KHADI - A WAY OF LIFE

We were asked to study the traditional Indian cloth – khadi.

  The following were a few words noted down before we read the article about khadi.

Gandhi   ,  symbol , Spinning wheel   , handloom  , Pure  ,  revolt , Rough , livelihood , Natural , self sufficiency , Comfortable , grey cloth  , Hand spun , unity , Political , Raw , Swadeshi , Course ,Indian ,Off white ,Cotton , light in weight ,identity , native

Weapons are created for survival - the reason for the charkha and its product.

The khadi movement which in many substantive ways was the first social movement in India . Khadi was regarded as an extremely strong medium of communicating several ideas in the country during that time. It thus divided the Indian society into two classes – the believers and the non believers.The khadi movement in India was thus regarded as a development department . Sixty years after it was declared as a political symbol of assertion and economy.

    Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi had inferred that it was not the machines or the technology but the plotting and mind games of the East India Company that had lead to the decline of cloth. He had thus declared the khadi cloth as a “uniform of rebellion” and a “ fabric of independence”

Initially Gandhi’s ideology was perceived as religiously oriented and backward looking. However along with the act of wearing khadi  Gandhi had to subject himself to promoting it by journals and national tours. The main aim and idea behind spinning , weaving and wearing your own cloth was to provide employment in rural India. Thus the whole process of khadi - making resorted to simple technology and easily available raw material.

The following were the key words and points we marked out on reading the article on khadi :

1 – Structure of swaraj

2 – Non violent weapon

3 – Spinning wheel – emblem of human

-          Dignity and equality

-           Peace of mind

4 – Fabric of independence

5 – Uniform of rebellion

6 – Divided the society into two parts – believers and non believers

7 – Contrasting opinions

8 – Local resources and simple technology

9 – Employed the rural

10 – Unhappy congress party

11 – Symbol of salvation

12 – Symbol of social responsibility

13 – Forged hands between the rich and the poor

14 – Subsidiary occupation

15 – To create a roughly stable economy

What is happening to Khadi today?

Today in a completely western dominated style of dressing, wearing khadi has become a way of looking as the odd one out. The revival of khadi as a piece of fabric is booming again and the masses want to indulge in it all over again. The reasons for this varies from person to person. Khadi is flooding the market not only as a garment piece but also as metres and metres of raw cloth for upholstery and other use.

What is the association of khadi with certain groups of people?

The relevance of a cloth is known only after going beyond the borders and reading the cloth in detail. As a fabric definitely, khadi has evolved and has come a long way from its traditional form "Khaddar" to what it is currently, as being very fine and comfortable.. Scientifically, khadi as a cloth is best suited for a predominantly sub-tropical climatic condition, as is prevalent in India. It is better than cotton as it allows better cross of air through it, which helps in cooling down the body after sweating.

Clothes made out of khadi have always been associated with something what is being referred to as Indian. For certain groups of people it is always worn along with the underlying emotions and values. Not everyone must wear khadi to display the "Indian-ness" within but surely it is one of the ways to support the feeling of being Indian.

 Khadi is also worn by a majority of the politicians as  a status symbol and to depict the indian ness.It is so widely used as a garment for the politicians that today their identity is defined by khadi.

Why people wear khadi today?

 Some people today wear Khadi because Khadi is symbolic of Indian self-esteem, self-efficacy and self-reliance. It stands out as a symbol of homogeneity, simplicity, living so as to not to hurt others, uniform clothing and forming an indissoluble bond between the rich and the poor.

   Some people wear khadi because of the physical properties of the fabric and its long term use.

What is the historic relevance of khadi?

Be it Satyagraha or non-cooperation, passive resistance or non-violence, salt or the spinning wheel , they were all ideas, ideas of Gandhiji, ideas with a 'revolutionary' potential, ideas to revolutionize the Indian masses towards a movement, the Indian Independence movement .Khadi was more of a message, against the British that we do not need clothes from the mills of Lancashire or Manchester. For the Mahatma it was a means to attain economic liberation of the masses. Poverty was and still is, perhaps, one of the biggest challenges to attain 'Complete Freedom'  from.

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