Mahatma Gandhi used the 'charkha' as a symbol of self-reliance and to send out the message that India can make its own cloth and does not need the empire to do it.
Mahatma Gandhi's 'charkha' or spinning wheel has been sold for 110,000 pounds (about 1 crore rupees) at an auction house in England.
The 'charkha' was used by Mahatma Gandhi in 1940s. Mahatma Gandhi had improvised on the traditional 'charkha' and modified it into a foldable version.
Mahatma Gandhi used the 'charkha' as a symbol of self-reliance and to send out the message to the British empire that India can make its own cloth and did not need to rely on the empire to do it.
The Mullock's Auction house also sold several other memorabilia belonging to Mahatma Gandhi to unknown bidders who called in or put up bids on the phone. Gandhi's last will, which he wrote in Sabarmati Ashram, was sold for 20,000 pounds. Several newspaper articles were also among the 60 items in the collection that were auctioned.
Says auctioneer Richard Westwood-Brookes, "The great rule of auctions is that you have to have two or three people who want it, who have the money to buy, and of course we did have two or three people online and on the telephone who were very interested in acquiring it"
Most bids were placed over the internet. However, two people did show up in person for the auction.
Ajit Prasad, who was present at the auction said, "Certain items are very important items. After all Gandhi ji was Father of the Nation. All his items that relate to him should be bought by the government of India and displayed in museums"
His son-in-law Sunil Bouri, who was also present for the bidding, however, thinks differently. "There is so much material that you can't keep it all, and it's nice that it is in private ownership or in museums or people are donating it for other causes. So I think it's important it's shared with the world." Between them, they spent 8,000 pounds acquiring items that they say will be donated to schools across the world.
With no interest from the Indian government, this piece of India's history will now be locked away in a secret buyer's cupboard, until, perhaps, it is up for auction again.