Support system: The walking stick stands for various things. It is a sign of stability, helping us negotiate an uneven ground. It is a weapon of self-defence. The stick, in some societies, is also a marker of social status. When Gandhi picked up the stick, it became a symbol of power and self-assertion. During the salt satyagraha of 1930, his confident gait and lathi (a plain staff as opposed to the walking cane) inspired millions to join the civil disobedience movement. Even today, every illustration of the leader shows him in the company of his trusted lathi. In 2019, to mark Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary, a group called Young Indians travelled to many parts of India with a replica of his lathi. In this image, foreign tourists in Madurai are seen with the lathi