'Jhadu ki Yatra' exhibit to chart evolution of humble broom

Harijan Sevak Sangh has decided to chronicle the changing face of the now ubiquitous household item over the decades and the empowerment that it brought parallely

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A historic social institution here is working on tracing the journey of the humble broom in the last 80 years as part of its plan to build a permanent exhibit to showcase the evolution of sanitation methodologies in the country and Mahatma Gandhi's contribution to it.

Harijan Sevak Sangh, established by Gandhi in 1932, and which served as his laboratory for engineering a social revolution, has decided to chronicle the changing face of the now ubiquitous household item over the decades and the empowerment that it brought parallely.

"The journey of a broom is also a journey of the changing norms of sanitation in the country. And, besides educating the masses, the idea of this exhibition also is to tell people the challenges that the Sangh faced and how Gandhi and later his followers fought against social evils by advocating sanitary measures," Harijan Sevak Sangh Secretary Laxmi Dass told PTI.

The project is being tentatively called 'Jhadu ki Yatra (Journey of a Broom)' and the Sangh is currently consulting its Ahmedabad-based 'Safai Vidyalaya' to come up with a conceptual plan for the same.

"At the 'Safai Vidyalaya' we train people from municipal corporations and other related fields, which deal with sanitation issues, and these people there are helping us come up with the plan. They are digging into archives and old books and magazines to trace the evolution of a broom and also the Sangh's contribution over the years," Dass said.

Gandhi despised untouchability and saw manual scavenging as the prime reason for it and he founded the ashram (Sangh) to lend a conducive environment for the uplift of the oppressed classes or 'Harijans' as he called them.

"Our exhibition, located on our campus, will depict contribution of Gandhiji and his followers like Ishwarbhai Patel in changing the societal norms of sanitation through removal of inhuman practices like manual scavenging and using sanitation as a way to social empowerment," he said.

While the pedestrian broom may have lately become a potent symbol of political power and a mascot of anti-corruption campaign, its face in the 1930s was "less than humble."

"During the time Gandhiji founded this ashram, there wasn't much concept of a branded broom, as we know it today. Most of it was locally-made, using jute, date or coconut strings or 'bhaburh' grass (found in the Shivalik hills)," he said.

"Though it is difficult to trace the very origin of the broom in India, we will see if we can also chart that. But, otherwise we are focussing on the period from the 1930s to the present," he added.