(Image source from: Free Press Journal)

A dateless letter written by Indian activist Mahatma Gandhi, stressing about the significance of the spinning wheel, is expected to sell for USD 5,000, according to the United States-based RR Auction.

Signed "Bapu's blessings", the letter is written in Gujarati and addressed to a person named Yashwant Prasad, the auction house said in a statement. "What we expected of the mills has happened," Gandhi wrote in the letter. "However, what you say is correct: all depends on the loom," he wrote. Gandhi's reference to the spinning wheel is exceptionally important, as he had adopted it as a symbol of economic independence.

Gandhi, during the movement for independence, encouraged Indians to spend time every day spinning homespun cloth (Khadi) in assist of the Indian movement for independence. He encouraged all Indians to wear khadi rather than British-made textiles as a part of the swadeshi movement. The textile and the spinning wheel itself became symbolic of the movement toward Indian independence.

The online auction concludes on September 12.

By Sowmya Sangam