Mahatma Gandhi’s charkha continues to spin its magic for these students

GADAG: Things which appear simple, are rarely ever so, Ashwini Kudlekar found to her surprise in the past few weeks. She is one of dozens of students at the Karnataka State Rural Development and Panchayat Raj University who is learning how to use the charkha in pretty much the same manner that Mahatma Gandhi used it over a century ago.

“These classes are exciting for me and my classmates. We are happy to learn these traditional things,” says Ashwini, doing first semester in Master of Public Health. Every Saturday since February 11, they have gathered at an open hall at the entrance of Gandhi Smaraka, a 3,500 sq ft replica of the Sabarmati Ashram on the university campus near Nagavi village, close to Kappatagudda hills in Gadag district.

Prakash Machenahalli, Convener of the Sabarmati Ashram in Gadag, says, “Our university has taken this initiative to implement Gandhi’s ideas of Swadeshi at Sabarmati Ashram under the Nayee Talim Scheme. We have introduced a course in which students are trained to use a spinning wheel to produce yarn. In the future, more such activities will be conducted for students.”

Faculty teach students how to make cotton yarn using a charkha and then weave the yarn into cloth. Along with the access to pictures, audio and video of speeches, and Gandhi’s writings, all of which are available in the replica, the process of spinning yarn has prompted students to think about pre-Independence India, the lives of people, and what the charkha symbolised.

“Mahatma Gandhi turned the charkha into a symbol of Swadeshi and self-sufficiency through his work at Sabarmati Ashram. I am happy to learn an ancient art which gave life to thousands of Indians during the pre-Independence era,” Ashwini says. It also prompted her to think about how cloth is made. “It is a great opportunity to learn practical things in addition to theoretical studies. While we learn, we imagine how our ancestors made their clothes.

Today, we do not give a thought to how our clothes are made, we just pick out something and wear it. But with these classes, we learned that simple living is not so simple,” she says. A first semester student of MSc Geoinformatics, Veena Bhajantri, says, “Khadi has been integrated with our way of life for ages, and it has been ignored due to industrialization. But now, this university is conducting several activities to give younger generations a chance to experience and support this old lifestyle.

It will also help us lead an independent life after we complete our studies. The course teaches us life lessons,” she says. Education should be holistic, says Registrar B L Lakkannavar. “We believe in the 3H concept, based on Gandhian values: Head, Heart and Hand. We want students to inculcate hand-based skills and implement them in the weaving of cloth. All-round development of the personality is our motto.We are happy to run such a programme,” he says.