December 2017 – My Grandma's Legacy

In summer vacations, my best past time was to wait till grandpa was home so we could play new cards games together. On his way home after work, grandpa sometime used to stop by a coconut kachori store near his office and bring us freshly made mouth-watering kachoris. Sometimes his work used to take him in the direction of Parsee Dairy, and then we would be treated with delicious Pista Kulfi, perfect to cool us down from summer heat.
On occasions, he used to visit Khadi Bhandar in Fort area to buy clothes and will bring us some hand-woven clothing as well.

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“A single line and a dot could be aesthetic, weaving is not always time and intricacy, it could be simplicity” grandpa once said. Grandpa wore khadi as his daily clothing. He not only wore a simple clothing as a daily wear, but insisted to wash his daily clothes himself, until we had to force him to stop doing it when he turned 75 years old. So essentially, he wore khadi and washed his own clothes all his life as a principle of self-reliance.

220px-Charkha_kept_at_Gandhi_Ashram My great-grandfather was actively involved in the freedom movement in India. I didn’t know any of it until I grew up. So, to me khadi was solely associated with my grandpa’s simple clothing. . I grew up watching photos of Gandhi ji and Kasturba ji spinning the charkha, framed on the wall in my grandparents’ house. Today, whenever I visit this area, I proudly show my kids the near-by road’s name plate, named after my great-grandfather. Folks walking by look at me as if I am a journalist or a media spokesperson, taking photos of road name plate, in a narrow lane. I just chuckle.

Fort, in Mumbai, is where the British left their architectural legacy. On the ground floor of one of the many colonial era buildings there resides a store, housing another household name of pre-freedom era, Khadi Bhandar on Dadabhai Navaroji Road. Flanked by a couple of massive, dusty, dull, almost neglected shop windows, the doorway leads into Khadi Bhandar, whose sheer size and location would be the envy of any Sprawled over two floors — you actually have to look up to see the ceiling — the shop has shelves stacked with myriad variety, colors and shades of khadi. Fans, attached t of six-foot poles, hang from the distant ceilings. There are some people around — almost all salespersons. Trunks — the kind that our grandparents travelled with — stand near the cash counter, along with piles of cartons. Until recently, all transactions receipts were hand-written also.

A few minutes away, in the Kala Ghoda area, is a lane that is easy to miss. Along one of the nondescript walls of the lane is a discreet door, even easier to miss. A small plaque, at knee-level, on the left of the door reads ‘Sabyasachi’. Inside, it is dimly lit, reflecting impeccable taste and design sensibilities. Bright colors, impossibly intricate zardozi, flowing fabrics line. Inside an antique wooden almaree sits Sabsyaschi’s khadi sarees; each would cost the monthly budget of an upper middle-class family.

The walk from Khadi Bhandar to Sabysachi is short. But the journey of khadi has been a long one.

Khadi means hand-woven cloth made from hand spun yarn.

Origin/History: History yields some very interesting facts about khadi. Hand-spinning and hand-weaving have been known to Indians for thousands of years. Archaeological evidence, such as terracotta spindles (for spinning), bone tools (for weaving) and wearing woven fabrics, indicate that Indus Valley civilization had a well-developed and Nourishing tradition of textiles.
In fact, the famous stone sculpture found in Mohenjo-Daro wears an elegant robe with decorative motifs and patterns that are still in use in modern Gujarat, Rajasthan and Sindh. However, there is little information available about the actual mode of cultivation or method of spinning used by the Harappan.
The earliest descriptions of cotton textiles in India comes from ancient literary references. In 400 BC, Greek historian Herodotus wrote that in India, there were “trees growing wild, which produce a kind of wool better than sheep’s wool in beauty and quality. The Indians use this tree wool to make their clothes.”
When Alexander the Great invaded India, his soldiers took to wearing cotton clothes that were far more comfortable in the heat than their traditional woolens. Nearchus, Alexander’s admiral, recorded that “the cloth worn by Indians is made by cotton grown on trees”, while another Greek historian, Strabo, described the vividness of Indian fabrics.
Interestingly, a few 5th century paintings in the Ajanta Caves in Maharashtra depict the process of separating cotton fibers from seeds (called ginning) as well as women spinning cotton yarn!

It was re-discovered by freedom fighter Mahatma Gandhi, as an initiation of empowerment. Gandhi didn’t just revive India’s lagging Khadi industry, he made the humble hand-spun fabric the symbol of all things Swadeshi. Spinning and weaving were elevated to an ideology for self-reliance and self-governance.

Khadi first caught the imagination of the nation during the freedom movement under Mahatma Gandhi, who propagated it as not just a fabric, but a way of life. One that is around the village, where the practice of khadi would be able to generate employment, income and, hence, self-reliance. Khadi was meant to become a supplementary Indus agriculture, a crucial element in a self-sustaining economy. Khadi was, in fact, a masterstroke, taking the freedom movement beyond the rarefied circles of the social elite and the educated out to the masses. And the image of Grand front of a charkha acquired the weight of historical symbolism.

The industry was institutionalized by the government soon after independence. After the setting up of the Khadi Village Industsy Commission (KVIC). The Khadi Bhandar at Fort was set up in 1957 and inaugurated by then prime minister, Morarji Desai.

