Gandhi's residence, Hriday Kunj — is once again ready to tell its stories. The space, which has been restored by Ahmedabad-based architect Rabindra Vasavada and his team, offers visitors a glimpse into how Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy was lived, not just preached.The restored premises now offer visitors a deeper look at the ashram's lesser-known residents. Dr Prithi Nambiar, senior programme director at the Centre for Environment Education (CEE), who conceptualised the exhibits, said the narrative goes beyond famous names. Among those highlighted are British pacifist Reginald Arthur Reynolds, author and Jawaharlal Nehru's sister Krishna Hutheesing, and writer and peace activist Horace Alexander.According to Dr Nambiar, the displays combine archival images, contextual text and interactive panels to show how Gandhi's philosophy shaped the lives and thinking of those who lived at the ashram. "The focus is on the time they spent here and how Mahatma shaped their thoughts," she said.One of the central rooms has been furnished to reflect the striking simplicity that defined daily life at the ashram. Visitors are shown how there was little distinction between guests and residents, with the only exceptions being Gandhi's accommodation of individual religious food practices and the provision of a western-style toilet.This austere lifestyle is vividly captured in Reynolds' book, To Live in Mankind: A Quest for Gandhi. Describing his stay at the ashram, he wrote: "My room was a square stone cell, with two shelves and two built-in cupboards. There was also a rough bedstead (an unexpected luxury), and on my arrival the only chair in the ashram had been put at my disposal. But I soon managed to be rid of it."Ashram officials said restoration work has also been completed on a quarter located diagonally opposite Hriday Kunj. The space was used at different times by Madeleine Slade or Mirabehn, Gandhi's British companion who supported India's Independence movement, and by Vinoba Bhave, who later led the Bhoodan movement. The room has been restored in its original form and will display period-appropriate artefacts, including a traditional water pot, to help visitors visualise life at the ashram during the peak years of the Independence movement.Experts believe that the restoration of such historic spaces, combined with major upcoming events such as the Commonwealth Games, will significantly increase visitor footfall to the Sabarmati Ashram.