On 30th January, 1948, Mahatma Gandhi, whom the eminent Scientist Albert Einstein described as a rare and unique personality, was done to death. To commemorate his life and philosophy in a proper manner and to present his multi-dimensional and creative personality, this Museum was set up at Barrackpore in 1961 amidst a sylvan surrounding on the bank of the flowing Ganga.
The Museum has a very rich collection of originally used articles of Mahatma Gandhi, his original letters, a huge number of photographs concerning Gandhiji and different phases of the Indian Freedom Movement, sculptures, paintings, films, disc-records of patriotic and devotional songs and a rare collection of tape-recorded reminiscences of illustrious personalities who came in contact with Gandhiji.
The Museum maintains a library with more than 12,000 books at present and is kept open daily from 11 A.M. to 5 P.M. excepting Wednesday. No Entry Fee.
Dr. Pratik Ghosh (b-1981), Ph.D. in Muscology from the University of Calcutta. He has already published several papers in different national journals and has also participated in many national seminars. Presently, he is associated with Gandhi Memorial Museum, Barrackpore as Director-Secretary.
In 1946 Paul Valery expressed anguish and prayer in marmoreal words:
There are people who feel that their organs of sense are cutting them off from reality and being. Their feeling then infects their other sensibilities.
What I see blinds me. What I hear makes me deaf. What I know makes me ignorant. In so far as and in as much as I know, I am ignorant. This light before me is no more than a kind of blindfold and conceals either a darkness or a greater light...
Take it all away, so that I may see.
The problem that haunts Paul Valery has depened in the contemporary world. In moments of crisis Gandhi is the kindly light. Gandhi wanted all of us to see reality with a clear vision. He had firm faith in some essential principles which are as follows:
1. The doctrine of 'an eye for an eye' makes the whole world blind.
2. Hatred ever kills. Love never dies. What is obtained by love is retained for ever. What is obtained by hatred proves a burden in reality. Hatred increases hatred.
3. Fear of death makes us devoid of courage and spirituality.
4. Conscious and creative public opinion alone can keep a society pure, healthy and dynamic.
5. Truth is by nature self-evident. As soon as you remove the cobwebs of greed, hatred and cowardice, it shines clear. Gandhi was essentially a moral force. He appealed to conscience of man. The content of his appeal was universal, deep-rooted and everlasting. He was the catalytic force in liberating one-fifth of human race suffering from and struggling against the domination of western imperialism. Freedom Movement in India paved the way for the liberation of the people of Southeast Asia and African countries from the colonial yoke.
The continuous struggle Gandhi lannched against untoucability forms a luminous chapter in the history of world civilization. India is a land of saints. Their supreme sacrifice is too deep for words. But many of them were spiritual athletes. Gandhi was more than a saint. The qualities he embodied made him larger than his own life.
The book 'Mahatma Gandhi: A Brief Life Sketch' written by Pratik Ghosh and published by Gandhi Museum, Barrackpore, provides a brief outline of the career and activities of Mahatma Gandhi chronologically. The author has competently utilised the materials available in Gandhi Museum. The book is primarily meant for those who are not sufficiently aware of the life and deeds of Mahatma Gandhi. I am sure, the book will be well-received by those who read in search of knowledge and inspiration.
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