Junior Scientist CHARAKHA  (Multicolor)

The charkha, or spinning wheel, was the physical embodiment and symbol of Gandhi’s constructive program. It represents Swadeshi, self-sufficiency, and at the same time interdependence, because the wheel is at the center of a network of cotton growers, carders, weavers, distributors, and users. . It also embodied the dignity of labor, equality, unity, as all volunteers were to spin each day, and finally independence, as British control of India was rooted in control of indigenous industries such as textiles. For this reason, Nehru called khadi the homespun cloth “the livery of our freedom.” Charkha is a hand operated machine to weave threads and its technical details may be obtained on net. But it is no simple device, it is a marvel of innovation and technology of its time. It uses pulleys and flexible drive to operate the pin that spins the cotton to convert it into thread.