Page:Masani - Gandhi's story.pdf/71

Rh cannot produce anything as beautiful. Gopal's great grandparents wove cloth like this, but Gopal had never heard the music of the spinning wheel. In the big cities the shops were stocked with materials made abroad. The government wanted Indians to buy the foreign cloth. That is why Gopal never learned to weave and spin, and that is why he dreaded those long summer months when there was nothing to do and nothing to eat.

Gopal must be taught to spin again. Gandhiji said that not only Gopal but every man, woman and child must spin. He thought to himself that if everyone learned to spin and weave his own clothes, even the very poor people would have something to wear. Gandhiji also persuaded the members of the Congress Party to take a vow to wear only handspun cloth and they asked all patriotic Indians to do the same. Gandhiji said to them, “Every home must turn into a spinning wheel, every village a weaving mill, and with it will once again revive the ancient rustic art and the rustic song.” The spinning wheel became a symbol of India's freedom for it seemed to say, “Spin me and you can find a crust of bread for yourself.”

The people of India responded with great enthusiasm to the appeal not to buy or wear foreign clothes, and all over the land huge bonfires were lit and much cloth burned to cinders. It was not enough not to wear