President Patil to get a thread of history

During her maiden visit to the state, India's first woman president Pratibha Patil will be given a part of history, which represents a young girl's dedication to the freedom movement.

What more her contribution was recognised by none other than the Father of the Nation. That young girl was Gollakota Venkata Kamalamani, known as Kamalamma to her loved ones. She was inspired by her husband GB Rama Rao to follow Gandhiji's call to take up spinning. 

She devoted herself to the object and the output was such that it became part of history. Kamalamma was honoured by Mahatma Gandhi with a gold medal at Belgium Congress session in December 1924 for spinning the finest yarn ever at the age of sixteen. 

The yarn samples with a count of 400 and 202 have been long preserved by her family. For reference, most of the mills cannot produce yarn finer than 200. The family of Kamalamma has now decided to share the family treasure of yarn samples and charkha , for all to admire.

On Thursday morning, the president will receive the two things and dedicate them to the nation. They will be preserved at Satyagrah Ashram at Sabarmati. Grandson of Kamalamma and retired chief secretary of Gujarat VV Rama Subba Rao, told DNA, '' In our opinion, this is a national treasure and the right place for these is the ashram. We talked to the trustees and they said they will be happy to house the items.”