Mahatma Gandhi’s last years were the most tumultuous of his life. They marked his greatest triumphs, his greatest losses and the crumbling of his dream. India achieved Independence in 1947, but at the cost of Partition and enormous suffering.

Gandhi’s final years show us why India took the path that it did. They are a study in how one of the most effective mass leaders the world has seen turned into a lonely pilgrim. This series, Gandhi – The Final Years, launches on his death anniversary.

This episode begins in 1942. Gandhi had given two clarion calls: “Quit India” and “Do or die”. World War 2 had swept through Europe, plunging the world into danger and uncertainty. The British Empire was shaken and it was accepted that it was no longer sustainable. Gandhi’s broadside against the Raj unnerved the British and he was arrested on August 9, 1942.

We are in conversation with Tushar Gandhi, great grandson of the Mahatma, a great chronicler of the Mahatma’s life and a peace activist.