In chromolithographs printed under colonial laws? The ‘SWARAJ’ exhibition didn’t just remind us of Tilak or Nehru; it showed us how *common people* saw them. Gandhi was no longer just a man; he was Krishna standing on a serpent called ‘oppressive policy’. Nehru? Flying with a mountain labeled ‘Boycott British Goods’. Bhagat Singh? Cutting off his head to offer to Mother India. And Ambedkar? Almost invisible; until after his death. Why? Because popular freedom imagery was deeply rooted in Hindu iconography. The exhibition even showed a 1952 film still where ‘Vande Mataram’ fused goddess worship with nationalism; and today, Parliament’s just made that song official. This isn’t about politics. It’s about how stories get told. Who gets shown? Who gets left out? Who gets turned into a god? If you think history is facts on a page; think again. History is also in the print shops of Kanpur, the posters of Karachi, and the calendars hung in homes. That’s where the real struggle lived. #HistoryThroughArt #SwarajExhibition #VisualFreedom #GandhiAsGod #AmbedkarInAbsence #IndianNationalism