Over few decades, perception of khadi changed – became a politicians attire such as Nehru jackets and Gandhi topis. Despite these murky associations, Khadi continues to be a symbol to be respected and nurtured. durable and affordable to elegance in simplicity.
From dresses and jackets to bridal lehengas and deconstructed local silhouettes, several leading designers (like Sabyasachi, Wendell Rodricks and Rajesh Pratap Singh) have taken on the fashion challenge to reinvent the humble fabric into high-fashion wear.

Khadi silk sarees are the pride of India. This humble fabric however is today a big rage in the Indian fashion circuits due to some of its exemplary qualities. Coarsely textured, Khadi silk is strong and durable and has a long shelf life.

Region: The word itself is derived from ‘khaddar’, a term for hand-spun fabric in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. While khadi is usually manufactured from cotton, contrary to popular belief, it is also made from silk and woolen yarn (called khadi silk and khadi wool respectively).
Today, there are very few weavers skilled enough to do this. Khadi cotton sarees drape very well and are not hard to maintain if they are hand washed and used without starch. Today, khadi saris are being woven in West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Material and Variations: Different tribes in India were already involved in making yarn through spinning since thousands of years. They used a simple tool called “Takli” to spin the raw cotton on a vertical spindle. Charkha came as a better tool to produce the same. Also, manufacturing it supported a niche group of artisans (involved in wood work).

There are mainly two types of charkha –

Bardoli Charkha, which has a box-form and is known to be invented by Ghandhi ji
Yerwada Charkha, which has a regular form one gets to see in many weaver’s houses

Both the names come from the prisons, where Gandhi Ji was incarcerated during freedom struggle.

Khadi silk is made up of cotton and silk which when spun on as pinning wheel or chakra creates yarn that is next wound into reels. These reels of yarn are used to produce the Khadi silk fabric. There are pockets of air that are created during the process of weaving which helps the fabric to breathe, making it an ideal wear in summer.

Khadi silk sarees have a natural sheen to them, this clubbed with the silken shine of the silk threads in them make them shine even more. Khadi silk sarees are uniquely featured with the ability to stay cool and comfortable in summers and warm in winters. Their classy look makes them a wearable attire for daily casual wear, corporate wear and stylish wedding sarees

Khadi is the most natural, eco-friendly organic fabric known for its rugged texture. Ideal for Indian weather conditions, it keeps the wearer cool in summers and warm in winters thus making it more versatile and multipurpose.

Ponduru Khadi This is said to be the finest variety of Khadi. The fabric is fully hand-made in Ponduru village of Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh. It is said that Mahatma Gandhi was taken in by its fineness. That’s because of the special cotton used and the way it which it is combed and purified using the jaw bones of the local valuga fish. Ponduru khadi is translucent, and takes on a shine with every wash. It is expensive, but if you invest in it, you will support a fast-diminishing weaving tradition.
Dastkari in Andhra Pradesh is also known for its khadi speciality.

Common designs: Khadi is a coarse and easy fabric to sew. Patchwork, Kantha, Phulkari, and Block Printing are designed easily on this fabric. It has an unusual captivating appeal even in its plain form.
Khadi cloth is generally much more porous. This gives Khadi a soft and well ventilated fee hand-woven yarn is generally less than that of mill yarn. This less twist helps improve its properties.
Yarn spun on Charakhaa has a twist in the direction of letter ‘S’. If we twist the yarn in the normal tightening of the right-handed screw, the yarn gets more twist. (The mill yarn has in the direction of letter ‘Z’). It would be curious to know that one tree yields 1-2 kg of raw cotton. 40% of it can be use a thumb rule, from 1 kg of yarn of 40s count we can weave 7 to 8 sq meter of cloth.
As a trivia, it takes 5-6 hours on Amber charkha to make a yarn required from 1 sq meter weaver family can weave about 200-250 meters of cloth per month.

While all fabrics fade away with every wash, Khadi silk has this unique feature where its looks are enhanced with every wash. Khadi silk sarees come in a variety of colors and designs. They flaunt stylish embroidery and eye catchy motifs. The small weaving defects in these fabrics are what they say, gives it its identity and individuality.
Khadi silk sarees price ranges from Rs 5000/- to Rs 8000/-.

Where to Buy from ? I am listing the shops in Mumbai that I have knowledge about.

Khadi Bhandar, D N Road, Fort , Mumbai
Khadi Emporium, Fort
Khadi Gramudyog / Handloom House, Dadar
Sabyasachi Couture, Opp Lion Gate, Kalaghoda

“It has a quiet dignity that is absent in mill-made fabrics. It also stands for the fact that luxury is not something you can get by simply throwing money at it. Luxury is a state of mind. And khadi represents all that,” says Sabyasachi.

Khadi is perhaps no longer what it was when Mahatma Gandhi sat with a charkha and spun a philosophy around it. It has lived a life of its own despite its heavy baggage of symbolism, absorbing contemporary shades and blemishes, and evolved. It has added more layers to its characteristics, while retaining its fundamental ones, making it a fabric that reflects the times.

Today, Khadi is the sophisticated fabric with a simplistic appeal.