The pictures speak of the incredible access Kanu had to Bapu's life. Having come into the ashram at age 10 to improve his health, Kanu never returned home. It was here that Kanu, nicknamed Bapu's Hanuman, was later married—at Kasturba's command—to one of Bapu's devoted followers Abhabehn, known as "one of Gandhi's walking sticks".
As Kanu's love for Bapu grew, so did his fascination for those who photographed him. Till one day, young Kanu summoned the courage to ask Bapu for a camera. No money, said Gandhi. But industrialist G.D. Birla obliged. Ironically, the photographer who chronicled such a full life, couldn't chronicle any last moments. As Bapu sat with the dying Kasturba in his lap, he forbade Kanu from capturing it on film. Kasturba's last moments escaped Kanu's camera. So did Bapu's death—Bapu had ordered Kanu to stay in Noakhali.
And only once after Bapu's death and before his own in 1986 did Kanu pick up the camera to shoot: for a picture of his granddaughter.
