Happy Birthday Mohandas Karamchand “Mahatma” Gandhi!
Thanks to Julia for reminding me!
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” (Mahatma Gandhi)
© Margaret Bourke-White, 1946, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi working at a spinning wheel
The spinning wheel, a device used to make yarn or thread came to symbolize the notion of Indian self-sufficiency — and thus independence from British rule. This symbolism is also part of the Flag of India:
© India Post, The first stamp of independent India, released on 21 Nov 1947
Before Margaret Bourke-White was allowed to photograph Gandhi, she was informed she would need to learn the spinning wheel - it’s said that she caught on quickly.
She was a friend to Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi; in fact, she was the last person to interview him hours before his assassination in January 1948. It’s hardly surprising, really, that Bourke-White would be drawn to a figure like Gandhi. After all, for her entire career, she focused her lens on the human side of any issue — no matter how brutal or unsettling the subject matter — and Gandhi’s emphasis on liberty and dignity in the face of savage resistance spoke directly to her own passion for both justice and for adventure.
(Source: burnedshoes, via 2turtlestumbling)
