On Khadi and its significance in our lives

For every minute I spin, there is in me the consciousness  that I am adding to the nation’s wealth. 

So said the Father of our Nation Mahatma Gandhi about the humble fabric ‘Khadi‘.

Youth For Seva Hyderabad had organized a talk on Khadi by Arvind Joshua, an NIFT graduate and the Owner/Principal Designer of ‘Thrithva Khadi’. He has also designed the costumes for Anand, Godavari  and Leader.

YFS volunteer Aditya Yelmelwar shares the salient points from the talk.

History of khadi

Khadi is the most ancient fabric in the world. It is not just a cloth, but a whole movement started by Gandhiji. The Khadi movement aimed at boycotting foreign goods and promoting Indian goods, thereby improving India’s economy. Mahatma Gandhi began promoting the spinning of khadi for rural self-employment and self-reliance (instead of using cloth manufactured industrially in Britain) in 1920s, thus making khadi an integral part and icon of the Swadeshi movement.

Why  should we wear khadi?

In buying & wearing Khadi,

 1) You are discharging your social responsibility of helping all the workforce involved in making Khadi garments.

2) You are contributing to the ecological balance.

 3) You are honouring the spirit of patriotism that was created by this freedom fabric.

4) You are saving your skin and protecting your health from the hazards of synthetics.

5) Khadi is nucleus to all activities ( Cotton, Charka)

How is Khadi eco-friendly?

Khadi is eco-friendly because it is decomposed in the earth within six months. Khadi is also skin-friendly.

How to improve khadi garments?

For all those people who find Khadi expensive, there is only one way of getting the price of these hand crafted things down – buy more and make more people buy them. Let there be enough of work for these craftsmen so that that they will earn enough money. If there is more supply – the price would come down. When they get the right salaries, recognition and appreciation for their work, they need not shift their careers and migrate to cities, which would create a balance in the villages. Stop comparing mass produced, machine made products with hand crafted, exclusively made products – that’s not the right perspective.

A country remains poor in wealth, both materially and intellectually, if it does not develop its handicrafts and its industries, and lives a lazy parasitic life by importing all the manufactured articles from outside.

Do your bit in promoting this fabric which means much more to us – the fabric of our freedom! Vande Mataram!

For more: www.khadhicommissionofindia.com



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