The handspun and handwoven fabric, Khadi, has always been synonymous with India’s fight for independence. Established as the ‘Pride of India,’ the textile gathered traction under the independence struggle of Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi initiated his Khadi campaign in 1918 as a relief programme for the unemployed rural population. The campaign focused on self-employment and Indian textiles were also promoted.And, if you really love the Indian fabric with all your cores, here’s an anecdote about the same thing that’s connected to India’s prime minister , Narendra Modi.
A combination of cotton , silk and wool spun on a charkha (spinning wheel) may be the warp and weft (two elements used in weaving) textile. Charkha was the national movement’s symbol, too. Over the years, for new buyers, the heritage cloth has
been reinvented and still retains a huge importance for India.
Not only is it renewable, the fabric also helps to create rural jobs, an opportunity first seen by the Father of the Nation and now by PM Modi. Honoring the legacy of Gandhi, not only in India but worldwide, the PM has been on a quest to spread khadi. On last year’s visit to India by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, PM Modi gifted her with an elegant handloom khadi stole from Ladakh.
Pranavi Kapur, who has been working with Indian textiles for many years now, crafted the Ladakhi stole, known as ‘Call of Ladakh’. “It was a pleasure that my Ladakhi stole was picked as a gift by PM Modi,” says Pranavi, the National Awardee. Pranavi shares that she has been working with Ladakhi weavers for the past five years, talking about the textile, and they have given their ‘heart & soul’ to create this item.
Crafted from the finest wool by Ladakhi women on a traditional charkha, the stole features traditional Ladakhi border patterns and four dark wool corner motifs. A member of the ‘Made in India’ campaign, the artist who deals with’ desi yarn ‘alone calls this piece a tribute to the Khadi campaign of Mahatma Gandhi.
She concludes, “The stole is not just a garment, but a representation of the simplicity,
innocence and tenacity of Mahatma Gandhi and the people of the youngest Union Territory in India-Ladakh.”
SOURCE: Times of India
