The Wheel of Fortune · Mahatma Gandhi
THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE
Mr. Gandhi during his visit to Assam and Eastern Bengal has observed, that the type of _charkha_ in use in those parts is deficient in many ways. The same is perhaps the case in other provinces. As we believe that the _charkha_ in the Satyagrahashram is a model of its kind, we give below a diagram with measurements of all its parts with an explanation of their relative functions. The rear base with mark _1_ is one foot 9 inches long, 4 inches wide and 3 inches high. The front base with mark _2_ is 9 inches long, 4 inches wide and 3 inches high. The long piece which joins the two bases, marked _3_, is 3 feet long (including joints), 3 inches wide and 2 inches high. The large uprights marked _4_ are 1 foot 6 inches long including joints, 2 inches wide, and 3 inches deep. They are fixed on the back base 9 inches apart. The holes in which the axle rests are made 2 inches below the top. These holes contain bearings of thin iron plates to secure easy motion of the axle. The bearings are kept open at the top to allow access of oil through a slanting hole bored on the outward sides of both the uprights, one inch above the axle. The small uprights marked _5_ are 9 inches long with joints 1-1/2 inches wide and 1-1/2 inches deep, with holes 4 inches below the top to contain the leather bearings which bear the spindle. They are fixed 3 inches apart on the front base and are connected together 2 inches above the base with a piece of a wood of the same thickness. This joining piece contains in the middle 2 sticks half an inch apart to regulate the position of the _mala_ (the string which revolves the spindle) on the spindle.
Another piece marked _6_ and joined parallelly to the left upright is meant to bear a hole for leather bearing when a thin spindle is to be used. The drum or wheel consists of 8 planks such as the one marked _7_, each being 2 feet long, 4 inches wide and 3/4 inch thick. They are divided in two wings of 4 planks each, each containing two couples of planks joined diametrically with a groove in the middle. Both the wings are nailed on to the wooden shaft marked _8_, its size being 4-1/2 inches long and 4 inches diameter. Through the middle of this shaft passes a long round iron bar, which serves as an axle. It is 19 inches long and half an inch thick. Its end, where the handle is fixed is made square to ensure firmness of the handle. A wooden washer one inch thick is fixed to the axle on either side of the drum to avoid its contact with the uprights. The handle is shaped put of a wooden piece of 2 inches × 2 inches × 1-1/2 feet long. The reel noticed in the diagram between the drum and the handle is composed of a wooden disc marked _9_ made out of 1 inch thick and 6 inches square piece of wood. Six brackets made of galvanized wire of 10 gauge radiate from the centre of the disc so as to make a circumference of 4 feet. The brackets are fixed in the back of the disc with bent ends and are further secured with small nails near the circumference of the disc.
A wire noose is fixed on the back base just below the reel to regulate the yarn when wound up on the reel from a bobbin or directly from the spindle. A 4 inches long bamboo pin is fixed in the inward side of the front base parallelly to the long plank marked 3. It is meant to hold the bobbin while opening out yarn from it. When the yarn is opened from the spindle directly, it is held in the left hand with the point towards the reel. The right hand is employed in turning the reel by the handle of the _charkha_. The figure _10_, indicates the position of the spinner.
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.