"if in future the political climate of India settles and if the government decides to shorten this sentence and release you, I'll be the happiest person."

What distinguished Gandhiji's struggle was its penetration into social spheres of life. His activities were not merely confined to political awakening but also targeted to social rejuvenation. His charkha and untouchability abolition campaign brought the majority of the deprived masses of India into the national mainstream. Through his writing in Young India and Navajivan he spelt nothing but sedition. The sedition for which he was arrested and tried in the famous Ahmedabad Trial-conducted in the present day Circuit House, opposite Raj Bhavan in Shahibaug. Here, on 18th March 1922, Gandhiji made a confession before Justice Broomfield, a statement that became a historic document of India's struggle for freedom. He confessed how he became a rebel from a loyalist. Pleading for the maximum penalty he lamented the fact that the British rulers couldn't see what they were perpetrating on India through their governance. Justice Broomfield, in his verdict, equated Gandhiji's action with that of Lokmanya Tilak. Sentencing Gandhiji for six years imprisonment the judge wrote: "if in future the political climate of India settles and if the government decides to shorten this sentence and release you, I'll be the happiest person."

Vividly capturing the mood of the trial, the contour-graphic drawn by Ravishanker Raval adorns the Circuit House at Shahibaug. In Yervada jail Gandhiji's health deteriorated and he was released in 1925. Returning to the Sabarmati Ashram he was soon occupied with his constructive activities. Publishing of his autobiography "My Experiments with Truth" with the help of Mahadevbhai and Miraben unravelled the strength of Bapu's character. During this time he also performed the Opening Ceremony of Gujarat Vidyapith - "an act of a rishi" in his words.

However, the most glorious chapter of Sabarmati Ashram is the way in which he bid farewell to it. Though sad and sacrificial in nature it galvanised the country into hitherto unknown sense of unity and national spirit. The moment arrived when the genesis of salt duties was unearthed. Directed by `his inner voice' Bapu gave a call to break the Salt law and embarked on a 240-mile march with his seventy-nine followers. On 12th March 1930 Bapu commenced on this trail setting nation ablaze with the spirit of defiance. Blessed were those who saw the master marching out of the Ashram with his spirit guided by divinity.