Fondly remembered and revered as Bapu or the Father of the Indian Nation today, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is a paragon of truthfulness, persistence, leadership, minimalism, self-mastery and non-violence. His high moral, political and spiritual ideals have inspired generations upon generations of people across the globe. Though enriched with endless qualities, he was a man of few worldly possessions — but each of them being truly exceptional, with a particular significance of its own. As we celebrate his 151st birth anniversary, let's get a load of his unforgettable memorabilia.
The Creative Charkha
Khadi, "the livery of our freedom" as Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru termed it, is an offshoot of Mahatma Gandhi's spinning wheel, or charkha. Symbolising that which is apne desh ka bana — or Swadeshi — it propounded the Gandhian ideal of a self-reliant India that makes its own cloth instead of relying on the ones sold by the empire. This provided the nation with a constructive economic activity at a time when severe unemployment, dehumanising poverty, and discrimination plagued it under British rule.
Housed at Sabarmati Ashram, Gujarat, his traditional charkha is a huge tourist attraction today. A portable version of it was devised by Gandhi himself and later bequeathed upon Revd Floyd A. Puffer, a Methodist missionary, in 1935 — sold for a whopping 110,000 pounds by Mullock's action house, England in 2013.
Spectacular Spectacles
Gandhi bought his first pair of spectacles when he was studying law in England in the 1890s. His iconic round-lensed glasses not only symbolise his visionary thoughts but his design also defines him as an individual — one with an unostentatious lifestyle. The Gandhi Museum in Madurai, India is said to possess his last pair of glasses along with his blood-stained clothes from the day he was shot in 1948. However, owing to his habit of handing over private possessions as gifts to his admirers, many similar glasses have surfaced on the auction circuit over the years. One of them from his trips to South Africa in the 1920s was auctioned for over 260,000 pounds by East Bristol Auctions, UK — breaking all records for a UK-based auction house.
Comfy Chappals
Further adding to his notion of minimalism are his leather chappals. As part of an anti-British goods movement in India in the early 20th century, Gandhi summoned cobblers from several parts of the country to Sabarmati Ashram to make 'ahimsa chappals' — an attempt to carry forward his ideal of a self-sufficient India and to also ensure that nobody in India walked barefoot. These chappals were 100% cruelty-free, and since walking was Gandhi's most preferred means of commutation, he wore them too. One heavily worn-out pair of his leather chappals was sold for about 19,000 pounds in London back in 2013. Another such pair is said to be housed at Ditsong National Museum of Cultural History, South Africa.
Memorable Memoirs
Using writing as a medium to spread knowledge and wisdom, Gandhi — being a prolific writer — authored several journals and memoirs including The Story Of My Experiments With Truth, Hind Swaraj, and Non-Violent Resistance etc. He also maintained personal diaries throughout his life, which along with his formal and informal letters today are available in over 100 volumes, conjointly called The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi (1884–1948). Many of his handwritten letters have gone under the hammer over the years, charging hefty amounts from the bidders.
Clad in white Khadi, with a pair of ahimsa chappals on his feet and a selfless vision of a free India in his bespectacled eyes — Mahatma Gandhi personified "simple living, high thinking." And to this veteran who left an ineradicable mark on the sands of time, we wish a very happy birthday.