Its a story Laxmi Tendulkar Dhaul grew up with. The story of her parents association with Mahatma Gandhi. She quotes a line from a letter dated August 18,1945,that Gandhi wrote to her father Ayi Tendulkar on the eve of his wedding to Indumati Gunaji: My dear Tendulkar,many are protesting to me that I am officiating at your marriage tomorrow. Dhauls book,In the shadow of Freedom: Three lives in Hitlers Berlin and Gandhis India (Zubaan,Rs 495),captures the lives of three peopleTendulkar,Indumati,and Thea von Harbou,a constant presence in the family. The book evoked much interest after its first release at the Jaipur Literature Festival 2013,and now the 57-year-old author,based in Delhi and Mumbai,launched it in the Capital on Wednesday. Excerpts from an interview: How did the book come about? I had heard the story often in my childhood but I saw it together chronologically only later. A few years before he died I must have been 18 or 19I was sitting with my father and he began talking about the past and made a chronological chart of each year,dating where he had been. This turned out to be an important guideline for the book. What are the other sources you have referred to? Apart from the chart,there were letters of correspondence,newspaper clippings of my fathers articles,photographs from our private collection and,mostly,conversations with my mother. Thanks to the internet and a blog dedicated to Harbou,the information that gave a structure to my book. You have written on diverse subjects,authored biographies,documentaries,recipe books,childrens books and even self-help books. There has been a long gap between all my books. I wrote a book on the Ajmer dargah. Ive always wanted to write childrens books and,in fact,my first story came when my children were born. My interests may seem a little disjointed,but theyre all a part of me and this book is my soul.
