BA (KASTURBA GANDHI) AND BAPU: An...
Inscribed in blue fountain ink in Hindi
lower right: “Bapu ke Ashirvad”...
1945
Photomechanical print/postcard depicting Mahatma Gandhi and Kasturba Gandhi, with a copyright line at the lower left and the Hindi title printed below the image:
अनन्त पथ के सहयात्री
(Companions on the Endless Journey)
उसने मुझसे अधिक कष्ट सहन किया — बापू
("She endured greater suffering than I did." - Bapu)
10 x 11.5 in (25.4 x 29.2 cm)

Accompanied by an associated note from Mahatma Gandhi to Anand T Hingorani dated Sevagram, 22 February 1945, published in Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Vol. 85, Letter No. 695, p. 411 and Young India, No. 264, p. 153, which reads:

“This pen belongs to Ba.
I like it but the question is how I can do it.
For you and Sarojini. She too is unhappy.”

Together with Anand T Hingorani’s explanatory manuscript note recording:
1. “Bapu autographed for me his and Ba’s joint photograph with Ba’s pen. At first he took up one pen, then another, and finally Ba’s. I thereupon inquired the reason for thus changing pens and got the above reply.”
2. "The reference is to my request for English translations by Bapu of his Daily Thoughts which he has started writing for me since 20.11.1944."
3. "Re.appointment for talk."

The accompanying documentary exchange directly connects the present inscribed photograph with Gandhi’s reference to Kasturba Gandhi’s pen and substantially reinforces the historical and personal significance of the object.