I find the following narrative about the Gandhian wheel particularly compelling—it became almost synonymous with his identity. It is difficult to picture Mahatma Gandhi without envisioning him seated at his spinning wheel, crafting thread from cotton. In the hands of this anonymous writer, even a simple instrument transforms into a profound medium of communication. Truly wonderful to read.
8-12-2024, Gurukulam
255. ‘THE WHISPER OF THE WHEEL’
The following enthusiastic description of the possibilities of the spinning-wheel cannot fail to be of general interest. The writer is a U.P. graduate and is himself a practised spinner. He does not wish his name to be advertised.
I am a simple thing and anybody can understand my mechanism. I can be bought for a rupee or two. I am portable and easily accessible to all. I am much lighter than the grinding-stone, therefore, I am most popular with the fair sex. I am in demand at the time of marriages. My production satisfies the religious want of the Pundits because I am always sacred. I can give bread to the millions of starving villagers of India, can clothe the farmers, can give a livelihood to beggars, can give a dignified profession to the fallen sisters and those whose modesty is otherwise exposed to the assaults of lustful persons. I (p. 255)
am in the habit of demolishing “devils’ workshops” by keeping busy all idle men’s minds, if they care to turn me. I feed the weavers, the carders, the ironsmiths and the carpenters. I can save the heavy drainage of India that has been sapping her very life-blood¾ I can effect real unity between the different communities of India by making them independent, I can ameliorate the conditions of the untouchables by making it easy to find a market for the yarn produced by them, I can establish real peace in India by teaching is inhabitants self-respect and self-reliance and thus render it absolutely impossible for other nations to come to India with the idea of exploiting her. I can introduce simplicity in life and make the opulent condescend to talk with the mill-hands. I can destroy the pride of the capitalists by abolishing the factory system and thus putting an end to the ever-multiplying miseries of the labourers, and by being a menace to ambition and love of aggrandisement. I am thus a harbinger of peace and restorer of financial health to India and impartial distributor of wealth.
But to school students I am something more: I am an examiner of their abilities, I am a barometer to their nature. Give me to a rash boy and I will tell all at once that he is such, because his yarn will be untwisted and irregular. Place me in the hands of serious boy: I will at once know that he is promising, because his yarn will be regular, and indicative of a balanced hand.
I am not merely an examiner ; I am an instructor too. I can train the mind of a boy (if he turns me daily) so well that he will be a good surgeon if he goes to the George Hospital, Lucknow, with a certificate from me. His operations will mostly be successful and his judgment most accurate. I warrant a regular spinner can be a good mathematician because the law governs both the sciences. It would be no exaggeration to say that spinning is practical mathematics. If you, err, your mistakes will at once be detected.
Just as bluntness in the edge of a razor spoils a shave, just as caustic acid [sic] spoils a picture and just as adoration without faith is meaningless, in the same way no amount of coaching is of any avail without concentration which the youths of these days so utterly lack. I am a specialist in training the boys in concentration and I claim to do immense good in this direction to the boy who befriends me.
Young India, 17-4-1924, CWMG, Vol. 27, pp. 255-256
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