Government files of 1949: Measure of his true stature

AHMEDABAD: In early 1949, the then home minister of Bombay state Kishorelal Mashruwala embarked on the major task of deciphering Mahatma Gandhi's "dimensions". He was helped in this endeavour by former prime minister prime minister Morarji Desai.
Close to 300 letters were exchanged between the collectors of Poona, Ahmedabad and various jails -especially Yerawada and Sabarmati -and information was gathered from almost all the jails where Bapu had been incarcerated.Copies of the set of these pa pers was recently procured by city-based historian Rizwan Kadri from the Maharashtra state archives.
The correspondences began on April 7, 1949 and ended in June. Though there could not be an agreement on Gandhiji's weight as it varied with time, and the only other measure that could not be worked out was the size of his chest.