Mahatma’s handwritten manuscript is pricelessA record, in money terms, was created when a compilation of Gandhi’s daily reflections, 688 jottings on life, truth, non-violence and self-restraint, written between 1944 and 1946, called A Thought for the Day, was auctioned for a handsome 16.2 crore.The value of Gandhi’s messages is one aspect, the value of his handwritten manuscript, the other – it goes well beyond the written word. ‘Handwritten’ is a mark of individuality, often with second thoughts and counter-takes, crisscrosses, notes and deletions, squiggles and quibbles – that collectors fight over, and the modern rich include in investment portfolios.Value of the text lies in the meaning an author crafts out of words. They will be pored over, reflected upon, re-interpreted, they’ll inform both debate and dissent.When the powerful reflect on matters daily, drawing from even the mundane, they extract meaning from the ordinary.What makes such manuscripts of jottings heritage, is that they are personal, not written for public consumption. It is when the personal is made public, like Aurelius’s Meditations, that we see the person’s thought process, the moment of creation in the wrinkle of a paper.Thus, what makes Mahatma’s handwritten manuscript priceless, beyond the auction, is that it offers a glimpse of the man behind the words. It is rare for the modern powerful to pen their thoughts – some even designed war plans via AI. A pity the art of reflection by the powerful may have been buried in time, or outsourced to AI.
Disclaimer: Views expressed above are the author’s own.