Mahatma Gandhi, who is affectionately called the father of the nation by Indians was a social reformer and freedom fighter. He is known for his beliefs in non-violence in the entire world. He doesn’t belong only to India but to the entire world. The world celebrates 2nd October, his birthday as the ‘International day of non-violence’. The values of Mahatma Gandhi still inspire us.
Mahatma Gandhi struggled hard not only for the independence of India but for the independence of Indian society from poverty and conservative thinking. Mahatma Gandhi was ahead of his time. He was very progressive and smart. One of his smartest moves during the struggle for independence was the promotion of Khadi.
In this article, we will tell you why Khadi became so important during the freedom struggle and why the father of the nation promoted Khadi.
Why did Mahatma Gandhi promote Khadi?
When you think about Mahatma Gandhi image of an old and lean man appears in your mind, who is spinning the Khadi or sitting near to his charkha. Khadi was so close to the father of the nation that they both comes together in our mind.
Mahatma Gandhi used Khadi as a tool to get India its Independence. You must be thinking that how is it possible. So let me tell you that no fight can be won only on the battleground especially in today’s time. Mahatma Gandhi knew this thing very well and that’s why he encouraged his fellow Indians to adopt the Khadi.
By promoting Khadi, Mahatma Gandhi encouraged Indians to boycott British made clothes. By doing this Mahatma Gandhi killed two birds with one stone. People boycotted the British made clothes, this was a loss for British Industries. And the promotion of Khadi established confidence in Indian people.
In 1934 Mahatma Gandhi Quoted that ‘Khadi is the Sun of the village solar system’. It was Mahatma Gandhi who referred to Khadi as the ‘Livery of Freedom’. Gandhi was a visionary man. He wanted all Indians to wear Khadi so that there will be no gap between rich and poor. All wear clothes of the same quality.
Mahatma Gandhi believed that hand spinning of Khadi can create employment for many. This task was easily learned that’s why more people can join this. In those villages where poor people were not having enough money to buy cloths form them, with help of Khadi can spin it themselves.
Mahatma Gandhi converted the Khadi from a cloth to a movement. He used Khadi to develop the spirit of self-dependency among his fellow Indians. Mahatma Gandhi used to spin Khadi for his clothes as well. Earlier he used to wear dhoti, kurta, jacket, and topi but in 1921 he left all these clothes and adopted a loin cloth or dhoti. Why he did so? Let’s know about it.
Why did Mahatma Gandhi decide to wear a dhoti?
In 1921 Mahatma Gandhi was traveling from Chennai (Madras at that time) to Madurai by train. During that journey, Mahatma Gandhi saw many poor people. These people were not aware of the Khadi movement and when Gandhi Ji pleaded some of them to wear Khadi then they said that they are too poor to buy Khadi. This made Mahatma Gandhi wear only required cloths so that poor people can add some extra inches of cloth into their clothes to have at least a proper size of langot.
Before this train incident, many incidents had happened which made Mahatma Gandhi think to wear just a dhoti but this train journey finally made him do it.
Conclusion
To sum up the importance of Gandhi and Khadi in India, we can say that no one had thought to use Khadi as desi weapon against the British before Gandhi. The vision of Gandhi was too clear about the Khadi that still Khadi is empowering the Indians.
Now, Khadi has become a fashion brand as well. Many designers are using it in their creations. By buying Khadi you encourage Indian weavers. So, add some Khadi in your wardrobe and promote it.
