In Hindi, santati means continuum, or an infinite loop. A new experiential book, Santati: Mahatma Gandhi Then. Now. Next (HarperCollins India; R1,799), authored by Delhi poetess Navkirat Sodhi, explores this continuous search for the Mahatma within us. Inspired by a travelling exhibition of the same name, which was curated by Lavina Baldota to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the book offers a unique compilation of photographs and paintings spanning nearly a century, accompanied by Sodhi's reflective verse. "Gandhi's ideas stand before us stark, mirror-like to ask some uncomfortable questions. His work and findings form a prophetic blueprint of two journeys—the one we could have taken and the one we did not take to get there," shares the author. The book is split into three broad themes—Then, Now and Next. Each theme imagines how the Mahatma inspired art and the artist. The one that we found most moving was photojournalist Kulwant Roy's rare photos of Gandhi, retrieved from broken negatives, now part of the National Gallery of Modern Art archives. But saying this book is about Gandhi would be limiting the scope of the experience that Sodhi and Baldota hoped to recreate. It's also about the artists, who envisioned the many values represented by Gandhi—ahimsa (non-violence), satya (truth) and aprarigraha (non-accumulation) churning within.