Bresson’s image of Gandhi’s visit to the nylon wheels shrine on January 27, 1948 highlights his ideas of communal harmony and inclusivity.To control the large numbers of mourners that led to frenzy police was deployed at the site of the funeral. I cannot continue…. It documents the overwhelming account of Gandhi’s funeral and walks through the endless journey undertaken by his followers. Shot a day before Gandhi’s assassination, the photograph plays with silhouettes to represent the complexity an ascetic’s life – comfortably heard of but difficult to practice.”A sadhu’s life of abstinenceIt was never easy for Gandhi to make a transition from the life of a professional lawyer to a Hindu sadhu living the life of abstinence.  He shared his thoughts, “Several days ago I had heard that it might not be possible to hold the Urs at Mehrauli I as in the previous years,” he said, “Had it been so I would have been deeply distressed. Indian leaders including Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhai Patel, Gandhi's secretary Brij Krishen and Lord Mountbatten with his daughter stood strong as they prepare for Gandhi’s last rites.To put his agenda at the forefront he mentioned, “It (fast) will end when and if I am satisfied that there is a reunion of hearts of all communities”.The wide range of sixteen black and white photographs capturing the frail demeanour of Gandhi in his last days, Indian leaders and grieving devotees in large numbers irrespective of their gender and caste paying homage to Gandhi, extend invitation to the viewers to take a look at the social fabric of India. As the news of Gandhi's demise reached them, they rushed to Birla House to capture the last glimpse of his mortals. Many decades later, virtually leafing through the photo-essay by White and Bresson in its archival form, does not fail to resonate with the viewers.Before visiting the shrine as a symbol of solidarity with the Muslim community, Gandhi pleaded, “I yearn for heart friendship between Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims”.  

Since the celebrations were a few days away, the first demand on the list stated “complete freedom of worship to Muslims at the tomb of Khwaja Qutub-ud-Din Bakhtiar and non-interference with the celebration of the Urs.The presence of Bresson at the event prompted LIFE’s editors to call Magnum requesting the first right to his images for publication.The photograph works around sunlight and shadow of a winter morning where Gandhi is sitting under a shade and projects left hand in sunlight as a sign of reassurance. Unknowingly, the curious on-looker strikes a chord with the inconsolable mourners captured in it.  Little did they know that the photo-essay would be an incisive case study on the visual documentation of Gandhi’s funeral. The men perched atop the lamppost risk their life to have a last glimpse of Gandhi before his body was consigned to the funeral pyre, devouts collect the soil moistens with his blood and ashes as the holy relics. I do not want to continue in darkness and in madness.The duration of the fast was a concern for the devotees.When White asked “Why”, he added, “because of the terrible things happening in the world.Assassination  The assassination of Gandhi by Nathuram Godse was anchored by the anguish felt by the Hindu nationalists who saw him as a promoter of peace between Hindus and Muslims.  

White followed the cortege, what she termed it as a “human stream” that turned into a “might river, miles long and miles wide,” in a car with her assistants. Gandhi who has once hoped to live for 125 years, in his last interview with White, published along with the photo-essay “Gandhi Joins the Hindu Immortals” for LIFE (February 16, 1948), have him foresee his death when he said, “I have lost that hope”. Given his age, the endless fast could have been fatal.Visiting a shrineGiven the tense situation in the post-partition days, the festivities of Urs at the Muslim shrine of Khwaja Kutub-ud-Din Bakhtiar in Mehrauli seemed less plausible.It was an unprecedented collaboration between White and Bresson for the photo-essay.”Both White and Bresson were not present at the time of Gandhi's assassination.”The sect leaders guaranteed peace and cooperation during Urs. Another photograph by Bresson shows his back resting on a plump bolster, face towards a visitor with placed objects such as glass water bottle and metal basin.

Photography does not cease at the productions of the multitude of frames on the event, it is a careful craft that takes into account how posterity would read a photograph, separated by time and distance, yet drawing familiarity with the historical context of the event.On January 31, 1948 Bresson was walking along the procession through Old Delhi and standing at the funeral ground to give his last tribute to Gandhi, by doing what he did best - photographs. White captured the last rites of Gandhi for her official publication LIFE, only it was sooner realised that her photographs fell short of the personal connection and intimacy.. He shared a list of demands through his representative on the fifth day of the fast and maintained if all ethnic leaders would send their agreement in writing, he would be happy to break his fast. For the editors at LIFE Bresson’s body of work offered scale and traced the roots and routes of the chaos and pain at the eventful day.