MAHATMA GANDHI MEGARARE 78RPM HIS SPIRITUAL MESSAGE ENGLISH COLUMBIA MADE IN INDIA LBE 50 WA 12083 

MAHATMA GANDHI MEGARARE 78RPM HIS SPIRITUAL MESSAGE ENGLISH COLUMBIA MADE IN INDIA LBE 50 WA 12083

TOTALLY AS IS WHERE IS BASIS 

The Nanga Fakir’s Speech, 1931 – 

In 1888, when Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948) arrived in England to study law, hardly anyone came to receive him at the port. He dressed like an average Englishman and went about his business in obscurity. In 1931 this same man arrived again in England to attend the Second Round Table Conference to broker peace between the British government and the Indian Independence Movement. This time huge crowds of people poured in the streets of London to have a glimpse of him, for he was dressed in a loincloth, like the poorest of Indians whom he came to represent. Hundreds would gather to listen to this “Nanga Fakir” (as Mr. Winston Churchill used to call him). The crowds were touched and influenced by the thoughts he expressed in his clear voice and simple English.

On the occasion of one such speech at Kingsley Hall, technicians from the Columbia Gramophone Company were present with a record cutter. They had in mind to make a profit by making the first ever recording of Gandhiji’s voice. While they were successful in persuading Gandhiji, he expressed his unwillingness to commit any political speech to shellac. So he chose his old essay ‘On God’ and recorded it for Columbia Company in the third week of October 1931. The title of the disc was ‘Spiritual Message’ and this six minute long speech was issued in two parts, and on two sides of a 78-rpm disc (catalogue No. LBE 50). Gandhiji also signed a legal contract with the recording company at this time, and according to the terms and conditions, any royalty earned by him on the sale of copies of this disc was to be credited to the ‘Sakal Charkha Sanghatana’ (All India Weavers Association), Ahmedabad

In the year 1931, the Indian National Congress Party (INC) adopted a new design of its tricolor flag, with three horizontal bands with colors: saffron, white and green and a spinning wheel (charkha) in the centre of the middle white colored band. The same color sequence was chosen in designing the label of this important disc. Thus three concentric colored circular rings were used in the label design with the signature M.K. Gandhi at the bottom in gold. This special disc was made available in 1932. Hundreds of copies were sent even outside India. The discs were sold in India at four rupees and eight annas. At the time, this was the average monthly income of a middle class Indian family. Thus the agents of recording company were not optimistic about the sale of this disc, especially since the speech was recorded in English. However, to their surprise people in India queued up to buy the discs and gramophone machines on which to play it. Even those who did not understand English bought them and listened just to hear the sound of Gandhiji’s voice.

In Madras, M/S Saraswati Stores were the official agents of the Columbia Company. In January 1932, their manager wrote a letter to the Chief Secretary of Madras Presidency, requesting him not to impose any ban on the sale and distribution of this disc, as there was nothing ‘political’ and ‘objectionable’ in this speech. For, such a ban would shelve some 12,000 copies in the warehouse of the stores and the company would have run into loss. Recently, in an exhibition organized by Chennai Archives this letter was on display.Gandhi’ and the ‘Father of the Nation’ (Rashtrapita) against his own wish. After his assassination, ‘Spiritual Message

Gandhiji earned two thousand rupees royalty payment on the initial sale of the disc in South India, but this manager did not know anything about the recipients, ‘All India Weavers Association of Ahmedabad’ which was located in the northern part of India. Hence, it was paid directly to the recipients by the parent company in England. The business strategy of the Columbia Company was successful beyond expectations. After the Second World War, this disc was again in great demand and fresh copies were pressed with new label designs, suitable for sale in England, India and even in America.

Gandhiji was honored with the title ‘Mahatma’ (Great Soul) long ago by ‘Kamdar’s in 1915 but he never used it and did not wish to be addressed as such. However he was always called ‘Mahatma ’ disc was again in circulation. The disc has been listed in the Columbia record catalogue until 1956. Over 100,000 copies in 78-rpm format were sold in these twenty-five years. Today very few copies survive in the hands of collectors, archives and depositories. Later, the recording on this disc was reissued on vinyl LP’s and audio tapes during Gandhiji’s birth centenary in 1969

ALL WRITTEN MATERIAL TAKEN FROM GOOGLE FOR A BETTER UNDERSTANDING THANKS TO GOOGLE 

Brought as you see

Look at the pictures for the 

Exact condition

Condition is as you see in the photographs

I need a 5 star feedback otherwise ebay considers that the presentation i do on ebay is not upto the mark

SO PLEASE CONSIDER AND GIVE ME A GOOD FEEDBACK THANK YOU

More Photos down below

All international buyers can make a payment through PAY PAL.

The product will be sent once the payment is done. We will ship the product within 10 working days.

A serious collector should not miss this opportunity.

We offer 100% refund guarantee if the item is returned within 3 working days of purchase. If you are having any queries regarding the product then ask me before you purchase.

We do not accept bids from China & Russia for technical reasons.

We will ship the product within 10 working days.

Express delivery within 3/4 days to most parts of US, UK, Europre, Middle East & rest of the world.

Its a great honour to be here on eBay as a seller doing what I like doing the most. My hobbies are TOYS and ANTIQUES so I decide to sell them one fine day. Toys are my childhood obsession and now they have become passion and business. I regularly get toys from different parts of india and the toys are mostly from Japan, Germany & the rest of the world.  

In case of any queries please feel free to contact me on +91-9869511547

or

Mail me at