Gandhiji used to work on the charkha every day. He made it a symbol of nationalism because of the following reasons:

(i) Charkha symbolised manual labour. Mahatma Gandhi always believed in the dignity of labour. He liked to work with his own hands. However he considered charkha as an exquisite piece of machinery.

(ii) Gandhiji opposed machines as they enslaved human-beings. He adopted charkha as he wanted to glorify the dignity of manual labour and not of the machines and technology.

(iii) Gandhiji believed that charkha could make a man self-reliant as it added to his income.

(iv) The act of spinning at charkha (spinning wheel) enabled Gandhiji to break the boundaries of traditional caste system.

In fact Gandhiji wanted to make charkha as a symbol of nationalism. So he encouraged other nationalist leaders to spin at charkha for some time daily.