Grass with Gandhi blood sold for 10,000 pounds

LONDON: A pinch of soil and blood-stained blades of grass from the place where Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated in 1948 was sold today for 10,000 pounds at an auction here.
The auction also saw many other Gandhi memorabilia going under the hammer including his iconic round-rimmed glasses that fetched far more than the estimated price.

In all, the Gandhi-related items fetched over 100,000 pounds in the auction by the Shropshire-based auctioneer, Mullock's.

The memorabilia included a pair of Gandhi's round-rimmed glasses, 'charkha', a 10 inch 78 rpm Columbia disc of Gandhi giving his spiritual message signed by him, and original photographs of Gandhi visiting London in 1931.

Also in the collection sold were letters in English by Gandhi to Raghavan, Sgt N E R Poduwal in Rangoon, letters by Gandhi in Gujarati and a prayer book in Gujarati.

The pair of Gandhi's glasses had a guide price of 10,000 pounds but sold for 34,000 pounds.

Kevin Bland, financial controller at Mullock's, said the unnamed telephone bidder who bought the spectacles also spent 26,500 pounds on a wooden "charka".

The same bidder bought his prayer book for 10,500 pounds.