A multimedia exhibition by Sudheesh Yezhuvath in Kochi sheds light on Mahatma Gandhi’s role as the peacemaker of Noakhali

You I could not save, Walk with Me, is a showcase of lens-based works, new media and installations that zooms in on the last 18-odd months of the life of Mahatma Gandhi. The show, on at Durbar Hall Art Centre, is a revelation to an aspect of the Mahatma that most of us would only have a passing familiarity with because history has reinforced the unidimensional notion of him as the ‘father of the nation’. 

Using photographs, videos and installations, IT entrepreneur Sudheesh Yezhuvath introduces us to a Gandhi that few history textbooks have told us about. The show curated by Murali Cheeroth, Chairman, Kerala Lalitha Kala Akademi, and Jayaraj Sundaresan chronicles the journey Sudheesh, Murali and poet PN Gopikrishnan, along with videographer Prasoon Suresh undertook to retrace the Mahatma’s route in Noakhali (in present day Bangladesh) in 1946. It was a time of communal riots which pitted Hindu and Muslims against each other and left thousands dead. Gandhi saw it as one of the biggest tests faced by ahimsa.  

“Even at that point he said ‘I am failing, ahimsa is not failing’,” Sudheesh says. Gandhiji was on a mission to restore peace.

As one enters the Durbar Hall Art Centre, one encounters a wall with photographs of Gandhi’s associates during the period. On the other is a picture of the tricolour with a charkha, two of the blood-stained cloth he was wearing when he was shot by Nathuram Godse and of Gandhi’s ashes. Placed beneath is a semi-automatic pistol, a Beretta M1934, like the one used by Godse. 

Alongside are prints of the pistol on wooden blocks listing the others who were killed with a similar weapon — it is a grim reminder that we are still vulnerable. There is another glass case of twisted rolls of  khadi yarn arranged in two rows, alluding to the people who worked with Gandhi. We move towards a map on another wall tracing the route Gandhi took in Noakhali, each village is marked and there are some photographs too. 

Hanging in front of the doorway to the next hall is a length of khadi fabric, which resembles a shroud, on which the Bangla phrase amar jiban amar bani (My life is my word), supposedly in Gandhi’s hand, is being projected. In the same hall, in the centre, there is a prototype of a charkha and a few hourglasses – an installation that makes us aware of the passage of time. It is a reminder to course correct before irrevocable damage is done to this secular, democratic country of ours.

For more than three months in 1946, from August to November, Calcutta, Noakhali and Bihar faced one of the biggest communal riots ever. The killings of Muslims by the Hindus and vice versa which started in Calcutta spread to Noakhali and to Bihar. August 16, 1946, was Direction Action Day declared by the All India Muslim League led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah demanding a separate Muslim country. The Hindu-Muslim riots in Calcutta were a direct fallout of Direct Action Day.  

From left, Murali Cheeroth, PN Gopikrishnan, Jayaraj Sundaresan and Sudheesh Yezhuvath
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Even as the country was gearing up for Independence Day, Gandhi went to Noakhali (now in Bangladesh) and lived there for four months to restore peace. He walked from village to village spreading the word of peace, clocking up to 110 miles. “The paths were treacherous. Even today, it is difficult to go from one village to the next. Those days it was much harder, but he walked barefoot enduring all kinds of hardships for the sake of peace,” says Sudheesh. 

The exhibition is a walk through an unsavoury chapter of India’s past and offers a peep into how Gandhi did everything he could to douse the flames of communal riots.  

Over three trips spanning a total of 20 days, the three men mapped the route Gandhi took. The Noakhali photographs dominate the show — few buildings remain, most are ruins. There are the tiny, little known tidbits like how a barrister from Noakhali, Hemanta Kumar Ghosh, who in 1947, donated all his property to Gandhi to promote peace and development in the area. Sudheesh culled all the textual content from various sources to back his research into the subject. For those interested in history or the times we live in, this show is insightful. 

“The idea of tracing Gandhi’s path occurred to me when I heard PN Gopikrishnan speak, a year ago, about this aspect of Gandhi. It piqued my curiosity and I read several books on the topic,” Sudheesh says; his research included online sources too. He found willing travelling companions in Gopikrishnan and Murali. In May 2024 they set out on their personal journey of discovery.  

What they found in Noakhali were several stories about Gandhi which were handed down and some told by people who had seen him. They found that Gandhi’s legacy of peace has lived on, “we were told there has been no communal violence since 1946 in this area and that both communities have lived harmoniously since then,” he adds. 

In Calcutta, they were shocked by the renovation work done at Hyderi Mahal aka Gandhi Bhawan, where Gandhi spent the night India became independent. 

Some shocking images come from the Khadi Pratishthan, Sodepur, which Gandhi called his second home, where important decisions pertaining to the country were taken. The photos show parts of a building that is falling apart, “what was possibly a charkha used by Gandhi was dumped in a room with other things!” One cannot help but wonder at the disregard toward chronicling the country’s history. The series of photographs culminates in Delhi, at Birla House where Gandhi was assassinated. The visuals include videos of people talking about the Father of the Nation.

Despite what he encountered during the course of his journey, Sudheesh says it has left him with hope. “My takeaway is that there is still hope and there is power in non violence. Love will ultimately triumph! We, as a country, have seen worse and we have come back.”

In 2021, Sudheesh had exhibited, at Durbar Hall Art Centre, the photographs he clicked during his trip to the Auschwitz-Birkneau State Museum in Poland. Yours Is Not To Reason Why brought home the frightening reality of life in Nazi concentration camps.

The show on at Durbar Hall Art Centre ends of February 18.