Gandhiji’s personal secretary V Kalyanam dies at 99

According to sources, the resident of Padur passed away in the afternoon. The freedom fighter’s last rites will be held on May 6.

V Kalyanam was Mahatma Gandhi’s personal secretary from 1943 to 1948, working with the Father of the Nation until his assassination in January 30, 1948. According to Kalyanam, he was just behind Gandhi when he was killed.

The long-time resident of Chennai had once said that his role under Gandhi included receiving, reading and funneling Gandhi’s mail, and writing out the letters that Gandhi would dictate to him. He had archived most of Gandhi’s letters.

He famously rebuked the myth that Gandhi said ‘Hey Ram’ after he was shot, noting in several interview that no such thing occurred and that he could not hear anything owing to the commotion that followed the incident.

Kalyanam later worked as Edwina Mountbatten’s secretary in London. He returned a few years later and then worked for C. Rajagopalachari and Jayaprakash Narayan According to reports, Kalyanam enjoyed gardening, and would garden at his home in Chennai before he was forced to stop owing to age-related issues.

In 2014, Kalyanam joined the Aam Aadmi Party, when he was 91 years old.