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Weaving Class, Ahmedabad, India, 1997

"In history's shadow, students unwind hand-spun yarn at Gujarat Vidyapith, a coeducational school founded by Gandhi in 1920. One key component of the school's program is weaving khadi, a coarse fabric that became a symbol of self-reliance during the struggle for independence. If Indians would spin and wear their own cloth, Gandhi reasoned, they could get rid of the textiles imported from big British mills—and get rid of the British too."

—From "India: Fifty Years of Independence," May 1997, National Geographic magazine

Photograph by Steve McCurry