The lush campus teems with women and children. On the walls are an assortment of pictures: the late Kannada actor Rajkumar, the writer Kuvempu and drawings by children. On the blackboards are jottings on Chandrayaan-3, English grammar, and biology. This is Shakthidhama school in Mysuru, but it is one with a difference — it carries forth an ancient tradition.
ALSO READ Threads of change: relevance of Gandhi’s charakha today
A bell rings announcing the end of the school day. Twenty-five children, all 14 years old, make a beeline for the charkha room: a dedicated space where students sit on a carpet and spin. This is a new ritual. In four months, the children have spun 650 metres of yarn to produce khadi. This project was the brainchild of K.J. Sachidananda, an artist based out of Mysuru. After buying a charkha of his own, he has travelled across the country, spinning, and recounting tales of Gandhi.
