New Delhi, May 29 -- In a temperature-controlled room inside the Delhi Legislative Assembly, time settles in the fibres of paper browned by age; in ink that has faded yet refuses to disappear; and in the delicate creases of manuscripts that have outlived governments. Here, history is being remembered, handled, restored and, now, reborn. The Delhi Assembly has launched a monumental exercise aimed at preserving over 5,00,000 pages - digitising records into thematic volumes that narrate Delhi's legislative evolution. At the centre of this effort lies a fragile, handwritten record from 1861: the proceedings of one of the earliest meetings of the Delhi municipality. In cursive so neat it almost looks like calligraphy, it records the approval of a modest budget of Rs.25,000 allocated towards a Montgomery Park, drainage systems, a general hospital, and public latrines; decisions that, though modest in scale, marked the early architecture of urban planning in Delhi. The inventory itself reads like a ledger of time. Some volumes are marked "fragile," others "fragile, damaged". This explains the urgency behind the Assembly's archival initiative. The process of preserving these documents is as intricate as the histories they contain. Once scanned, each original document undergoes chemical treatment and deacidification, a method designed to halt the slow decay caused by acidic paper, after which officials mend torn folios and clean surfaces layer by layer to finally scan them. A single page may require hours of careful handling, from flattening creases, reinforcing edges and ensuring that the ink remains legible for generations to come. Delhi Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta, under whose leadership the initiative has gathered pace, described the exercise as both a responsibility and a rediscovery. "This is not just an archival project. These records are the living memory of Delhi's governance." Beyond municipal records, the archives open a window into the larger political currents that shaped India. Among the preserved materials are records of the war conference where it was decided to send over 13,00,000 Indian soldiers to fight in World War I. The deliberations, recorded in official proceedings, reveal the scale and gravity of the moment. A particularly evocative record notes the presence of Mahatma Gandhi in the visitors' gallery in March 1919, the only instance of its kind. The moment is even mentioned later in his memoir, The Story of My Experiments with Truth (1926). "These are not merely records. They are fragments of a larger narrative, in which legislative spaces became arenas of political awakening.," says Gupta. Perhaps the most compelling aspect of the archival project is its preservation of speeches. From 1924 on, original texts of speeches delivered by prominent leaders and freedom fighters have been compiled into volumes. The first phase alone, covering speeches from 1924 to 1939, has resulted in 89 published volumes. The archival collection also includes rare visual records - layout maps, photographs, and architectural plans. A detailed layout map of the Assembly from 1911 provides insight into the spatial design of the legislative building. Photographs from 1913 capture its interiors, including the library, chambers and corridors taken soon after the building was ready for use. Among the most striking visuals is a photograph of Bahadur Shah Zafar in captivity in 1858, a haunting image that bridges the transition from Mughal rule to British governance. Handling these documents reveals their vulnerability. Pages are brittle, edges crumble at the slightest pressure and the ink that was once bold now appears faint in places. Yet, despite decades of neglect, environmental exposure and the passage of time, these records have endured. The handwriting remains legible, the structure intact and the content is remarkably complete. "Many of these documents were on the verge of deterioration. Through digitisation and conservation, we are ensuring that they are not lost to time. At the same time, digitisation makes them accessible to researchers, historians and the public," said Gupta....