Clothing Gandhi's Nation

<p>In <i>Clothing Gandhi's Nation </i> Lisa Trivedi explores the making of one of modern India's most enduring political symbols <i>khadi: </i> a homespun home-woven cloth. The image of Mohandas K. Gandhi clothed simply in a loincloth and plying a spinning wheel is familiar around the world as is the sight of Gandhi Jawaharlal Nehru and other political leaders dressed in Gandhi caps and <i>khadi</i> shirts. Less widely understood is how these images associate the wearers with the swadeshi movement--which advocated the exclusive consumption of indigenous goods to establish India's autonomy from Great Britain--or how <i>khadi</i> was used to create a visual expression of national identity after Independence. Trivedi brings together social history and the study of visual culture to account for <i>khadi</i> as both symbol and commodity. Written in a clear narrative style the book provides a cultural history of important and distinctive aspects of modern Indian history.</p>