The Man and The Wheel

© 1947 Margaret Bourke-White, LIFE Magazine

Gandhi  Reads Papers in Front of His Spinning Wheel

Gandhi advocated the boycott of the machine made European clothing as it caused large scale unemployment in India. He took to making hand-made cloth called Khadi that was inexpensive and suitable for poor Indians. Most importantly, it showed Indians how to be self-reliant.  Gandhi worked on his spinning wheel (called Charakha) till his last days, claiming that he felt like he was eating stolen food if he did not work.

Shown above: Photographer Margate Bourke-White's famous picture of Gandhi taken for the LIFE Magazine.

See Also:

• Gandhi on importance of human labor

• The Wheels of India -- Pictorial exhibition of wheels at Kamat's Potpourri