The place was empty,” was the reply from my colleague, who had returned after a visit to Mani Bhavan Gandhi Sangrahalaya for an assignment. It was a couple of days before the Mahatma’s birth anniversary, and she had to report on the activities planned for October 2. As I glanced at the photos she had clicked on her phone, I noticed the lack of visitors within the sections. “It was early, so maybe that’s why…?” she suggested. It made for a grinding reality check.

I’ve visited the memorial museum on several occasions, and apart from key dates like October 2 and January 30, Independence Day, and Republic Day, the footfalls are far from overwhelming. It was dedicated as a memorial museum to the country on October 2, 1955, by the then Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, who had famously said, “Mani Bhavan in Bombay will ever remain a precious memory to all those who visited it on many occasions when Gandhiji used to stay here.”