Unfittingly, it never made it to the final story on “India’s Leaders” (May 27, 1946), published by LIFE. Along with political history, two internationally leading photographers, Margret Bourke-White and Henri Cartier-Bresson, played a key role in immortalising the towering figure of Gandhi through their sharp images.  

Her permission to have a photograph of Gandhi spinning the wheel was granted by his secretary, Pyarelal Nayyar, only on a condition if she would be ready to learn the art of spinning that required focus and patience. In an effort to give a visual narration to the movement of Swaraj, the image frames the moment of spinning the cotton by Gandhi. .The history of India caster wheels Manufacturers  struggle to freedom is synonymous with Gandhi, but the 1947 Partition had left him in deep despair. It had also put the theory of two-nation into reality by carving Pakistan, the Muslim dominant nation born out of India Subcontinent.In 1946 White paid a visit to India to document the lives of Indian leaders. It was only after Gandhi’s assassination, the image’s impending significance was realised, “the spinning wheel as a symbol for India’s struggle for independence”, to find a space in the pages of the LIFE with a photo-essay.

The fervent uproar against the British rule in Indian Subcontinent caught the attention of the international media. On January 12, 1948, Gandhi announced the hunger strike to protest against the riots between Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs. Besides, spearheading the movement of freedom, the principles of satyagraha and ahimsa had made Gandhi an iconic figure of anti-colonialism worldwide. Sen this time escorted White to the doors and assured she does not return to the premises. While her films were exposed to the light, Hannah Sen requested White to leave the room. One of these publications was widely circulated and read American magazine LIFE by Henry LuceAfter the disaster of World War II, the eventuality of decolonisation was reduced to a matter of time.When it comes to the assassination of Gandhi, Indian history is replete with long and thick political accounts of what led to his killing on the ill-fated day of January 30, 1948.The news of Gandhi’s assassination met the pull of demands and desires of the print media across the globe to cover the story not just as a routine exercise, but saw it as an opportune moment to express solidarity with the newly independent nation found in mourning at the monumental loss of Mahatma Gandhi.White’s famous image of Gandhi and the spinning wheel was shot during her first trip to India.It was never a cakewalk for White to translate her professional demands into a reality, especially when it came to photographing Gandhi. Unassumingly, she returned with a reloaded camera only to aggravate the situation. Since the light was not very comfortable to Gandhi’s eyes, he dubbed her “the torturer”.Under the non-cooperation movement, foreign goods were strongly boycotted.For Gandhi’s followers, her flashlight was seen as a sign of disrespect when White switched on the flashbulb to capture Gandhi’s mortals, kept for darshan, in the room of Birla House.  

It was no surprise, White, the first female photographer for LIFE, made frequent visits to India from 1946 to 1948 to unflinching document modern Indian history in making from colonial days to 1947 # Partition and finally Gandhi’s assassination.Flash at darshanThe use of flash by Bourke-White had been a troublesome issue for Gandhi and his devotees.India stood strong as the jewel in the crown of the British Empire that gained freedom at the midnight of August 14-15, 1947 from the British Empire. Once she agreed, the staff sanctioned her request to take the photograph, which unfolds a moment of self-reliance by the revered Gandhi. The image is captioned “sitting cross-legged between his spinning wheel and his low desk, Mahatma Gandhi exemplified the virtues of simplicity that he preached”.