"I was startled by the cry Bapuji ko mar dia...Gandhiji ko mar dia (they killed Gandhiji). It still echoes in my ears. The graphic images of the terrible day are still etched in my memory."

This was how retired Subedar Padmanabhan Nambiar sums the events that followed the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi on January 30, 1948.

Leading a quiet life in Mahe, near here, 80-year-old Nambiar could be among the few surviving people who were witness to the shock felt in the aftermath of Mahatma's assassination.

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A pinch of blood-soaked sand and some blades of grass collected from the spot where Gandhi fell to the bullet sprayed by Nathuram Godse were kept by Nambiar as a priceless possession until it was handed over to an institution a few years back.

"Today when I look back, I can not find a single person so much devoted to the principles he believed in. His martyrdom had left a profound impact on my life," Nambiar told PTI recalling the day's events.

"It must have been just five in the evening. After the evening drill I was about to take bath in the Stodrard Block, near Parliament House. Suddenly, to my great shock, I heard panic-stricken voices announcing the terrible event."

"I was there at the gate of the Birla House in a few minutes," he said.

"By that time a crowd had gatherd at the Birla House. Some people were collecting blood-stained soil. My inner voice prompted me to get a pinch of sand for myself. The blood-soaked sand had already been scooped. I could just gather some leaves of grass with tiny drops of blood on them and a pinch of soil, which I wrapped in a piece of newspaper I found on the spot," Nambiar said.

"After a few hours the body, brought after post-mortem at the Wellington Hospital, was kept in the portico. Being part of the Signal Regiment of the Army Headquarters, I had the privilege of keeping vigil before the Mahatma's mortal remains for a whole day," he said.

"Those grass leaves I collected from the spot is the biggest asset I could acquire in my life. I am sure they would continue to inspire the people who see them," he added.