"Lathi" - the traditional, ubiquitous walking stick, and a part of many cultures, is an astoundingly commonplace artifact that came to characterize Gandhi's essentially persona. Incomplete without his stick, it is said that the Mahatma used a lightweight one so as not to hurt insects or living creatures as he tread his way along.
The idea of a walking stick for use as an aid happened in 1930 when Gandhi embarked on his Dandi/Salt March. As kindred spirit, Kaka Kalelkar, a fellow Gandhian, offered his walking stick to Gandhi hoping that it will alleviate/reduce the physical toil involved with a foot-journey covering a considerable distance of 241 miles (388 kms), from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi by the sea. When Gandhi undertook to do the Dandi March, he was already age sixty one.
The original provenance/ownership of the stick has been attributed to Govind Pai, a writer and Gandhian, and for whom the walking stick happened to be a prized possession. Inspite of this, Pai gifted the stick to his friend and Gandhian, Kaka Kalelkar in 1920, who then gave it to Gandhi in 1930.
At some point, while visiting Chirala in Andhra Pradesh to lay the foundation stone for inaugurating an extension wing of the Saraswata Nikethanam, Gandhi gifted the walking stick as memorabilia to this institution.
It is said that Gandhi's walking stick was lightweight yet very strong and had an uncommon, closely knotted cane-stick pattern called the 'naga-betta' (snake-stick), wherein every knot had a natural spot of black.
Aesthetics aside, Gandhi's walking stick has since come to symbolize the ideas of strength, diligence, tenacity – extremely high-minded qualities that are rarely associated with such a humble object. Since its arrival into Gandhi's life, the stick has rarely left his side including during his overseas trips. And its narrative around the idea of passive resistance remains unmistakable.
