Popular discourse around Mohandas Gandhi has projected him as an eccentric saint by obscuring his overwhelmingly modern and practical side. Gandhi was fastidious about three practices: punctuality, account keeping and documentation. Of the three, the last is perhaps his least known practice. The emphasis on documents not only helped to create a rich archival corpus, but also introduced Indian freedom fighters to a new model of leadership in the early part of the 20th century.

One important aspect of Gandhi’s emphasis on meticulous documentation was the collection of facts and the writing of reports. These two exercises were always central to the colonial state. But over a period of time, under Gandhi’s tutelage, this skill was mastered and instrumentalised by young leaders in the thick of

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