Madhya Pradesh school remembers Mahatma Gandhi every day

Narsinghpur: A government school in Madhya Pradesh's Narsinghpur district remembers Mahatma Gandhi every day. The school takes pride in following Gandhi's principles and it reflects on their uniform as well.

To galvanise support for the non-cooperation movement, the Mahatma visited 'Shashkiya Buniyadi Shala' in the Singhpur village of Narsinghpur district of Madhya Pradesh. He spent the night at the school and interacted with the students, taught them the use of Charkha and encouraged everyone to use local handicraft.

Since that evening with Gandhiji, every male member of the school has worn a Gandhi topi - in the honour of the Mahatma.

Mahatma Gandhi, while planning the non-cooperation movement, spent a night at the school and interacted with the students.

Teacher Sandeep Sharma said, "When Gandhiji came to this school, he inspired people to wear hand spun clothes. The topi was the easiest to make. It was the first thing that was made. Ever since then to remember Gandhiji and follow his ideals, everyone in the school wears the Gandhi topi."

The school takes pride in preserving the tradition, wearing hand-spun Gandhi topis. Now, even though teachers and students have stopped making these caps themselves, no morning assembly is complete without the Gandhi topi and a rendition of the Mahatma's favourite bhajan, 'Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram'.

Established in the year 1844, the school once was the only a centre of learning in Narsinghpur district. Now, the school takes pleasure in following Gandhiji's principles, taking in students primarily from deprived communities and it is the 'Gandhi topi' that binds all of them together.

During India's independence struggle the Gandhi cap was one of the symbols that glued the masses towards the Nationalist movement. Post-Independence the cap lost its adhesive quality till Anna Hazare's team adopted it as its brand image. But here in this village school, the cap has always been something more than a symbol. It is a crown that proudly rests on every head.

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