Thread of simplicity

The digital age has left the charkha forlorn but Indu, pictured in the next two pages, teaches those who care to learn how to spin the charkha and connect with an important thread of India's history.

arun

Arun Kumar | January 10, 2019 | Delhi


#India history   #thread   #National Gandhi Museum   #British rule   #spinning wheel   #Mahatma Gandhi  
Image courtesy: Arun Kumar
Image courtesy: Arun Kumar

No expert would hazard a guess as to when humankind began to spin cotton, wool, and other fibres into yarn. But it is accepted without much doubt that the spinning wheel was invented in Asia, probably in China or India. And Mahatma Gandhi turned the spinning wheel, or the charkha, as it is known in India, into a symbol of self-reliance, simplicity, even classic design. It was also a strong statement of resistance to British rule.

 
There is something elemental about spinning that elevates it to an activity resembling meditation that is reached through focused and relaxed physical effort. The digital age has left the charkha forlorn, but at the National Gandhi Museum in Delhi, right across Rajghat, Indu, pictured here, teaches those who care to learn how to spin the charkha and connect with an important thread of India's history.









Comments

 

Other News

‘Better than the entire world’: Here’s the ‘India book’ for ages

The Undying Light: A Personal History of Independent India By Gopalkrishna Gandhi Aleph Books, 624 pages, Rs 999 Vet

Why the youth’s ‘affair’ with stock market is usually tragic

Nine out of 10 individual traders in the equity Futures and Options (F&O) segment have incurred net losses, according to a recent SEBI study. What’s even more striking is that a significant portion of these traders are young individuals – students, early professionals and first-time earners

Why recognizing unpaid work makes sense

Across the globe, unpaid domestic and caregiving work remains an unseen yet essential contributor to economic and social well-being. Women, in particular, dedicate significant hours to household tasks and caregiving, yet this labour remains excluded from Gross Domestic Product (GDP) calculations, leading t

News broadcast needs to reinvent, innovate: Sudhir Chaudhary

Popular news anchor and veteran journalist Sudhir Chaudhary says the news broadcast industry has not reinvented itself in the last 20 years, leading to news consumption gradually shifting to other platforms. Unlike social media influencers with millions of followers, there are no stars in the news industry

How education can transform lives — and society

The Moving of Mountains: The Remarkable Story of The Agastya International Foundation By Adhirath Sethi Penguin Enterprise

What the sharp change in South Asian geopolitics means for India

More than a week after the chief adviser of Bangladesh’s interim government, Muhammad Yunus, created a ripple in South Asia by asking China to expand its economic base in his country as it is “the only guardian of the ocean” for India’s seven landlocked northeastern states, New Delh

Visionary Talk: Amitabh Gupta, Pune Police Commissioner with Kailashnath Adhikari, MD, Governance Now



Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter