Away from public gaze, a group of 50 people gathered at an empty plot along a narrow lane in Pune’s bustling Shivajinagar area late this evening. They crowded around a brightly lit image of ‘Akhand Bharat’, complete with red lights charting the free flow of the Sindhu river, unfettered by national boundaries.

This was their way of remembering the man whose dying wish of having his ashes scattered in the Sindhu was never fulfilled — they still have the urn which has his ashes. Because it was on November 15, 1949 that Nathuram Vinayak Godse was hanged for assassinating the Mahatma.

Godse’s ‘Akhand Bharat’ dream is being kept alive by a small band of descendants and their friends. Every year, on this day, they meet to observe his death anniversary. It was no different today. Gathering under the Hutatma Nathuram Godse Icchapatra Nyaas, Godse’s niece Himani Savarkar, nephew Nanasaheb Godse, their children and grandchildren went about their annual ritual of pledging to work for “a single nation, the undivided India”.

“This is not an impossible dream. Did anyone ever think that the Jews would one day have their own nation? Akhand Bharat is inevitable, and we continue our insistence for it,” said Savarkar.

Godse’s great grand nieces, Abha Godse and Rama Kashikar, both 11, and Divija Godse, just 5, read aloud his final speech in court to let everyone know that “the dream lives” on.

“The first generation may have ended with the death of Sindhutai Godse (wife of Gopal Godse, brother of Nathuram), but every living family member will not rest till his (Nathuram’s) will is fulfilled,” said Nanasaheb Godse.

... contd.