Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy is often remembered in objects.

His humble dhoti outfit was a deliberate way to build kinship with India’s impoverished communities. Food—also the lack of it—was at the center of his iconic hunger strike, a part of Gandhi’s “Quit India” movement protesting Britain’s colonization. Salt inspired a 250-mile march against a salt tax. Each object was a symbol of nonviolent resistance. But according to Gandhi, there was one object that best encapsulated his ideology and India’s path to independence. “For me,” Gandhi is reported to have said, “nothing in the political world is more important than the spinning wheel.”

He meant the charkha, a hand-operated device used to spin fibers into yarn to make cloth called khadi, a lightweight, breathable fabric traditionally made with cotton.

Learn more about why this centuries old tradition is so relevant today, from a cultural view point as well as an environmental one 👉 https://www.patagonia.com/stories/freedom-through-fabric/story-121919.html

PC: Sara Otto