School in New Delhi Offers Ghandi-Style Spinning

NEW DELHI—Gandhi would be 45 years old today if he were still alive, and proud his values are living on through the art of the spinning wheel he so popularized.
School in New Delhi Offers Ghandi-Style Spinning
A student works on his charkha at the Gandhi Bhavan Center of Delhi University on Sept. 18, 2014. The course is helping to revive Gandhian value and teach Indian youth how to be self-reliant. Venus Upadhayaya/Epoch Times
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NEW DELHI—Gandhi would be 145 years old on Oct. 2 if he were still alive, and proud his values are living on through the art of the spinning wheel he so popularized.

Delhi University started a free certificate course earlier this year on charkha spinning, a tool Gandhi used during India’s freedom struggle to break from British rule.

The charkha, a tool used to spin fiber into thread, became a major threat to the British economy, which relied on the Indian market, as masses boycotted British textiles and started to produce their own cloth. 

The wheel became synonymous with the Gandhian values of truthfulness, non-violence, and self-reliance. It became such a part of Indian culture that it was once used on the earlier version of the Indian flag.

“We are responsible for not passing on Gandhian values to our youngsters,” said Dr. Nisha Bala Tyagi, deputy dean of academics at the Gandhi Bhavan Center of Delhi University. He says the vice chancellor of the school hopes the course will catch on and all universities will one day offer charkha spinning.

A group of students work on their charkha at the Gandhi Bhavan Center of Delhi University on Sept. 18, 2014. The course is helping to revive Gandhian value and teach Indian youth how to be self-reliant. (Venus Upadhayaya/Epoch Times)
A group of students work on their charkha at the Gandhi Bhavan Center of Delhi University on Sept. 18, 2014. The course is helping to revive Gandhian value and teach Indian youth how to be self-reliant. Venus Upadhayaya/Epoch Times
Venus Upadhayaya
Venus Upadhayaya
Reporter
Venus Upadhayaya reports on India, China, and the Global South. Her traditional area of expertise is in Indian and South Asian geopolitics. Community media, sustainable development, and leadership remain her other areas of interest.
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