Mahatma Gandhi [Images] neither uttered the widely believed 'Hey Ram' nor the recently claimed 'Ram... Ram' after he was shot from a close range by Nathuram Godse, a former aide of the Father of the Nation claims.

The death also came as the final blow to an already disillusioned Gandhi, 85-year-old Kalyanam Venkitaraman, Gandhiji's then personal assistant, says.

"I was standing hardly half-a-metre from him when (Nathuram) Godse pumped five bullets at Gandhi, with one piercing his body. He fell down immediately and never uttered a word," he said, recalling those tragic moments.

Ironically, the police did not question those people, including him, who were standing near Gandhi when he was shot.

"Somebody claimed he had heard Gandhi uttering Ram...Ram, which was filed in the FIR, but the truth is that not one word was uttered. For, how can one do so when he is shot at from such a close range?" Venkitaraman, who worked with Gandhi from 1943 till his death in 1948, asked.

"He died a disheartened, disillusioned and disappointed man," Venkitaraman told PTI.

In a letter written four days before his death, Gandhi had expressed his disillusionment.

"The celebration of Independence Day with great pomp and show was quite appropriate when we were fighting for independence, which we had neither seen nor handled. Now, we have handled it and seem to be disillusioned. At least I am, even if you are not.

"What are we celebrating today? Surely, not our disillusionment," are the words written by Gandhi.

Though Godse was a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Venkitaraman
does not prefer to brand the movement as bad. 

"Not all RSS men are bad as one cannot generalise. Black sheeps are found everywhere. In fact, V D Savarkar advised Godse against harming Gandhi," he said.

An outspoken Gandhian, who calls himself a workaholic, Venkitaraman is very critical of the present political and administrative scenario in the country.

"The country has not developed in many important areas, including education. Gandhi led the Independence struggle with a vision to develop the nation," he said, while
ruing the fact that violence had become common in a country which had achieved independence through non-violence.

He especially criticised the huge allowances and perks offered to elected members and reminded that Gandhi had preached simplicity even for the elected members.

"But for a few incidents of communal clashes, the nation was more peaceful during the British era," Venkitaraman said.