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SHIV BALAK BISEN (on behalf of Mahatma Gandhi)

A Postcard to Anand T Hingorani and Gangi Hingorani Concerning a Collection of Stamps for Mahadev Hingorani, Written on 30 January 1948

A postcard addressed to Anand T Hingorani and Gangi Hingorani, New Delhi, 30 January 1948, written in Hindi in black ink by Shiv Balak Bisen on behalf of Mahatma Gandhi, conveying Gandhi's instructions regarding Gangi Hingorani's proposed visit to Sevagram and the transmission of a collection of Indian and foreign postage stamps assembled for Mahadev Hingorani; signed "Bisen"; manuscript on recto and verso.

Postcard; manuscript on recto and verso.
Dated: 30 January 1948.
New Delhi.
Hindi manuscript in black ink.
Signed: "Bisen".

Published in Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Vol. 98, Letter No. 329, p. 336.

THE LAST POSTCARD: Gandhi's Final Communication to the Hingorani Family

Written on 30 January 1948, the final day of Mahatma Gandhi's life, the present postcard preserves the last surviving communication within the Gandhi–Hingorani archive, bringing to a close a correspondence that had bound Gandhi to Anand T Hingorani and his family through more than two decades of friendship, guidance and mutual affection. Addressed to Anand and Gangi Hingorani and written by Shiv Balak Bisen on Gandhi's behalf, the postcard continues a correspondence through which Gandhi guided the Hingorani family across more than two decades, responding to illness, bereavement, travel, prayer and the many personal concerns in their lives.

The message concerns itself with matters of remarkable ordinariness. Gandhi advises that there is no immediate need for Gangi Hingorani to travel to Sevagram during his proposed stay there and makes arrangements for a collection of Indian and foreign postage stamps intended for Mahadev Hingorani, preserving the familiar tone of practical concern and domestic affection that characterises his correspondence with the family over many years. Nothing within the postcard departs from that established pattern; it reflects the same attentiveness to the small obligations of friendship and the same willingness to concern himself with the lives of those closest to him.

Written only hours before Gandhi was assassinated at Birla House, it contains no hint of farewell, no reflection upon the immense political upheavals through which India had recently passed, and no awareness that it would become the final surviving communication in a relationship that had endured across the freedom struggle, imprisonment, personal bereavement and national transformation. Gandhi's attention remains fixed upon the immediate needs of the Hingorani family, revealing the same generosity, simplicity and constancy of purpose that had shaped his private correspondence for more than twenty years.

The postcard stands as both the final chapter of the Gandhi–Hingorani correspondence and one of the most intimate surviving records of Gandhi's last day. While history remembers 30 January 1948 for the violence that brought his life to an end, this communication preserves something altogether different: Gandhi's continued concern for family, friendship and everyday responsibility, offering a deeply human counterpoint to the public events that would soon overshadow it.

This lot will be shipped in "as is" condition. For further details, please refer to the images of individual lots as a reference for the condition of each lot.

SHIV BALAK BISEN (on behalf of Mahatma Gandhi)

A Postcard to Anand T Hingorani and Gangi Hingorani Concerning a Collection of Stamps for Mahadev Hingorani, Written on 30 January 1948

A postcard addressed to Anand T Hingorani and Gangi Hingorani, New Delhi, 30 January 1948, written in Hindi in black ink by Shiv Balak Bisen on behalf of Mahatma Gandhi, conveying Gandhi's instructions regarding Gangi Hingorani's proposed visit to Sevagram and the transmission of a collection of Indian and foreign postage stamps assembled for Mahadev Hingorani; signed "Bisen"; manuscript on recto and verso.

Postcard; manuscript on recto and verso.
Dated: 30 January 1948.
New Delhi.
Hindi manuscript in black ink.
Signed: "Bisen".

Published in Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Vol. 98, Letter No. 329, p. 336.

THE LAST POSTCARD: Gandhi's Final Communication to the Hingorani Family

Written on 30 January 1948, the final day of Mahatma Gandhi's life, the present postcard preserves the last surviving communication within the Gandhi–Hingorani archive, bringing to a close a correspondence that had bound Gandhi to Anand T Hingorani and his family through more than two decades of friendship, guidance and mutual affection. Addressed to Anand and Gangi Hingorani and written by Shiv Balak Bisen on Gandhi's behalf, the postcard continues a correspondence through which Gandhi guided the Hingorani family across more than two decades, responding to illness, bereavement, travel, prayer and the many personal concerns in their lives.

The message concerns itself with matters of remarkable ordinariness. Gandhi advises that there is no immediate need for Gangi Hingorani to travel to Sevagram during his proposed stay there and makes arrangements for a collection of Indian and foreign postage stamps intended for Mahadev Hingorani, preserving the familiar tone of practical concern and domestic affection that characterises his correspondence with the family over many years. Nothing within the postcard departs from that established pattern; it reflects the same attentiveness to the small obligations of friendship and the same willingness to concern himself with the lives of those closest to him.

Written only hours before Gandhi was assassinated at Birla House, it contains no hint of farewell, no reflection upon the immense political upheavals through which India had recently passed, and no awareness that it would become the final surviving communication in a relationship that had endured across the freedom struggle, imprisonment, personal bereavement and national transformation. Gandhi's attention remains fixed upon the immediate needs of the Hingorani family, revealing the same generosity, simplicity and constancy of purpose that had shaped his private correspondence for more than twenty years.

The postcard stands as both the final chapter of the Gandhi–Hingorani correspondence and one of the most intimate surviving records of Gandhi's last day. While history remembers 30 January 1948 for the violence that brought his life to an end, this communication preserves something altogether different: Gandhi's continued concern for family, friendship and everyday responsibility, offering a deeply human counterpoint to the public events that would soon overshadow it.

This lot will be shipped in "as is" condition. For further details, please refer to the images of individual lots as a reference for the condition of each lot.