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Has khadi found a new spinning wheel?
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Khadhar, the fabric of Indian freedom, stands at the crossroads of changing times. For a generation born free what does khadi mean? PREMA MANMADHAN delves into facts about the cloth, which the Mahatma gave us for `self-reliance and self-respect.'
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THE SPIRIT of khadi has changed. Just as high thinking and plain living have given way to plain thinking and high living, the aura that khadi had, is dimmed. The principles it stood for are more or less obsolete in the days of globalisation and liberalisation. When Gandhiji said in 1920, in 'Young India', "I present the spinning wheel on which depends India's economic salvation", khadi was envisaged as a means to attain self-reliance and self- respect, to empower women and men in rural areas, `the backbone of India', as the Mahatma loved to say. It spurred on young idealists who had but one aim then - freedom. To be seen in khadi was patriotic, it showed disdain for the 'angrezi' aggressor and displayed loud and clear where the wearer's loyalties lay.
Alas, post-Independence, khadi is on a journey, its destination uncertain, passing through Fashion Street, along ups and downs. The pre-independence generation took to khadi as a way of life and the post-independence politicians took to khadi as a way of professing their profession. Along with the decline in values among all sections of people, particularly politicians, the khadi took on an altogether different hue. Few children are likely to say, "I want to be a politician when I grow up". And fewer parents will find this music to their ear. Let's face facts. To common folks, it slowly became synonymous with corruption.
To be seen in khadi implied that somewhere, you were corrupt. " It was then that I switched over from khadi to other material. I was embarrassed to be in khadi," says Sugathan. M. who now wears shirts made from cloth that rolls out of mills.
But khadi-clad M. K. Panicker, 92, does not think so. He has stuck to khadi. It was when he was doing his BSc at the Benares Hindu University in the early twenties that he took to spinning thread on the `takhli'. He remembers that Mr. Charley. A. King, an English gentleman and the Principal of the Engineering College in the University, used to spin thread along with the boys in the hostel.
That khadi has attained sophistication is another aspect, but far from what the Father of the Nation had in mind. The fact file of coarse khadi as it is today has little to cheer about. Khadi fabrics are woven on handloom from cotton, silk, and woollen yarn, which are hand-spun. It is natural, durable and ideal to wear in the humid Indian climate. It causes no itching or allergy.
"Once you become a khadi user, always a khadi user. It is so cool, comfortable," says Jacob Vadakkancherry, who is into naturopathy and is a Sarvodaya guy. Everything about him is khadi, whatever he uses.
In Kochi, there are six outlets that sell authentic khadi, approved by the Khadi and Village Industries Commission and the Khadi Board. Very few know that there is something called `kalla khadi', (spurious khadi) according to R. Muralidharan, manager of the Khadi Gramodyog Bhavan at Kacherippady. What's `kalla khadi'? It is made from mill thread and looks like khadi, but is not. "It is not durable and many people are taken for a ride, especially in the case of khadi silk shirt material. The so-called khadi silk saris that you get at unauthorised shops also could be synthetic material, not silk," Mr. Muralidharan warns. The real khadi silk saris are made in Calcutta. That they are expensive is true, but they last, and give so many women employment, he reasons.
That khadi does not sell is a myth, according to Mr E.A. Ravi, General Manager of the Alappuzha Sarvodaya Sangham. The demand far exceeds the supply. But all that the women get for a day's work could be just around Rs 40. There lies the problem. The wages approved by the Khadi Board and Commission is quite unattractive, but then, it is usually done as a part-time job and women can stay at home and get that much money, Mr. Ravi justifies the rates.
But many women who are in the job drop it when they get other more remunerative work. That is why demand exceeds supply. The approved shop owners have nothing much to celebrate about too. Throughout the year, there is ten per cent rebate. On 90 days a year, the shops give a very high rebate, as much as 35 per cent. This amount is given by the Board and Commission to the shops. But sometimes it takes six or seven years for the amount to materialise, putting these shop keepers in trouble.
Strangely enough foreign tourists who come to India show an affinity to khadi, as it is `cool and easy to manage'. They are easy on the pocket too. High profile designers have given khadi a facelift with trendy combos. Actress Jaya Bachchan is someone who has been using khadi often and likes it. Coloured shirts and jubbas are a rage with both the young and the old alike, but there are some who shun khadi in public, like designer Arjun Khanna. " I don't make khadi couture because my clients don't like the fabric at all. It's good for curtains not clothes. Khadi doesn't fall too well; it is rather stiff and doesn't wear very well".The production of khadi fabric is a labour intensive process as all the processes are done manually. The yarn is produced from the natural cotton by conventional methods using the charka. The pure cotton collected from cotton farms are first ginned and made into rolls of bales. These bales are then converted into rowings at the Ettukadakka sliver plant in Kannur. They are then distributed to different spinning units under the board. In the spinning units, the cotton fibre is converted into yarns manually by using charkas. The yarns are then woven into fabrics using handlooms.
" If you have just Rs 5,000, you can give employment to one woman, enough for the raw material and the charka. That is what Gandhiji had in mind, when he introduced khadi to all Indians," points out Mr Ravi.
How bright a future has khadi? In this eco-conscious world, very bright, provided the Government wakes up to both good sense and business sense.
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