Farewell to Mahatma Gandhi ...

Farewell to Mahatma Gandhi ...

The Making of MAHATMA :
[ Documentry of 21 yrs. in Johannesburg, Africa.] [ 32 min.s + 25 sec. ] [ courtsey : www.gandhiserve.org]

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5992676383986679918
http://streams.gandhiserve.org/others_on_gandhi_audio.html

c

Zakir Hussain
13 sec

Henry Polak
58 sec

Henry Polak
53 sec

Reginald Reynolds
27 sec

J.B. Kripalani
1 min 45 sec

Mirabehn
2 min 34 sec

Lord Mountbatten
13 min 11 sec

Jawaharlal Nehru
4 min 07 sec

Martin Luther King, Jr.
6 min 17 sec


Albert Einstein

[ Courtsey ] Screenplay by : John Briley : Final Draft
For Film : GANDHI THE COMMENTATORS' ROSTRUM - KINGSWAY - NEW DELHI - EXTERIOR -

DAY Commentators from all over the world are covering the ceremony. We concentrate on one, let us say the most distinguished American broadcaster of the time, Edward R. Murrow, who sits on the makeshift platform, a microphone marked "CBS" before him, describing the procession as technicians and staff move quietly around him. MURROW (clipped, weighted) ...The object of this massive tribute died as he had always lived -- a private man without wealth, without property, without official title or office... KINGSWAY - NEW DELHI - EXTERIOR - DAY As the cortege continues on its way, we get shots of the marching soldiers, of the faces of Sikhs, and Tamils, Anglo- Indians, Moslems from the north, Marathas from the south, blue-eyed Parsees, dark-skinned Keralans... MURROW'S VOICE-OVER Mahatma Gandhi was not a commander of great armies nor ruler of vast lands, he could boast no scientific achievements, no artistic gift... Yet men, governments and dignitaries from all over the world have joined hands today to pay homage to this little brown man in the loincloth who led his country to freedom... We see the throng, following the weapon-carrier bier of Gandhi as it slowly inches its way along the Kingsway. Mountbatten, tall, handsome, bemedalled, walks at the head of dignitaries from many lands... and behind them a broad mass of Indians. For a moment we see their sandalled feet moving along the roadway and realize their quiet, rhythmic shuffling is the only noise this vast assemblage has produced. MURROW'S VOICE-OVER Pope Pius, the Archbishop of Canterbury, President Truman, Chiang Kai-shek, The Foreign Minister of Russia, the President of France... are among the millions here and abroad who have lamented his passing. In the words of General George C. Marshall, the American Secretary of State, "Mahatma Gandhi had become the spokesman for the conscience of mankind..." In the crowd following the bier we pick out the tall, English figure of Mirabehn, dressed in a sari, her face taut in a grief that seems ready to break like the Ganges in flood. Near her a tall, heavy-set man, Germanic, still powerful of build and mien though his white hair and deep lines suggest a man well into his sixties (Kallenbach). He too marches with a kind of numb air of loss that is too personal for national mourning. On the edge of the street an American newspaperman (Walker) watches as the bier passes him. He has been making notes, but his hand stops now and we see the profile of Gandhi from his point of view as the weapon-carrier silently rolls by. It is personal, close. Walker clenches his teeth and there is moisture in his eyes as he looks down. He tries to bring his attention to his pad again, but his heart is not in it and he stares with hollow emptiness at the street and the horde of passing feet following the bier. MURROW'S VOICE-OVER ...a man who made humility and simple truth more powerful than empires." And Albert Einstein added, "Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth." The camera picks out those who ride on the weapon-carrier with Gandhi's body... the stout, blunt, but now shattered Patel, Gandhi's son, Devadas, the strong, almost fierce face of Maulana Azad, now angry at the Gods themselves... and finally Pandit Nehru -- a face with the strength of a hero, the sensitivity of a poet, and now wounded like the son of a loving father

MURROW'S VOICE-OVER

... but perhaps to this man of peace,

to this fighter who fought without

malice or falsehood or hate,

the tribute he would value most has come

from General Douglas McArthur:

"If civilization is to survive," the General said this morning, "all men cannot fail to adopt Gandhi's belief that the use of force to resolve conflict is not only wrong but contains within itself the germ of our own self-destruction."... A news truck is parked in the mass of the crowd. As the cortege nears, the photographers on it stand to snap their pictures. There is a newsreel crew center. The camera features a woman photographer (Margaret Bourke-White) who sits with her legs dangling over the side of the truck, her famous camera held loosely in her hand, un-regarded, as she watches the body of Gandhi approach. The intelligent features are betrayed by the emotion in her eyes. For an instant we see Gandhi from her point of view, and read the personal impact it has on her. MURROW'S VOICE-OVER

Perhaps for the rest of us,

the most satisfying comment on this tragedy

comes from the impudent New York PM which today wrote,

"There is still hope for a world which reacts as

reverently as ours has to the death of a man like Gandhi."...

The camera is high and we see the cortege from the rear, moving off down the vast esplanade,

its narrowing path parting

the sea of humanity like a long trail across a weaving

plain...

and as the shuffling sound of sandalled feet fades

in the distance we dissolve through to