``I will not let the National Herald close down even if I have to sell Anand Bhawan (to avoid it),'' Nehru had once said.

But, early this week, 60 years after the paper's founding, the city saw a sad spectacle of government officials auctioning properties of Herald as a huge portrait of Nehru brooded over the sorry pass from behind.

The officials invited bids for the machinery and furniture of the Associated Journals Limited (AJL), publishers of the National Herald, Navjeevan (Hindi) and Quami Awaz (Urdu) as per court orders.

The auction of movable properties was initiated at the behest of the Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court to realise arrears amounting to Rs ten crore which includes electricity and telephone bills as well as the salary of 400-odd employees for the last 22months.

The National Herald, AJL's flagship, and the other two papers folded up here two months ago, but the New Delhi edition of Herald still comes out, albeit with a circulation that is yet to reach the four digit.

The hapless employees have lost all hopes of the paper's revival as they watched bidders haggling over the pieces of machinery and furniture.

In a shockingly lukewarm response, the articles fetched a measly sum of about Rs 40,000.

``In any other country, Britain, for example, such items reminiscent of India's freedom movement, would have fetched a fortune,'' moaned an old-timer who is a reader of Herald since Nehru's days.

But an auction participant had another explanation, saying the awe for the historic paper and their love for it perhaps prevented them from buying up its belongings.

The auctioned items included a table and chair used by M Chalapathi Rau, National Herald's long-time celebrated editor.

Many witnessed the auction misty-eyed, speaking innostalgia of the great days of the paper, founded by Nehru with the aim of giving voice to the torch-bearers of the freedom struggle.

``It (auction) is like a funeral of a close associate,'' said Usman Ghani, with a crack in his voice. It was indeed a traumatic experience for the veteran journalist who edits the Urdu daily Quami Awaz.

For Herald's senior sub-editor Maqsoodul Hasan, ``It is not just an auction of tables and chairs but what's at stake is a long and glorious tradition of upright journalism.''

``And what a tradition it was, set dedicatedly by eminent men like K Rama Rao, Herald's first editor, Chalapathi Rau and others,'' exclaimed Abid Suhel who has had a 30-year long association with the group of papers.

``I was a witness to the frequent meetings between Chalapathi Rau and Pandit Nehru who used to visit Herald's offices, specially to speak to its celebrated editor,'' he reminisced in nostalgia.

Speaking about K Rama Rao, the paper's other famous editor,Suhel remembers with pride that Rao published the stories without headlines when the authorities insisted that they be first approved by the district administration. This happened at the height of Quit India movement in 1942, he recalls.

Among those who had contributed to the expansion and progress of the paper were Rafi Ahmed Kidwai, Acharya Narendra Dev, Mohan Lal Saxena, V K Krishna Menon and politicians like Samburanand, C V Gupta, T N Singh and N D Tiwari.Despite its hoary past and stature, the paper often suffered fluctuating fortunes along with the Indian National Congress.

It faced its first closure in 1977 after Indira Gandhi suffered her worst debacle at the hustings that followed the Emergency. Though it resumed publication two years later, the paper again faced closure in 1986 only to be revived a year later with much fanfare at the intervention of the youthful new Prime Minster Rajiv Gandhi.

Though the Congress had often helped the paper tide over its many crises, the party's oscillatingfortunes in elections since 1996 perhaps sealed Herald's fate, said an employee.

``Ironically, Lucknow, the head office bore the brunt of all financial problems, while the Delhi office functioned somewhat smoothly,'' says senior employee M B Bajpayee.

Nevertheless, diehard optimists among Herald's employees still hope that Congress president Sonia Gandhi would intervene to rescue the famous legacy of Nehru-Gandhi family.

With the twin buildings of `Nehru Bhawan' and `Nehru Manzil' housing the newspapers set for auction on December 7, it's anybody's guess whether they will fall into to the hands of some real estate entrepreneur or remain with the fourth estate.