THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: All of a sudden, the word ‘charkha’ may conjure up the popular image of Mahatma Gandhi sitting on a platform devoting his attention to rotating the spinning wheel with one hand and holding the thin white thread being produced in it on the other. But few know what ‘otni’ and ‘balni’ are, or the wonderful process that turns the fluffy cotton into thin fine thread.
Now, walk into the Charkha Museum opened at Gandhi Bhavan, Thycaud on Wednesday and spare some time to get to know a few predecessors of the mechanised cloth-making machines. You may be in for new insights as the exhibits in the Museum may break the familiar concepts regarding the traditional spinning wheel.
The great ancestor of charka is called the Kissan charkha, that had been retrieved from the attic of a home and was gifted to the museum by its owner. It is over a century old. “Regarding output and efficiency, this charkha was not a great performer compared to its counterparts,” joint secretary of Kerala Gandhi Smarak Nidhi B Sasikumaran Nair said, pointing to a dark tiny wooden piece kept in a corner of the museum. Next to it comes ‘Petty Charkha’, the portable version of Kissan charkha.
The lone ‘twin’ of the charkha in Gandhi’s image is the ‘Pav Ratt’ with flat-tipped spokes. ‘Otni’ and ‘balni’ is the process of separating cotton from cotton seed.
The rest of the exhibits are advanced spinning machines - ‘spindle charkha’, made of wood and metal. Machines with two to eight spindles are on display and another one which is still used in handloom sector is kept outside the museum with live demo.
“We make the cotton thread at Gandhi Smarak Nidhi at Thozhukkal in Neyyattinkara and fabrics are made at Parassala,” said Leela Mohanan, who has been earning money out this task for the past 15 years.
“The spindle machines still work without electricity and are widely used in Coimbatore and Gujarat,” said Sasikumaran Nair.
Also on display is a potter’s wheel.
A newly opened Gandhi book house adjacent to the Museum showcases a wide variety of books on Mahatma Gandhi and different genres of literature.
Entry is free.