Juzer Vasi is a professor in IIT-B’s electrical engineering department. He tells me that IIT-B was invited to solarise the memorial based on Gandhi’s ethos of self-sufficiency. "As things developed, IIT-B got more and more involved, and we were designated the ‘design co-ordinating agency’ in 2011"The 40 solar ‘trees’ - each with 12 panels - sustain the entire memorial and even generate 25% surplus electricity. Vasi credits the conceptualisation of the installations to Kirti Trivedi, former professor from IIT’s Industrial Design Centre. "Prof. Tridevi made major contributions to the design, including the light pyramid, the salt cube, the lake, the main Gandhi statue, the sculptures of the 80 marchers, and the 24 murals."Gandhi’s statue was made by well-known sculptor Sadashiv Sathe, while the others were sculpted by 40 artists from India, Austria, Bulgaria, Burma, Japan, Sri Lanka, Tibet, U.K. and the U.S. "Some statues were created by master sculptors to give a broad idea of how the marchers should look," says Raja Mohanty, professor, Industrial Design Centre. There were photographs and video footage for reference as well.The 24 narrative murals made of clay and cast in silicon-bronze were created by a team of sculptors from Hyderabad’s Jawaharlal Nehru Architecture and Fine Arts University. "We travelled the original route with a team of sculptors to get a feel of the vegetation and terrain," says Mohanty.One of the murals narrates the story of how labourers were hired to carry lights so that the marchers could see the path ahead. The extravagance made Gandhi say "turn the searchlight inward". Another mural depicts how teenage students were sent ahead on bicycles to gather information for the marchers. They were called ‘arun tukdi’.Spread over 15 acres and built at a cost of over rs 70 crore, the memorial is ambitious. But flawed. I can’t help but notice some disproportionate murals, some broken tiles. Trivedi doesn’t hide his vexation. "Raw, roughly cut stones have been used to mount the murals, with no attempt to cut them into the right shapes. The mounting is tilted in most cases," he says."The cube on the top of the tower symbolising a salt crystal was supposed to be transparent with reflectors inside so that it would glitter in the day and glow at night when the lights are switched on. What we have is an opaque cube, thus negating the whole concept. The shoddy work should be rejected; corrections must be made so that the monument is built as originally conceived," he says.Gandhi agrees that there was a rush to inaugurate the memorial. The salt making units don’t yet function, the landscaping is incomplete, the souvenir shop and an audio-visual room are yet to be readied. "At least now, the project’s completion must be prioritised," he says. Juzer Vasi is a professor in IIT-B’s electrical engineering department. He tells me that IIT-B was invited to solarise the memorial based on Gandhi’s ethos of self-sufficiency. "As things developed, IIT-B got more and more involved, and we were designated the ‘design co-ordinating agency’ in 2011"The 40 solar ‘trees’ - each with 12 panels - sustain the entire memorial and even generate 25% surplus electricity. Vasi credits the conceptualisation of the installations to Kirti Trivedi, former professor from IIT’s Industrial Design Centre. "Prof. Tridevi made major contributions to the design, including the light pyramid, the salt cube, the lake, the main Gandhi statue, the sculptures of the 80 marchers, and the 24 murals."Gandhi’s statue was made by well-known sculptor Sadashiv Sathe, while the others were sculpted by 40 artists from India, Austria, Bulgaria, Burma, Japan, Sri Lanka, Tibet, U.K. and the U.S. "Some statues were created by master sculptors to give a broad idea of how the marchers should look," says Raja Mohanty, professor, Industrial Design Centre. There were photographs and video footage for reference as well.The 24 narrative murals made of clay and cast in silicon-bronze