Saoli Charkha Sangh -- Keeping Mahatma’s mission alive
| Date :28-Apr-2019 |
By Kartik Lokhande:
“It is my conviction that with every thread I draw, I am spinning the destiny of India. Without the spinning wheel, there is no salvation for this country of ours,” Mahatma Gandhi once said, when he was asked about the significance of spinning yarn on ‘Charkha’. He treated ‘Charkha’ or spinning wheel as a tool for reforms, and lending strength for self-reliance to villages of the country. Now, as the nation is gearing up to celebrate 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, a village in Chandrapur district is keeping his mission alive. The story of spinning wheel in the lives of the villagers of Saoli started over 90 years ago. It was in 1925 that Charkha Sangh was formed and around 50,000 spinners in 1,500 villages across the country got work. Apart from weavers, other artisans including carpenters, black-smiths, dyers, tailors also got work. It rejuvenated the rural economy. Saoli, which is at a distance of 45 kms from the district headquarters of Chandrapur, then had many weavers who spun yarn.
The village mostly had paddy-growers and labourers. After taking paddy crop, villagers used to spin yarn for the rest of the year. Padmashali community used to weave ‘Lugda’ (local saree) and Dhoti. Kewat community members used to weave clothes and headgear (Pheta) from silkworm cocoons. Pravin Takey, District Information Officer, Chandrapur, who dug out details of spinning wheel movement in Saoli, told ‘The Hitavada’ that the traders from Saoli and some members of Padmashali and Kewat communities once met Jamnalal Bajaj, a close aide of Mahatma Gandhi.
Bajaj, who shared Mahatma Gandhi’s passion for self-reliance of villages, asked Narmada Prasad Awasthi to start Khadi Bhandar at Saoli given the favourable social condition there. And, thus, in 1927, Saoli became a part of ‘Mission Charkha’. Awasthi became the first Manager of Khadi Bhandar started in Saoli in 1927. Soon, the village of Saoli rose to fame for high-quality yarn spun on ‘Charkha’. In 1936, Akhil Bharatiya Gandhi Seva Sangh held its convention at Saoli. In fact, Mahatma Gandhi also visited the village twice. His first visit was on November 14, 1933.
During his second visit that happened in 1936, he stayed there from February 27 to March 5. He stayed in the same building that today hosts Nag Vidarbha Charkha Sangh. During the Mahatma’s stay in Saoli, top leaders of Indian freedom struggle like Sardar Patel, Dr Rajendra Prasad, Acharya Vinoba Bhave, Jamnalal Bajaj, Sarojini Naidu, Sushila Nair also visited Saoli. Pravin Takey got the information about Nag Vidarbha Charkha Sangh and its history from 82-year-old Rajabal Sangadiwar. “Sangadiwar told me things that are rarely known today. For instance, he told me that the marriage of Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson Krishnadas and Manodnya was solemnised under a Mango tree in the premises of Nag Vidarbha Charkha Sangh,” Takey said. After Independence, in 1958, the building hosted Nag Vidarbha Charkha Sangh under Khadi and Village Industries Commission. By the time, the spinning wheel movement had picked up in Saoli and surrounding places.
There was a time when several villagers worked on 2,700 spinning wheels. In smaller villages like Jibgaon, Nandgaon, Bembal, Bhendala, Vyahad Bujruk, and Gadchiroli, Charkha Upa-Sangh (sub-societies) were formed. Takey said that Saoli used to supply yarn spun on Charkha to various parts of Central India, for Dhoti, towel, sarees, trousers, shirts etc. Even after passage of over 90 years, the women and men of Saoli are keeping the Mahatma’s mission alive. Around 150-200 spinning wheels of different sizes are still operating from Nag Vidarbha Charkha Sangh.
“A visit to the building and listening to the hum of the spinning wheels on which men and women are working, takes one back to time when the place was abuzz with hectic activities to make villages self-reliant from economy point of view,” added Takey. As the Central and State Governments both are gearing up to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi this year, a special logo has been designed. The logo (see photograph) has a ‘Charkha’ (spinning wheel) visible prominently. It is indeed a good occasion for the Government to revisit Nag Vidarbha Charkha Sangh at Saoli and other such places, and extend necessary help to strengthen them.